Ryan Update
Ryan is still in the hospital. I went afterschool today and he seems a lot worse than Sunday. If you have a moment, please pray for Ryan’s health to be restored.
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June 16, 2012Update on Ryan
On Saturday, we went to the festival at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow. My godson, Ryan was stung by a bee and hade a terrible reaction. At first, we thought he had an allergy to something in the park so we moved from the area. When he appeared to be having signs of a slight asthma attack, we packed up and ran to the car. We drove to the hospital and as you can imagine it was quite hectic with two cars of kids. We got to the hospital and he was still having what appeared to be a mild asthma attack (he has never had asthma). I was talking with him and he responding. After we got to the hospital, things got progressively worse. The doctor came and told us Ryan had a collapsed lung which was caused by a bee/bug bit. I never heard of a child’s lung collapsing from a bee sting and felt like I was in a nightmare. The doctor pumped his body medicine with medicine and all night we waited and hoped to hear better news. The doctor told us if there wasn’t an improvement, they were going to force his body into a coma because he was getting worse and he spoke of operating.
So we stayed up and prayed…..it was a long night.
To make a long story short because I have to get to work, Ryan is recovering at the hospital. Thank you to our friends and family for prayers and coming to our rescue. My eyes ache from lack of sleep/crying/allergies – call me later.
*Ryan had no known allergies before yesterday. We weren’t aware of anyone in his family being allergic to stings either.
Thank you Louise for updating for us on Sat
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This is Louise, K’s sister doing an update for Queenie.
Ryan – no signs of improving so the doctors put him into a medically induced coma so his body could rest/improve or they will operate Sun or Mon morn – please pray. Hope to see some improvement in the next 12-24 hrs. M is staying with K at the hospital. Her phone died and she can’t post anything else to fb – charger is in Bklyn. Call L or K or family. Will update when I get more info.
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June 15, 2012Flag Day – A Bit Late
I just read this message now and although it’s a bit late I’ll post it anyway: I have been meaning to ask you where you got your flag – it’s very bright and can you tell me how to put the holder into the brick? Is it hard to do.
I bought the flag from Amazon.com because it is the type that doesn’t tangle around the pole (the pole rotates).
Lee helped me with this part about installing the flag holder into brick:
Go to Home Depot and purchase a masonry bit that is designed to be used in a standard drill. The bit is around $3 or $4 There are bits that are designed to be used in a hammerdrill, but you don’t need a hammer drill just hand a flag.
Home Depot also sells metal hit pins. Count the number of holes in the flag holder you have an buy that many hit pins. I think they are sold in a package of 4 or 6. Buy ones that are at least two inches in length. They are 1/4 inch so you will need a 1/4 masonary bit. (Ask a Home Depot associate how to use the hit pin if you haven’t done it before)
In order to get less damage, it is recommended that you line up the holes to the mortar between the bricks because that is usually harder than the brick itself. We didn’t and we didn’t have brick damage.
Good luck installing it – if you need help, just e-mail or get me on twitter.
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June 14, 2012When You Aren’t Looking, They Grow Up
It’s the end of the school year and time for summer. Today while my seventh grade students were taking their last test of the year and I looked at them. I mean really looked at them. Some still had the baby faces I met them with last year, but some were changing right before my eyes. They are growing up so fast.
A lot of the 8th graders came in to have their autograph books signed. As they walked towards me, I smiled – not because they were graduating, but because they had grown up here – with us. As I signed their books, I engaged them in conversation and listened intently because the things I was writing began to make my eyes fill with tears. I’m terrible at goodbyes because on the outside I may look very sad, but inside I’m happy for them. Change is good – for everyone – always. They’re leaving and ready to move on in their journey of life.
I’m proud of them…..but I’ll also miss them……A LOT.
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June 12, 2012Brooklyn Crab – New Red Hook Restaurant
The Brooklyn Crab opened this weekend and it was fantastic! First, the place looks like a beach crab house that you would see in Long Island, NY.
Third, the food is delicious.
They have an area out back to play miniature golf, but the area was packed so we didn’t. But don’t worry, you won’t be bored at this place. It was popping!
If you are thinking of going, just wait a few weeks. The place has a few kinks that they need to work out. On Sunday, they don’t serving food until 4pm That upset some people and then the place was back logged for quite a bit. The restaurant is very good and they will need to add a few more people to the staff – I don’t think they counted on it being sooooo successful the first week it opened so they weren’t fully ready for the business they had. Oh and check the prices before you go, this isn’t a side of the road crab shack, it’s a restaurant.
