May 30th- Celebratory Pretzel (Katie takes over again)

May 30th, 2015 Year 4 Day 30

FREE PRETZEL #30 and a tray of rods for the party

I got deputized again and lucky for me the person I picked walked into my back yard around 5:00.  It was Tibby's birthday party and this lovely lady came to help us celebrate (she brought her daughter, Katie, who I am sure is going to rule the world someday).

Tina Fey said that when Amy Pohler walked into SNL for the first time and they met, she thought "she is here! My friend is here!".  That is how I feel about Christy Green, today's recipient of the Free Pretzel.  She is my friend, she is awesome, and she deserves a pretzel.  

Christy was all smiles with her pretzel

I could say a million wonderful things about her but one look at the picture of her with her fantastic simile and you should just be able to tell by looking at her that this woman is awesome.  Christy is brains, wit, and kindness all in one.  I am so lucky she is my friend.  The Tina to my Amy or vice versa. 

The rest of the evening was just fun.  Fun with kids running around, playing in the bounce house and enjoying, what seemed like, a summer evening.  

Here are some highlights:

The Spread

Pork off the bone, potato salad, Chick-Fil-A, Pretzel tray, Fruit Salad

The Libations

Summer Shandy and Blue Moon in full force

The Scene

Complete with bounce house

The singing

Fun was had by all and Tabitha was gracious and shy as always (sarcasm). 
Its these days that you wish could go on forever.

Until tomorrow...

May 29th- Field Day treat

May 29th, 2015 Year 4 Day 29

FREE PRETZEL(s) #29

Friday was Field Day at Johnson School and I have now come to find out that Field Day is run a little different at every elementary school.  This years Field Day was "Around the World" The Seven Continents.  This was the first field day I was a part of that had such a well put together packet of information which described each event, how they should be run for K-2 students and variations that were more acceptable for 3rd-5th grade students.  The schedule and map of the area were also included.  When I received the packet, I was impressed and knew that this was going to be a well run event.

Parent volunteers were a huge help in organizing, instructing and administering the activities as well as providing water, Popsicles and anything else that teachers, staff and students needed.  They were great in assisting Gail with crowd control and clean up.  I know she was appreciative.

FIELD DAY SURVIVAL PACKET

The recipients on this day were the two in charge of the event, PE teacher Gail Gersie and her Educational Assistant Ellen O'Donnell.  These two ladies were up at the crack of dawn, arriving at the school almost 2 hours before any students arrived, to set up the day.  When I arrived at 8:15, the entire school grounds were set up and ready to go.  The morning was filled with 6 stations for the students to compete in fun activities, while the afternoon was earmarked for each 5th grade class to take their best shot at the teachers in volleyball.

The day was filled with many activities

The entire school looked on, chanted and at times were stunned with the caliber of volleyball that the teachers displayed.  The first three 5th grade classes, played hard, but were no match for the skillful teachers.  The final class, my Room 11 crew gave us a scare, but we were able to prevail 15-13.  Whew!

Two deserving ladies

Gail and Ellen are a really great team.  I do not envy elementary school PE teachers because of the sheer volume of students that they deal with.  Most times the classes are doubled up which means they definitely have more than 40, sometimes more than 50 students during a given period.  Even with two of them it can never be easy.  They seems to do it with ease and they are to be commended for that. 

Field Day was hot and humid and sticky and these two ladies were happy to receive their FREE PRETZEL, no matter how sweaty and tired they were.  I was happy to snap a quick picture as they were actually about to prepare the court for the volleyball game.  They said it would be a great lunch time snack.

Thank you ladies for a great day and I am glad you enjoyed your snack.   

Just the weekend left

Until tomorrow...

May 28th- Former PVI Golfer in the spotlight

May 28th, 2015 Year 4 Day 28

FREE PRETZEL #28

Sean Sanchirico is a 2013 graduate of Paul VI High School and played golf for me for 4 years, in 3 of those years earning a varsity letter.  Sean also played on PVI's soccer team, earning varsity letters in his final two season. Sean improved every year he was on the golf team, but heading into his senior year he wasn't feeling right.  He had what is called Gastroparesis in which he could not keep food down, lost his appetite and as a result lost close to thirty pounds.  He didn't even finish the soccer season.  He was determined to make it on the golf course in the spring and even if he was getting sick on the course he played through it to again not only improve his own game, but lead our team to one of our best records.  He was my captain and just an all around outstanding young man.

