Christmas Time

           In less than a week, Christmas break will have officially begun. To me, there truly is no more wonderful time of the year. Everything about Christmas is wonderful. The following are some of my favorite things.

           Yesterday my older siblings in college returned home, and I am always happy to have a full house once again. Typically, the weather is much different, but as much as I love a magical white Christmas, I am no fool; I know I'll be missing these 50 degree days very soon. If it was snowy, I would be just as happy, so the weather can not go wrong during Christmas. I have had my radio set to Magic 106.7, Boston's Christmas Station, for the past few weeks and, even though there are only a handful of songs to play, the music makes me feel very happy. I love seeing and smelling the tree in my living room, dressed head to toe in lights and ornaments. I love watching Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, The Polar Express, The Grinch, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, and all the other timeless classics played on repeat on several different televisions stations each night. I love my holiday meals with my family, and all the pies and cookies that come out for dessert. I love the NBA on Christmas, as only the best teams are scheduled. I love the Straight no Chaser 12 days of Christmas performance (linked below). I love making my family happy with small gifts that we exchange. The list goes on and on of things I love doing in the Christmas season. Santa or no Santa, Christmas is truly magical.

Teaching

          When I finished CCD and got confirmed 3 years ago, I could not have been happier to be done with my religious education classes. Today, I am in my second year as a teacher of 7th grade CCD. If my 10th grade self knew that, he would be very confused. My motivation for volunteering was to get my leadership roles and some community service hours to get into National Honors Society and that mission has now been accomplished. I always knew that teaching middle schoolers must be hard, but now I know it first hand.  Also, I am suprised that every kid in my class for the past two years has had an Iphone that they use constantly. I know that constantly being on your phone is not unique to a seventh grader, but I would have never been trusted with such an expensive phone. I had a phone with a sliding keyboard at that age and I was lucky to even have that. A lot of 12 year olds did not have phones at all. Last year, my plan each class was to simply read the section of the book I should be on and survive as the clock ticks ever so slowly. That rarely happened. Absolutely no one would listen, they would use their phones, they would always be fighting with eachother and do anything to make it difficult on me. This year, I feel like I am doing a much better job at keeping the kids engaged, but I think it is because I just got lucky and got to teach some better kids. Even so, they have their issues, and I have a new respect for my teachers back at Parker.

Time Zones

          Geographically speaking, there is no question that the East Coast of the United States, particularly up here in the Northeast, is the place to live. However, if we are talking about time zones, does the East coast remain king? I am not so sure. My chief complaint about Eastern Standard Time is that "primetime" live sporting events, such as an NFL game, start way too late. Like most humans, I value sleep very highly and I do not want to go bed at midnight after a Sunday, Monday, or Thursday night football game. That leaves me with less than seven hours to sleep and that just is not healthy. Also, I am a fan of the NBA, and games typically start at 7;30 local time. That means over on the Pacific coast, games start at 10:30, and I do not even get the chance to watch them. If you are a fan of the NBA, or have watched ESPN in the past few months, you know that one player out west, Steph Curry, is doing something very special each and every night. He truly is amazing, and watching him play should not require me surrendering a good nights sleep. Excluding rare occasions, all I can get is highlights the next morning.
          On the flip side, who wants their NFL Sunday to start at 10 AM, or a primetime game to start at 5:30. Are people even out of work by 5:30? For these reasons, to me, Eastern Standard is better than Pacific time. Talking about time zones, It seems like the middle regions of our country are where you want to be. Which Time Zone is best; Easter, Central, Mountain, or Pacific?