And the Mermala-Derb-Day Was a Success, with Dominik Taking the Grande Prize and All of Us Stuffed with the Goods of a Grilling Season

I should also mention that Oona's potato salad with bacon was out of this world. Salmon and wasabi, steak tips, dill salad, fruit, coconut shrimp, beer, and bourbon. It was a surf-n-turf for the ages and a perfect, spring day in Connecticut to watch Mage surprise the world.

I gave myself half a day. I said, "Grade what you can, Crandall, and cook the rest of the day away," including a mermaid cake for Pam's birthday and another year without a win for her. Shoot, I'd like to win the pot, too.

Today, I will get back to grading, and as soon as I'm done, I want to head outdoors for soil therapy. I'm ready to get dirty, to plant, to landscape and to do outside work. The temperatures are suppose to be in agreement.  

Patrick and Stephanie win the day with the Mae-Mae tropical attire and derby hat (not pictured here is a very floral Ethan, too). 

A lot of preparation for a two minute race, but an absolute great reason to get together for fun, down time, and high energy.

That potato salad, though. Superb!

It's Merm-ela Derb-Day, & the Mint Julep is Chilling in the Fridge; Meanwhile, Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo and I Went Out with a Friend to Bodega Taco Bar

Yesterday was one of those weird spring days where the sun was out, blue skies, the occasional cloud, yet rain showers. I kept wondering where the rain showers were coming from. It was another terrible day for grading, but I did get things prepped for Monday's Celebration of Teachers and Teaching and I finally arrange my payment strategy for the siding, as well as met with my financial advisor. Lawn is mowed, too, as well as a birthday cake made.

But today is for grilling salmon and steak, and getting ready for the two-minute horse race....well, the bourbon.

Bodega Taco Bar in Fairfield is delicious. Packed. Loved. Crowded, especially on Cinco de Mayo, but worth the wait (not too bad - just 15 minutes). And I had a blood-orange margarita which was good...more grapefruit than orange, but I'd order it again. 

Now I'm getting nervous about grades...I think I can get a big chunk done this morning, but I don't want them overhanging my head for the afternoon/evening party, nor do I wand a hangover from that same party. 

Okay, I need to weed whack, too. It will all get done. It always does.

Is It Considered Emotional Eating When Cram-Grading at the End of 2nd Semester After the Most Turbulent Academic Year of One's Life? Asking for a Friend.

I am recalling vividly that Matt de la Peña said in a video sent for my birthday, "Old man, hold back on the red meats. They are not your friend." 

But they are, especially when a burger calls your name from Sitting Duck down the street and Chitunga left you a gift card. My morning started at 7 a.m. on ZOOM and ended at 8 p.m. on ZOOM. I only had time for three graduate projects, which I graded in-between other work, and I'm feeling nervous I won't finish them all in time. The thought of cooking made me more frantic, so I simply caved in and ordered take-out. 

I know it's bad, but if this academic thing becomes too much (Trust me, it's too much), maybe I can become a food photographer. This looks so good I want to eat it all over again. 

Now, if I would just grill on Sundays, more chicken, and then do a layout for salads and vegetables, when the hunger pangs arrive, I wouldn't have to panic in end-of-the-semester blues. I want something quick, easy, delicious, and mildly satisfying to make me feel good inside, because the hectic work is stressful and cumbersome.

Well, a paper was submitted (already accepted....hoping they enjoy). There were three projects graded. I did do PD work with several teachers and their students in a new district, Karal was walked, and I attended a new grant meeting, so the day wasn't a total flop.

But it's that burger that winds the day. 

And someone please tell the pollen to hurry up and go away. In CT, the dry drip from my nose to my throat causes a dry cough that drives me bonkers. I'm ready for it to go away. There's not enough water to soften in all up.

TGIF. I'll be grading.

Okay, Thursday. This Week Has Not Gone According to Any Sane Plan, So I Am Going to Celebrate a Phenomenal Wednesday Afternoon, Instead

The Book of Job, and Archibald MacLeish's JB, taught me one thing. Still maintain faith on good, despite all the crazy thrown upon you. Yes, it should be a religious decision, but that's not how I operate, unless you look at the good in humanity or in nature to give meaning for living a better life. God lives in the every day routines we too often overlook. That, I believe.

Yesterday, I spent my afternoon with incredible people from Bridgeport Public Schools celebrating the inspirational work of teaching, administrating, and doing the best for kids. I was fortunate to see friends with awards: William King as an Inspiration recipient, Jessica Baldizon with the Beard Award, and Saran Smith as the outstanding administrator. I felt the love, the joy, the dedication, and the support. It was two hours of awesome and I feel very fortunate to have had opportunity to be there, present in the moment, hooting and hollering for the excellence of others who have chosen excellence in their lives. 

This, after more and more of its opposite in the career work I do at the University. I am super proud of the teacher leaders that have been with me via CWP-Fairfield, great literacy work, and commitments to English language learners. They are the hope. 