Sean went on to Rutgers-Camden and played for their golf team as a walk-on his freshman year.  He was making strides, much like he did for me, trying to improve every day.  He was still dealing with health issues and then during a routine eye exam it was found that he had a brain tumor.  He was admitted for surgery two days later and the tumor was successfully and cleanly removed.  As with any brain surgery, Sean would be in the hospital for a while.  He had to learn how to do things all over again, especially walk and even play golf again. 

As poised as is if he was standing on the first tee.

Sean loves golf and loves life.  Tonight, Sean was asked by PVI to be the guest speaker at the annual Spring Sports Banquet.  Sean spoke eloquently about what it means to be prepared in life for what may be thrown at you.  He talked about what high school sports can do for you as a person and the life lessons it can teach you.  He admitted that what he went through in the fall might be the hardest thing he will ever have to deal with in his life, but that the lessons he learned from playing high school sports, of "never give up, keep working hard to reach your goals and always pushing yourself"  is what helped him in his fight against cancer.

Sean has represented himself, his family, our golf program and PVI with dignity, class and perseverance.  I wanted to let him know about the blog and that he deserved a FREE PRETZEL for just being who he was, all the time.  He was nervous about giving his speech, but he was great.  I was an extremely proud coach watching how poised he was.

Proud coach

I am happy to say that Sean has already started classes again at Rutgers and that he has been back on the gold course recently and plans on rejoining the team again in the fall.  I hope he appreciated the small pretzel gift.  I told him about cheddar cheese in the microwave for 30 secs.  I hope it was good.
Hopefully this summer we will get out on the links and work on his game again.  I'm sure he is pretty happy to just get out there.

Until tomorrow...

May 27th- Grade level appreciation

May 27th, 2015 Year 4 Day 27

FREE PRETZEL #27

 Today was a nice day to present the FREE PRETZEL to my grade level partner Arezou Montgomery.  I actually knew Arezou before I came to Johnson because I had the pleasure of teaching her oldest child, Aiden, two years ago at Sharp.  When I was placed at Johnson I had no idea that our paths would cross again so quickly.  Arezou was moved to 5th grade this year and has been learning as she goes.  Arezou and I gravitated towards each other mostly because she was able to show me the ropes at Johnson and I was able to show her the ropes of fifth grade.  We have been planning together as she is more proficient with Reading and Writing and I have been more comfortable with Math and Social Studies/Science.  We are a pretty good ying and yang. 

Even just today, she found paperwork that the two of us had been working on because she is so organized.  It was something we needed too and I did go back to my classroom and find mine as well, but of course hers was right there, easy peasy.  I guess I have always been the messy, not so organized one in any relationship. Ha

Always so organized and neat!

Arezou might be the most cheerful, optimistic person I know.  Sometimes I think, this person cannot be that cheerful all the time? But she really is just that upbeat.  She always greets everyone with a huge smile along with the most cheerful, "Hi, Hello, or How are you?"  It is nice to hear and see someone so excited to be alive. 

Arezou told me that she recently took up running within the last two years and when she puts her mind to it this woman seems like she can do anything.  She is regularly seeking out any and all kinds of running races in the area.  I even saw pictures of her doing the Phillies Bike Ride a few weeks back.  I love her passion and was rewarding her with a little treat today.  She said she was honored and would enjoy it later that morning.  She was so excited that she even posted her picture with the pretzel to Facebook that morning.  I had not even written anything yet!  

Thanks Arezou for being my Johnson guide this year and to many more years to come.

Until tomorrow...

May 26th- A lunch time visit

May 26th, 2015 Year 4 Day 26

FREE PRETZEL #26

It is always fun when I am able to set something up for someone special.  May happens to be a busy month for me, so seeking out others and doing the best I can with this thing can be time consuming.  Today's recipient, my uncle Bob Lynch, was an unsuspecting recipient of the FREE PRETZEL.

Uncle Bob with his lunch snack

I had planned this out with my aunt Kathy so that I could come by during my lunch break and present him with the FREE PRETZEL.  Recently Bob had a mini stroke and unfortunately because of the effects, was not able to join my mom and dad on a river cruise in Europe for three weeks.  I would say he has to be a little more than bummed, but then again, we are very happy he is with us.  I thought it would be nice to at least give him a pretzel right?  I am happy to say that they did have insurance on the trip and in July they already have a different trip planned.  Sounds like fun to me.