Much luck to the owners – it’s a great addition to Brooklyn!
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June 12, 2012Congressman Grimm’s Smoke Screen
We have the Internet to communicate faster and more effectively. It’s surprising to see a politician using the Internet to call out a school leader. Aren’t politicians suppose to be working hand in hand with educators? I was surprised to see Congressman Michael Grimm’s tweet:
Really Mr. Grimm? You blasted the principal of PS 90 in the news and on twitter? Is that what congressmen are supposed to do?
Mr. Grimm is an educated man and knows that there is a lot of controversy over the word God in public schools. Grimm attended law school and studied Constitutional Law – separation of church and state. So why would Mr. Grimm join the media on this drama swirling story? Because Mr. Grimm was a marine and he knows the importance of a smoke screen. Mr. Grimm has been receiving some bad press lately and he needs people to look away from him. And what better story to use as a smoke screen than a media-hyped unpatriotic school leader?
Everyone wants to know why Justin Bieber’s “Baby Baby” is going to be sung at graduation. If Grimm had called or e-mailed the principal, he would have heard something simple like – that’s one of the songs the children practiced this year with their music teacher. It’s that simple. But don’t worry Mr. Grimm, that song is now out of the program as well.
On Facebook, Mr. Grimm wrote that he had this question for Ms. Hawkins:
Call and ask her. She probably will tell you that she doesn’t want to offend her students or their parents. But even more, she will tell you that the song was too big for the kids. Here you can hear a child from that class is really struggling with the song. We all have cell phones – there is no reason for Mr Grimm to not have made contact with Ms. Hawkins by now.
How about all the threats this principal is receiving now because of the media hype? Are you going to call those people to the rug, Mr. Grimm? The Internet allows people, including you to sit behind your computer and be a tough guy. But in this case, adding fuel to the fire just made you look silly because people expect more from elected officials. If you had stepped up and took action by contacting the principal, you could have been proud of your work today.
Why hasn’t Mr. Grimm e-mailed or called that principal, Greta Hawkins? Why isn’t Grimm part of the solution, rather than part of the media hype? Do we really need more politicians who uses their days to add to the media drama, instead of making our community better? I don’t.
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June 11, 2012Brooklyn Principal Uses Good Judgement on Graduation Song
In Brooklyn there isn’t a lot of controversial news right now, so the media has chosen to go on the attack at the principal of PS 90, Ms. Greta Hawkins. Hawkins decided that the graduation song, “Proud to Be an American” also known as “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood was not appropriate for her students. The media hopped all over this story and deemed Hawkins unpatriotic because she won’t let the children sing a song for America. Of course that’s news if someone is unpatriotic, especially a school leader.
The words of the song Greenwood’s song are patriotic and I love the song. But is it appropriate for children in public school to be singing “And I’m proud to be an American” and “God bless the U.S.A?” In public schools in Brooklyn, there is a very diverse population and some students are not American and their families do not all believe in God. There are many students in Brooklyn who aren’t Americans and have allegiance to their own country’s flag. There isn’t anything wrong with that because we’re in America and that’s what freedom is about.
Do you know that the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance did not contain the word God? The Founding Fathers did not intend for us to include the word God. Many people say God can’t be left out of the pledge for our country, but do they know that the original pledge did not contain the name of God. The words “Under God” were not added until 1954. Look:
This is the reason so many people discuss why the pledge (in it’s current format) should not be said in schools. Should students in public schools be saying the word God? Isn’t it seen as a breach of the wall of separation between church and state? When the media doesn’t have any news to report, they look for stories of those unpatriotic schools who aren’t saying the Pledge of Allegiance. And the news loves to get people riled up and deem the leaders of the school unpatriotic. Is having children recite memorized words enough to make them patriotic?
Ms. Hawkins is an educational leader in Brooklyn. The parents of PS 90 have been very happy with her and the school in the past. Her decision to change a song should be respected. She was thoughtful and considered the community that she represents. I think she should be applauded for actually caring about the words of the song. The new songs that were chosen were chosen because they are fun and represent today’s culture. Brooklyn, there is a lesson to be learned from Ms. Hawkins ban on this song -> Do things with purpose and thought. Hawkins demonstrated that when something doesn’t work, then change it! Our own pledge calls for ‘freedom and fairness for all’ (with Liberty and Justice for all) so Ms. Hawkins is demonstrating respect for the people in her community. She doesn’t want to offend her students or their families. Instead of people condoning her and calling her patriotic, why aren’t we admiring Ms. Hawkins devotion to the community where she works?
