October Happenings

I am sitting outside on the deck of our home and it’s just about to rain. We just found out that our refinancing was approved and we are waiting for a closing day. I can’t believe refinancing was so easy – less than 7 business days.

I feel so grateful and blessed today.  I sit outside this amazing home, I love some pretty amazing people and I have a job that I love. Some of my old students who have gone off to high school and sent me the kindest e-mails and  I couldn’t be more grateful.

Did I mention I am off on Monday? I hope you all have a fantastic three weekend!

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Parking Near Barclay Center – Cheaper – Tips Brooklyn

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This weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s time for the Ragamuffin Parade on Saturday and the Third Avenue Festival on Sunday! It’s just a relaxing weekend in Bay Ridge with like 400  kids of all ages dressing in fun costumes and walking on 3rd Avenue. On Saturday, the parade starts at 1:00pm on 76th Street and 3rd Avenue and ends on 92nd Street and 3rd Avenue.

Kids can get registration and consent forms to participate in the Ragamuffin Parade here online or at the following places:

• 8703- 3rd Avenue
• 7408 -5th Avenue
• 7308 – 13th Avnue
• The two Carvel stores 8612 3rd Avenue and 7400 – 3rd Avenue

See old pictures on the Facebook page!

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Refinancing Our Mortgage

Three years ago when we purchased our house in Brooklyn, we were pretty satisfied with the low rate of interest we received. On Thursday last week, we heard that interest rates were as low as they were in the 1950’s. We stopped into two banks to discuss refinancing.

First we went to Dime Bank. Dime offered us a great rate and we loved the people we talked to about the loan. But since we didn’t do the original home mortgage with Dime there would be a lot of transfer fees that were up in the air. At first she said that it could be between 5K and 15K  to transfer depending on Chase OR THAT THE OTHER BANK MIGHT WAVE IT COMPLETELY. Weird, right?

So we decided to go to Chase and talk with them. We went to a different branch in Brooklyn and met a mortgage processor who knows her stuff.  Chase offered us the same low rate as Dime and we took it because we figured it would be easier to  do within the bank.  NOW HERE COMES THE STRANGE PART. The bank no longer has any of the original paperwork on file. Meaning, we needed to provide our insurance document again, in addition to the last two years of our W2’s and federal tax papers. Finally we had to provide copies of the last 3 pay stubs. The banker ran our credit reports and Lee gleamed that he had a 826 credit score out of 850.

We started our paperwork on Friday and brought everything back on Monday because we want this refinance to slide through nice and easy. Our friend asked us what we were going to do with the extra money. I knew she would use it on a huge vacation, but we just plan on applying the same amount to our mortgage and paying it off sooner.

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Roller Skating in Bay Ridge and Brooklyn 11209

Roller Star’s Roller Disco – Lakeside – Prospect Park  schedule here  They even have toddler skating times. – Fun  – around $12 with skate rental (there is a cheaper time to skate – goldstar)

Pier 2 Roller Rink  – $5 to enter and $6 for skates.

Skate Truck in NYC – 2 hour rental $10

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Pillow Pillows Everywhere!

I love pillows. On the bed, sofa and even on a computer chair. Pillows can make a whole room look fresh. And Pottery Barn Pillows are my favorite.

My living room is a soft gold color so almost anything can go with it. Look at my new pretties! 

I love the Fall colors in these.

 And I know this one has a bird in it  and it may look more like it is for Thanksgiving, but I think it will work because of the pumpkins.

I also got two brown ones which were on sale for 75% off. Yeaaaaaaaaaaa!

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Praise God

Without writing/revealing too much – Praise the Lord for miracles…….for you my friend.

I couldn’t be more grateful.

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11 Years Later

Eleven years doesn’t seem so long ago. My mind can still recall ever moment of that day and how minutes like hours. And the aftershock of mourning covered the city just as the missing person posters covered Downtown Brooklyn. I can’t remember what I ate for dinner two nights ago, but I can recall whole conversations I had that day.

Eleven years…..it’s the lifespan of the average 6th grader. The new class of middle schoolers were just one year old when this tragedy happened in our city.

It’s said that time heals all wounds…..they must have meant a lot more time than 11 years. RIP my friend.

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Nick Peterson – Winner Takes All

Nick Peterson made viewers in the live audience and viewers at home cheer as he took all the money and left Rachel Trueheart sat and stewed.

Peterson, the winner of the reality show Bachelor Pad was quiet and went with the flow throughout the show. He didn’t party or play with the others throughout the season.

On the finale, Rachel and he were voted as the winners. Then they each got to choose if they were going to share or keep the money. Rachel choose share and Nick chose keep all. He ended the season with $250K. Well played Nick.