At some point I need to grade. They are due. 

Yesterday, we wrapped 40+ books for student teachers who have just finished a semester of student teaching and completing the EdTPA bureaucracy Pearson has caused for certifying teachers - an extra layer of insanity to topple the insanity that already exists for simply doing good work. And they (we) do it because we wish to invest in the best for kids in our schools. 

I did a brief scan of news of the day and I simply want to shut off the world and hide. This is not the nation I grew up in, the one I believed in, nor the one that should be making me proud. It's quite the opposite, actually, and I need to find a way to recharge so I can do the work I've loved doing for so long. I'm simply looking to restore hope, which I know will take time.

I have my faith. I know what it is good. And I'm stubborn to fight for what I know is right. But I also know there's one so much that can be done.

The Inspiration Award recipients deserve the universe. They are the magic makers of only one city, in only one state, in a nation that needs to do so much better for its educators...

...and the families of K-12 youth.

Today is Wasp-Sting Day...As Many Kennelog Bites I Can Get in the Legs to Ease the Fire, Scaling, and Blemishes. Phew

Sure. Why not write a little more about my sore-eye-is-us? I love my dermatologist, Dr. Moss, and the fact that in five minutes, he stabs me a few hundred times with needles and a week later, my legs clear up. Psoriasis is a barometer for stress, and it's the time of the year with the most stress, so it's a good thing. For the first time they are on top of my feet, on my forearms, and heading towards the elbows. The shots are temporary, but they work for a little while. 

It's the burning that drives me the most nuts. For those who know me, they see how hard I try to stay balanced, calm, and in the collected moment. My body can't hide the frustration, though, and in staff meetings and with administration shenanigans, I feel like flames are shooting out of my skins. 

It doesn't lie. The flesh is honest. Actually, our instincts are, too, but there is this thing called professional etiquette and not getting fired for calling people out. 

Ah, today is a great day as I am meeting with teachers in the morning and celebrating teachers in the afternoon. It's a win-win-win, especially with the wasp stings, too.

Wait? Is it humpday already? How?

I Finally Got a Photo of My April Obsession...the Mama Fox Who Has Been Hunting Vermin for Her Kits & Entertaining My Mornings

Look! No Poetry! It's May and I am back to pontificate the university, my thinking, my mental meanderings and my gripes. Yesterday morning, I wondered what I'd do to start my day without a prompt for verse, when the foxy lady came trotting across the street again. I'm in love. Such a beautiful creature and I want her and the little ones to move in! 

Alas, Karal would ruin that fantasy, because she's such a spastic, pain-in-the-ass.

Yes, much has been going on in the last month that I haven't been writing about, and I have May to begin processing it all. I've been saving the foxy lady for day one, and don't wish to unleash a million and one gripes here on the first day back from being poetic. I actually have about a billion and one gripes, but I need to position myself around the optimism I've built my life around. 

I do know that I brought a lifetime of ice cream to yesterday's SEHD faculty meeting: Magnum Bars, sorbets, and Snicker's frozen treats. There's enough to last faculty a few more weeks in the Dean's Office. I also know that CWP summer work is upon me and I have not even opened those folders...especially for the teacher applications.

With thanks to Gholdy Muhammad, I want the summer spent rejuvenating joy, not only for educators, but for the young people we work with. Our systems have slowly become absolutely joyless, and we have to be smart with remaking them (should those in power ever choose to listen). 

I'm off to campus today to discuss community-engaged scholarship, and then I need to jump into graduate grading, as the undergraduates were finished during the monsoons of the past weekend. 

I should note the fox is without any dead animal in its mouth because she was heading to the hunt, rather than returning to it. I love that her morning ritual has paralleled my own, and I'm thankful she's yet to return with a cat in her mouth. That might be a little too much, even for me.

I've said it many times and will say it again. No major decisions or discussions should ever occur during the last two weeks when students, staff, and faculty are overwhelmed with all still needing to be done. 

Yes, I wish I had summers like everyone else... 'away to do research,' but that's never been the case because summer has BEEN the research. 

Here we go Tuesday....you can pay me that Hamburger, Whimpy.

Yeah, It's May 1st, but Yesterday Was the Last Day of #VerseLove '23, so a Final Poem to Say, "That's a Wrap."

Well, this weekend in Connecticut we had absolute CNY weather: gray, winds, rain, and a total washout. There was only a 60-minute pause this morning (in which Karal and I head out for a walk). There's only so much indoor screen time a person can take. 

On the 30th day of #VerseLove, Sarah Donovan opened the floor for the community to simply write what left they had to say, which I wanted to be a thank-you, but needed to find a way to anchor it....I went with a 'now what' rhyme scheme and called it a day (not only chicken butt, but running around with my head cut off like a....)

Tomorrow, I'm back for more normal Compital Crandall and I hope readers don't mind the monthlong dedication to poetry. It keeps me sane and lets me satisfy the language guy that I am. 

Congratulations to all participants this year. It was an absolute blast.