My uncle was a professor at Rowan for 36 years.  He taught business classes and is still a professor Emeritus. He has always taken an interest in all of his nieces and nephews, asking the hard questions of "What do you think your major will be in college?" and "What are you planning to do when you graduate?"  Even today he asked if I was interested in becoming a school administrator like my dad?  I'm just not into that, because I enjoy working with the kids each day.

He and my aunt still play a little golf now and then and are still pretty avid Phillies fans. They still have a season ticket plan.  Just for that he should deserve a pretzel right?  Uncle Bob was pretty surprised about the pretzel, but said he enjoys them and was looking forward to his snack.  I just hope Aunt Kathy didn't gobble it up first.  She loves pretzels.  I hope Bob enjoyed his tasty surprise treat today

Happy birthday to my former ACE housemate Terry McCarron.  I hope it was a good one Terry!

Until tomorrow...

May 25th - Memorial Day and Virtual Pretzels

 May 25th, 2015 Year 4 Day 25

FREE PRETZEL #25

On Memorial Day it has become a tradition that we attend the Riverside Memorial Day Parade, like I used to do as I kid.  I talk with the boys about how today is a day that we honor those who fought in wars for our country.  They like to call them army men and so instead of confusing them I go with it and say  "Yeah."  They mostly remember it as the parade where they get lots of candy.  Seriously there is a lot.  Every float, fire truck, motorcycle and person walking by drops it down into the awaiting arms of little ones.  Here are some of the pictures from the day:

Two candy hungry boys awaiting the parade.

There are always Army vehicles on Memorial Day

Delran Golden Regiment Marching Band in full outfits

Delran Fire Company always ends they parade.

After the parade we hung at a park in Moorestown before heading home to chill out for the remainder of the day.  I got the pretzel later in the day, we watched half of Revenge of the Sith as a family and after a slight tummy ache, I covered the FREE PRETZEL in shredded cheese, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds and had a nice before bedtime snack.

Virtual Pretzels:  I wanted to take a minute and recognize some friends from Massachusetts.
I know she is from Texas, but To Mary Madden, BC alum, but more importantly, fellow ACE 7 grad, who has told me on numerous occasions that she has loved reading the blog and that he gave her something to read in the middle of the night when she was up with her kids.  I think still keeps up with it.  Hope you are still enjoying the reading.

To Katie's Aunt Nancy Eagen, living up in Belmont, Massachusetts. She is a frequent Facebook "liker."  I love the support that she has given me and someday we will get her down here in May to present her with a pretzel.  Thanks for reading!

Until tomorrow...

May 24th- MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

 May 24th, 2015 Year 4 Day 24

FREE PRETZEL #24

The morning started off with gifts.  It was a very nice assortment.  A blade sharpener for my razors.  A plaid Notre Dame hat.  THE SHIRT for the upcoming Notre Dame football season and a blue tooth for my phone to use in the car.

My bounty on this day

The real present was that I got to play golf for the second straight day!  When I showed up at the course there were only 4 other guys from our regular group and so we decided to play in fivesome, which is now legal at our club. The round started off pretty well as I birdied the first two holes, then a par and we were on the tee at the par 3, fourth hole.  The hole was playing about 143 yards, with the hole in the middle portion of the green with the wind in our face.  I decided to take a 9 iron.  As I hit the ball, I knew I did not hit it great and said "I think I might get away with it."  Meaning: It was not a well struck shot but its going straight and might be on the green.
Well as the ball reached the green, it took two hops, spun left towards the hole and then fell in.

A HOLE IN ONE.  MY FIRST

The ball as it lies for a 1.

A lot of yelling and high fives ensued and probably woke up the neighbors on a lazy Sunday morning.  It was thrilling, amazing and hard to comprehend.  I did not totally screw up the next hole, just missing a birdie putt, but as the round went on it was hard to keep up my pace and I ended up shooting a 75.  One stroke better than yesterday and one stroke better than last year on my birthday.

Golf ball, scorecard and smile

The rest of the day was nice and relaxing. We went to SONIC and had milkshakes and limeades, played in the backyard and then had homemade pizza and some ice cream cake that Katie made.  I also decided to have some drinks on this extra special of special occasions. The cake was amazing and I was glad we had a little left over. 