So Rachel is having a bad year – she lost the guy and the money. And then she was a sore loser on the show and ran after Nick to ask him to explain. He laughed and explained how he won!

Normally, I don’t watch this show. But it happen to be on and I was glad to see the great ending!

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Taylor Swift’s New Song

Who is We Are Never Getting Back Together about? Taylor Swift is one of my favorites. When I heard her new song at the end of the VMA’s, I couldn’t wait to see the video and figure out who it was about. The song isn’t that great, but everyone loves to hear which old flame was outed in the new song.

Taylor dated Jake Gyllenhall in the winter. We saw them walking around trendy Brooklyn because Gyllenhall’s sister, Maggie lives in trendy Park Slope.

Sporting more than a five o’clock shadow makes the actor in the video is a great dupe for Gyllenhall. Gyllenhall is always seen in plaid shirts, as is his dupe. Also Gyllenhall was seen giving Swift his scarf and that is shown in the video as well. I definitely think he is the guy mentioned in Taylor’s new song.

Watch out Conor Kennedy, your next.

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Inspired

Events and people shape our lives. Thinking about this week, I was fortunate to be inspired by four men who lived with their heart and soul.

My Uncle Joe is one of the first men in my life who taught me some amazing things. He would always say he wasn’t my uncle because he was my Mom’s uncle. One day I told him he was my great uncle and he told me that there really wasn’t such a thing because every man would be every other man’s great uncle. I wanted him to have a title because he was important to me, but he wanted me to know him and wasn’t impressed with titles. Everyone called him Joe, but I called him Joey. Joey could do anything and fix anything. He never saw any obstacles in life because he knew he was able to make and create anything he wanted. Uncle Joe lived his life for himself and spoke only about things that made him happy.

In 1990, I met Professor Enildo Garcia. He taught Spanish and I learned more from him than he planned to teach me. I was apprehensive about his class because I didn’t think I spoke Spanish well. I had taken Spanish in high school for 3.5 years and didn’t do that well. Professor Garcia didn’t care that people spoke perfect Spanish, he cared that people tried the language. And he was tough and made us work. Professor Garcia taught me how to be a good teacher. He had high expectations and he knew that students would meet those expectations. In two semesters (eight months) I became someone who could actually speak and write Spanish well because of his encouragement. He believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself because I felt defeated from prior experience. I think of Professor Garcia every September when I begin a new school year. He is who I strive to be.

In 1997, I met John Q. Adams, a school principal. He hired me to work in his school when I was still new at teaching. Whenever I had a new idea, Mr. Adams loved hearing about it and encouraged me. Adams built a school on hope and positive thoughts. He didn’t let negativity into his school and he believed in every person who stepped into that building. He let people say whatever negative words they needed to say, but he always followed them up with strong positive words. Pretty powerful right? Yup – he was pretty powerful. Now he wasn’t perfect – he got angry and frustrated at times too, but at the end of the day, he made things right for people and he remained true to his belief that one person could change the world.

In 1998, Leon’s Uncle loved me. That’s a pretty strange statement right? Let me explain….There are people in your life who have to love you because you are related to them. Then there’s people in your life who love you because of what you can do for them. And some people you just meet and you have a friendship like no other. Uncle John loved me from the day Leon introduced us. One of the most remarkable things about him was that he understood the meaning of life – Live and love God. Life is that simple when you do it right. The night before he passed, we went to visit him. He was very weak, but when I walked into the hospital room he opened his eyes wide and he said my name and smiled. My name was the last word he said and I will always be grateful for his friendship, love and even that moment.

When I walked into my classroom this year, the first word I saw was Uncle John’s last name which is so rare – it’s surreal…this sounds creepy right? Not really….it’s just a reminder of how easy it is to love. I found a picture of Mr. Adams when I opened my desk drawer. Came home to Joey’s favorite flowers blooming in my yard and sat down and drank a cup of coffee and thought of Dr. Garcia.

It’s going to be a great year.

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Dear Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield

Dear Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield,

I had no idea that you were separate from Blue Cross Blue Shield, but thanks for always sending your employee to my website. Neal is a regular stalker. I’m thinking your company probably isn’t very efficient because your employee searches my site regularly and I have no insurance information on here. Eventually every company searches for what comes up under their name, right? Maybe when you find my site because you want to see what reviews are out there about Horizon Bcbsnj. You definately need to do a better job monitoring internet activities of your employees if you are trying to increase productivity. I’ve got months of logs so shoot me an e-mail and I’ll send them over to ya.

Just so you know…I have asked him to stop, but he’s morally bankrupt and doesn’t know how to.

QotClick

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