The Faculty Fun Committee organized an afternoon of bowling at Sunray Lanes, not far from our house. Maggie opted out, but the rest of us had a great time. (And Griffin beat Andrew!)
Faculty Family Bowling
Category Archives: Andrew
Cabin Retreat
In 2020, on the cusp of the pandemic, some of my gaming group joined me at the cabin for a wonderful retreat (pictured in this post). We’ve been wanting to repeat the trip ever since, but scheduling is difficult. This year, miraculously, we were able to make a second go of it in the midst of spring break.
This time we weren’t receiving apocalyptic text messages as the state shut down in the face of Covid, but it was a bit surreal arriving to the cabin in March with no snow and just a thin layer of ice on the lake. (It wasn’t nearly strong enough to walk on.) On our second day, however, temperatures dropped and we had a bit of snow.
It’s a wonderful thing to be able to get out into the woods to relax and hang out with friends. We played through J.C. Connors’ ice age horror adventure, Canyon of the Snow Cairns. This involved a mammoth hunt, mysterious disappearances, survival in a forbidding wilderness, cultists, and confrontations with things that man-was-not-meant-to-know. In other words: fun.
Not All Men
Piece by a former student—now a junior—hanging in the art gallery at school. It gives me chills.
(The weird angle of my photo was to reduce glass reflections; sorry for the distraction.)
Sweatshirt Wisdom
This just spotted on the sweatshirt of a boxer at the gym:
BE KIND EVERYONE IS STILL HEALING FROM THINGS THEY DON'T SPEAK ABOUT
An unexpected combination of wisdom and humor.
Thanksgiving 2023
Pam and Jeff joined us for the feast. We grilled the turkey on the green egg. It came out well, but I may have been over-enthusiastic with the apple wood chips—the smoke flavor was intense.
Besides the turkey, the menu included mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, and Dick’s Buried Treasure. (The latter is a delicious Stocco tradition consisting of yams, canned pineapple, and dollops of cranberry sauce.) Dessert was Sarah’s pumpkin pie and Andrew’s cheesecake.
While we were prepping the meal, the kids asked what everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving food was and what we were thankful for this year. Then they created custom place cards for each of us.💖
Grilling notes for next time:
- 300-325° on the grill is perfect
- Use fresh lump charcoal (the smaller chunks at the bottom of the bag interfere with airflow)
- Cooking time is faster than in an oven at the same temperature. The Green Egg estimates seemed spot-on. (We started our 17 lb. bird at 11:15 and it was done just after 2:30.)
- Skip the smoking chips next time. I think the basic grill flavor will be enough.
- The drippings were very dark and smoky too, which made the gravy a bit too powerful. Might be better without the wood chips. Clean the grate beforehand so none of the old char falls into the drip pan.
Classroom Life
This evening, hours after I got home from school, I received this email from a student about a project that’s due tomorrow morning:
Hi mr Roy I was wondering if you could put this picture on the smart board to make sure you can read the lettering. if you cant read it then I will change the picture. thanks bye
I guess it’s true that students believe that their teachers live in the classroom 24-7!
(Yes, it is also riddled with mechanical errors, but that’s pretty common with emails from middle-schoolers. He probably felt like he was being super-formal by putting in periods and saying hi.)
Halloween at School
Our cafeteria crew went over the top today with a horror-themed lunch.
And, of course the eighth-grade team had a group costume for the assembly.
Saint Louis Wedding
We drove down to Saint Louis to attend Clay and Meghan’s lovely wedding. Everyone found new fancy outfits for the occasion. Oliver’s was the talk of the town.
Brandi Carlisle
Sarah, Maggie, Griffin, and I went back to the fair on Tuesday evening for the Brandi Carlisle concert in the grandstand. It was Griffin and Maggie’s first big concert, and Brandi set the bar pretty high. It was a phenomenal show.
First Day of SPA, 2023
Well, it was Griffin’s first day, even if I had already been at school for a week of meetings and classroom prep. It’s hard to believe that Griffin is done with middle school!