It was a party after all

Kit Kat covered ice cream cake

Chocolate and peanut butter inside with crushed oreos and birthday cake ice cream

It had to have been my most memorable birthday.  What a funny day.

I hope a great day was had by all, especially Mrs. Skoviak my third grade Math teacher and Fred Wittenberg and Nick Brooks, childhood acquaintances and fellow Delran High School Alumni.  I also recently found out that my friend Fas, his mom, also has my same birth date as well as Johnson School Educational Assistant Patricia Babnew.  Happy birthday to all who share theirs with me!

Until tomorrow...

May 23rd- An early morning pretzel

May 23rd, 2015 Year 4 Day 23

FREE PRETZEL #23

 A chilly but sunny morning led me to the Pretzel Factory on Main Street in Moorestown on my way to the Moorestown Field Club for some early morning golf.  I was meeting the head varsity girls volleyball coach at Paul VI, Tim Linehan.  Its seemed a little crazy to me that I have been doing this for 4 years and he hasn't received a FREE PRETZEL yet, but our season takes place in the fall and although we communicate via email and text often, I guess we never have gotten together in May.  Today was a different story.

We were able to be the first group off as a twosome and enjoyed a nice and quick round.  Tim was a bit nervous on the first tee as about 20 guys were milling around waiting to tee off.  That's a lot of eyes on a guy who doesn't play all that much golf. He needed a mulligan, but we were off.  About 3 and a half hours later we were having a few beers on the patio with our lunch and the FREE PRETZEL that he saved so he could share with me.

Maybe the best backdrop for the pretzel yet.

The FREE PRETZEL was the least I could do for a guy who has taught me the ins and outs of volleyball for the past 5 years as we have built the Paul VI program up from nothing.  This past year the girls volleyball team made it to the Non-Public State Finals.  I should repeat that for you, but you can read it again.  In only 5 years, we reached the ultimate in our sport.  Pretty impressive.  What is also impressive is that without one of our best players from last year, we hung with mighty Immaculate Heart Academy, who has not lost a match to a New Jersey school in three years and who has won 8 consecutive Non-Public State Titles and 3 straight Tournament of Champions.  We were right there and definitely had me thinking upset at one point.  It's a shame sometimes that the refs cannot get out of their own way.

Tim is slightly changing my perception of Boston College grads.  I guess they can have some reputable skills. Just kidding.  What he has done with our program is nothing short of impressive and I am extremely proud to be part of it and will from time to time tell anyone who wants to know and then give all the credit to Tim. He knows his stuff, knows how to get the girls motivated and has been patient enough with me so that I actually look like I know what I am doing...sometimes.

It has been a really fun five years and hope that it continues into number six.  I would like to thank him for including me in this journey and if all I can ever repay him with is this FREE PRETZEL, then I guess you're welcome.  Now if he can just listen to me and my coaching on the golf course we may make him into a golfer one of these days.

The rest of my day consisted of the Collingswood MayFair festivities a trip to the library.  We played in the backyard and then had hamburger sliders for dinner. It was a nice Saturday, pre-birthday.

The boys found Spiderman outside the Collingswood Library

Lost of inflatable games for the kids during the MayFair.

Happy birthday to Jaynee Brosnan, special education teacher at Sharp school and one of the recipients of the FREE PRETZEL last year on this date.  Hope you had a great day.

(Memorial Day Birthday Edition, coming up)

Until tomorrow...

May 22nd- The pretzel does yoga

May 22nd, 2015 Year 4 Day 22

FREE PRETZEL #22

It's Friday!!!  The pretzel had so much fun last night that it needed some time for itself.  Just kidding.  Today's recipient did have some fun Thursday night and as a result was a bit tired today.  Meg Curtis is the 4th and 5th grade inclusion teacher at Johnson.  Three of her students come to me during our Social Studies and Science time for the entire year.  Meg just recently finished her first full year in the district this past winter and is also working hard on her Masters degree doing field hours in her spare time.

Meg was one of the first people I met at Johnson, since I needed to learn a little about the students that would be coming to me.  Meg is one of the busiest people I know.  She goes to class after school, or does her field work and then also does the field work on given weekends.  Oh and she actually teaches 5 days a week too.  Two grade levels!  She is also kept busy with many, many weddings.  Fun times those twenties!  She is so laid back and easy to work with, its no wonder she does an amazing job with her class.  I wish I had that attitude sometimes.  Wait?  I'm not laid back?

Meg selflessly gives up her room for our lunch group almost every day and I have heard that she was not only in a singing group in college, but that she is not a bad beat boxer.  Yes you read that correctly.  Oh to be young and carefree.  I have not heard it live, just recordings, but it's pretty darn good.  Maybe one day we will get that teacher talent show going and she can really show off.

Meg was pleased with her headstand.  I hope the pretzel is okay?

Meg seemed excited to be presented with the FREE PRETZEL, but admitted to me that she had been working on perfecting her headstand in yoga and wanted to see if she could include the pretzel.  I said go for it.  Just send me the pic when you get it.  And TA-DA!

Meg said the FREE PRETZEL had been teasing her all morning until she was able to get the pic, but that it was quite delicious.  Glad she enjoyed it.

Virtual Happy Birthday! shout outs go out to two people who were already honored in the blog this year.  Melissa Tacey, Class of 2000 Notre Dame grad and Kathleen Roseboro, new friend and neighbor up the street both celebrated their birthdays on Friday.  I hope they were good ones!

Until tomorrow...

May 21st- How do you spell F-U-N?

May 21st, 2015 Year 4 Day 21

FREE PRETZEL #21

Today's recipient is a 4th grade teacher at Johnson School, Jen Cyr. (Pronounced SEAR)  Jen comes to us by way of the great state of Maine.  She has been here for a few years and has settled in nicely at Johnson.  When I got to know Jen for about half a second, I knew she was the definition of F-U-N.  She has this ability to just light up a room whenever she wants.  Whether its quoting movies, singing songs, or limping from working out the night before, she seems to do it with a smile on her face.  Maybe the smile is not always what a smile means, but that's just Jen.

In my very brief time at Johnson, Jen, as well as others, have made the year seem to fly by.  That's a good thing and an even greater thing for me because it shows how great work friends can be, when things are not always that great with work. It's work, its not supposed to be fun, right?  Well it's nice to have people around, like Jen, to make the days go quicker.

Maybe the best part about giving Jen the FREE PRETZEL is that it was her birthday today and I always love May birthdays, especially Gemini's.  Ha!  I left the FREE PRETZEL on Jen's desk and headed back to my room.

As I was preparing my room for the day, she opened the door and said "Am I getting the pretzel today?"
"Of course," I replied.  To which I think she gave a fist pump.  She decided to wait to eat it during lunch.  Only thing was, she did not know we had a surprise lunch waiting for her.  Fas, Meg, Sue and I were ready to enjoy a nice relaxing birthday lunch.  Fun was had by all as always and I am pretty sure she was not only surprised, but had also had a lot of FUN.

Group pretzel selfie

The selfie master, Fas, helped us take a nice group shot.  I am pretty sure she had a nice birthday, at least at school. I sure hope the pretzel attributed to her day in some way.  Thanks Jen

I returned home to a somewhat normal afternoon with the lovely Casale kids.  I had to empty the dishwasher so I decided to put my Iphone on dance music and have it shuffle.  This is what happened behind my back

What a day.

Another good friend also shared her birthday yesterday.  My former colleague at Stockton Elementary School, Desiree' Caldwell also cclebrated her birthday.  She always does up her birthday so well, so I am sure she had a good time, if not tonight then definitely this weekend.  Happy birthday Des. 

Until tomorrow...

May 20th- A glimpse into my future?

May 20th, 2015 Year 4 Day 20

FREE PRETZEL #20

It's a rarity that I am not rushing to the Pretzel Factory early in the morning and then rushing to make it to school on time.  Today was a bit more relaxed because I would be getting the FREE PRETZEL...after school.  Dun dun dunnnnn!

Tom and son Danny improvised their picture.

Today's recipient is our neighbor across the street Tom Schmidt.  Since we moved just over a year ago, Tom, his wife Nancy and there two boys, Danny (headed to Paul VI next year) and Liam, have not only been great neighbors, but they have been a glimpse into my future. Their two boys doing homework, Tom just getting home from running the snack stand at the Collingswood baseball fields. That's my future right?  I guess I would have to add one more to the mix, but it's pretty close.  I hope that my future is just as calm as his seemed to be. 

Tom just recently returned from a trip to Hawaii with Nancy, that he earned from his work.  Nice gig and of course he jumps right back in to work at the snack stand.  He is the treasurer of the Collingswood Little League and can be seen in that snack stand just about every night during the spring months, with the exception of Sunday and when work gets in the way. 

Tom and his sons have already done the favor taking out an bringing in our trash cans on several occasions while we have been away and what else can a neighbor ask for.  No one ever knows what the future will hold, but with a neighbor like Tom and his family, it feels like a perfect place to raise my own family.  I will do my best to learn by example and hope that we have many years helping each other when needed.

Tom was happy to share the FREE PRETZEL with his two growing boys and he said thanks.  He even gave me two mini Ghirardelli dark chocolates that he had from his trip.  Score! I'm glad his boys enjoyed his pretzel.

Happy Birthday Shout outs go to Jodi Levine.  Hope the kids and Neil gave you a very happy birthday.  Also Shelly Iapalucci had a birthday yesterday.  Hope it was a nice one

I feel some special birthday love coming soon

Until tomorrow...

May 19th- I needed a break. Katie takes over for a day

 May 19th, 2015 Year 4 Day 19

I love being deputized to pick someone to get the Free Pretzel because it is such a nice feeling to pick someone who deserves a free pretzel for being wonderful.  I have a whole world full of people who deserve a pretzel from Tim’s Deputy (me), but the recipient today is someone extra special who has been a huge help and support to me this year.

Here is the official photo of the pretzel and the punch card.

FREE PRETZEL #19

Heather Kreismer is the CST at my school and she is a lovely person inside and out.  There are so many unsung heroes who work in schools and CST members definitely don’t get the recognition they deserve.  Heather’s job is so important.  She spends her days looking at kids and how they learn.  Then she works to find out what they need so that they can be successful at school.  Amazing!

She uses the library as a mini-office when she is in the building and I have seen first-hand how wonderful she can be.  People are always saying to her “I just need you for a moment” (when they really need her for more) and she is always happy, kind, and willing to help. 

This year I have been one of those “just a moment” people and relied on her expertise and kindness to help me navigate the challenges that P and D have had in kindergarten.  She has given me such compassion and support throughout this school year—I am truly grateful.  Kindergarten has been no joke for the boys and having her as a sounding board is worthy of a free pretzel and much more!

Heather was a very good sport when I finally gave her the pretzel today. 

Here she is biting into her pretzel!

Tim's part:

Happy birthday shout out to Class of 1997 Delran High school alum Maria Gentiletti.  She is in Belize enjoying some "me" time, without a care in the world.  I am pretty sure she is having an exceptional birthday.  Live it up!

I saw the new Avengers movie tonight.  If I could give Joss Whedon a pretzel I would, but I think he can buy his own.  He's created this world in which you just want to watch all of them unfold one after the other.  It makes it very hard to wait every year for a new one.  I guess that's how they make money? (sarcasm).

Back on track...for now

Until tomorrow...

May 18th- Doing a bit of everything

May 18th, 2015 Year 4 Day 18

FREE PRETZEL  #18

Today's recipient is Cathy Reynolds, secretary at Johnson School and the lady that does it all. As I drove to school today I knew that Cathy was going to be the recipient and I thought about what a big help she has been to not only me, but probably to most teachers at Johnson this year.  Among her infinite jobs are signing students in and out, making the morning announcements each day (full of Math Fact families, birthday announcements and Accelerated Reader Awards), door monitor and just about anything you could think of to help support the staff, including Staff morale.  She has planned fun lunches and breakfasts for the staff and although it's my first year, I think it has brought our staff together.  She may not always be smiling, would you be with all of those jobs, but she is the down to earth kind of person that deals with any issue head on, in search of common sense in this world. 

She did have a giant smile on her face when I presented her with the FREE PRETZEL and told her what it was all about.  She said she loved Philly pretzels and she saved it for lunch.  It made me happy to see her smile so big.  The happy train continues.  She declined the photo, but that's part of the deal.  You can decline the photo, you just can't decline the FREE PRETZEL (no one has yet).  Thanks for making my first year transition a pretty seamless one. 

Official Pretzel Mail

A week or so ago I was perusing the Philly Pretzel Factory website and I noticed a section where it asked anyone to share their pretzel stories.  I decided to tell them about what I was doing and share with them The Daily Twist.  I was not doing it for notoriety, just so they saw that I was having some fun with my journey.  They wrote back letting me know that they thought what I was doing was pretty cool and that they wanted to be updated.  They asked for my address saying they might send some gift certificates.  I was happy to get this in the mail on Monday:

 I need to put this to good use.

Hopefully I will be able to use these to keep paying it forward.  I will make sure to update them again before we are all done. 

Big Virtual Pretzel Happy Birthday Shout Out to Malcolm McCluskey down in D.C. Hope you had a great birthday.

Until tomorrow...I mean today? 

May 17th- The pretzel gets religious

May 17th, 2015 Year 4 Day 17

FREE PRETZEL #17

Today's recipient of the FREE PRETZEL is Abigail Cislo and her family.  Abby made her first communion on Sunday and we were invited to the party.  I thought it would be a good idea to have the FREE PRETZEL get into religion so I chose her and her family to be the next blog entry on this special day. 

Abby and her dad, Tom ready to eat their pretzel

It was a very nice day to celebrate.  The Cislo's have become fast friends.  Tom was the boys soccer coach this past fall as Abby's sister Rosie was on their team.  As the season progressed we discovered that Tom, being from Riverside and I from Delran, that maybe we played each other.  Tom is two years younger and lo and behold we did actually play against each other.  Just before Thanksgiving I found the old scorebook that my high school coach had given me after my senior year.  I quickly took a gander at the Riverside game and look what I found:

Casale 1 goal, Riverside 0.  Just saying

It was pretty cool to notice Tom's name and he thought it was pretty cool too.  I made sure I brought it with me to show him.  Funny that his name was basically right across from mine too.  Tom was great for the boys.  The right amount of intensity and temperament for their age.  The Cislo family has been awesome to be able to hang out with and is just one of the reasons that our transition to Tatem school has been a nice one. 

Abby seemed extremely happy to receive the pretzel and she dug right in, wasting no time.  I was happy to get a picture of her in her communion dress before she changed to play with the rest of the kids.  Good thing too, because the rains came fast and furious.  But the kids still managed to enjoy.  Here is a sampling of their shenanigans:

Screaming, under an umbrella, at full volume.

Patrick, following Tom's lead, using a chair as protection from the rain, even though he was already soaked.

It was a great time for everyone, until we had to leave.  Abby was kind enough to share with her brother and sisters and our kids had a great time.  It's great to see all the kids play together and Tabitha adores Abby.  Abby should get a pretzel just for giving Tibby the time of day.  Ha!  We were glad we could share in the special day!

Happy birthday shout outs to Delran Class of 1996 alum Stephanie Pinkston and Notre Dame Class of 2000 and Notre Dame ACE 7 class of 2002 alum Nicole Shirilla.  Hope you both had a nice bday and wonderful weekend. 

Until tomorrow...

May 16th- A day for Hope

May 16th, 2015 Year 4 Day 16

FREE PRETZEL #16

Four years ago on May 19th our family, along with the Grugan and Davies families and friends, came together to celebrate Kevin and Kate Grugan's daughter Hope, who has Angelman's Syndrome.  The ASF walk was held at Cooper River, basically around the corner from our house.  Last year the walk was moved to an elementary school in Reading, PA, but because our family caught the plague, we were unable to attend.  This year was our first year in the new place.

Hope getting her FREE PRETZEL

Without getting too long winded and sparing a lot of details, that most of your already know, Kate Davies is my good friend from Delran and Kevin is my good friend from Notre Dame. I introduced them to each other and now they have three kids.  Ta-Da! Family and friend have been extremely active in supporting the Angelman Syndrome FoundationAngelman Syndrome Foundation with many fundraisers and raising awareness for the disease. I have linked the website to this page if you click above.
A fun day was had by all and the foundation really puts on a nice event.
Here are some pictures from the day:

Declan, Jack, Kevin and Erin enjoying pretzels

A good size crowd for this event.

My goddaughter Erin, with daddy and her brother Jack.

The weather was great.  The company is the best and the cause is important.  We especially enjoyed our kids wearing themselves out for the car ride home.  As I have said in the blog before, we look forward to this day every year.

A special happy birthday shout out to first grade teacher at Johnson, Rebecca Egbert.  I hope you had a great day and weekend!

Until tomorrow...