We live in America – land of the free. That alone tells us that we don’t need to force children to sing patriotic songs to show they are American. Children eventually grown up and will choose to be patriotic because of the ideals of our country, not because they know the words to a song.
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June 10, 201218th Avenue Feast 2012
Everyone keeps asking, “Is there going to be a feast on 18th Avenue this year?” or emailing and asking me to tell them if they should come in for the Feast of Santa Rosalie. THE FEAST IS ON!
Aug. 23 to Sept. 2nd 2012 on 18th Avenue between 67th to 75th streets See updated pictures here.
The Feast of San Gennaro will take place in Little Italy for 11 days starting Thursday, September 13, and continuing through Sunday, September 23, 2012 so Italians will still have a feast in NYC.
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June 10, 2012Summer Jobs for Staten Island Teens
2016 UPDATED SUMMER JOBS LIST HERE
2016 UPDATED SUMMER JOBS LIST HERE
Finding a summer job in NYC isn’t easy like it used to be. For the past few years, NYC has a job program for teens!
NYC has a summer job program for teens from July 5th until August . I know many teens who have enjoyed working in this program, especially in the schools. Teens have until May 18th to fill out the form and then the lottery for jobs will begin. You need to be 14 years old by July 5, 2012 (and not older than 24) to apply for this program. This program is great because most places won’t hire students who are 14 or 15 year olds in New York.
What type of job will I be given through SYEP? You can find out what’s in your area by clicking here and entering your zip code. There are clerical, hospital, camp, cultural and custodial aides in government and non profit agencies. Many the teens in Brooklyn worked as camp helpers and played with the kids in the school yards. NYC SYEP pays the teens every two weeks. Some of the places allow the teens to work part time as well if they are going to summer school.
What if I can’t find a job through the Summer Youth Employment Program?
Party City has three positions available in Staten Island
Macys in the Mall has positions
If you like kids and phtography, there is associate positions available at the Picture People
Stock Clerk at Toys R Us or Salesperson at Toys r Us
TJMaxx has salespeople positions and Home Goods too.
Cashier at Michaels Arts and Crafts store.
Mother’s Helper and other babysitting jobs in Staten Island
If you are 16 years old – there are jobs for Camp Counselors here.
If you are 17 years old, you can find a fun job working at Adventurer’s Family Entertainment Center – it’s a small amusement park in Brooklyn!
If you are 17 years old, Assistant Junior Counselors are needed here. If you are 18 year’s old, you can be a day camp counselor here in Brooklyn.
*If you are a daring and smart teen, you probably could find a cool job as a camp counselor at one of the Brooklyn summer camps for kids places listed here – they haven’t advertised a lot of these positions yet so they don’t even know they need you. Shoot them an e-mail where you introduce yourself and let them know why they need an ambitious teen like you!
You can try finding a job through Snag a Job Brooklyn board or Snag A Job’s teen job board in NYC.
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June 9, 2012Pretty Quilts
It’s no secret, I love quilts. I love the way they feel and they are very cozy. You can buy heavy-weight quilts for the winter and light quilts for the summer.
I have this winter quilt and it is gorgeous – even prettier than the picture. I’ve owned it for about 7 years and it looks beautiful still. I bought my set (it comes with the shams) from Fortunoff and it was more expensive. It’s pretty cheap and if you love quilts or have a guest bedroom, this is a sweet deal for bedding. In the picture it looks more yellowish than it appears in real life – it’s actually a cream color.
This is my summer quilt. It’s gorgeous (see reviews on the site) and is more green than blue. You can get coupon codes for free shipping at LLBean here.
I love Pottery Barn’s Neena quilt!
I think this quilt is pretty. My bedroom is this sage color so I love it.
I love this quilt at Anthropologie quilt although the colors might be a bit too bright for me.
And although I wouldn’t get this quilt, I adore the sweet owls on it. The creator of this quilt made it for her 26 year old daughter! This is the reason people should know how to sew great things for themselves.
Pinterest has a lot of pretty quilts as well. Some bedding is are homemade by etsy sellers and is gorgeous!
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June 7, 2012Brooklyn Navy Yard – Building 93
We went to Brooklyn Navy Yard for Professional Development while the students were off celebrating Brooklyn Queens Day. When you arrive there, you go to Building 92 and start the tour.
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June 7, 2012Can a checking account co-owner be removed?
Rochelle wrote and asked: Can a checking account co-owner primary be removed? No Rochelle, a co-owner of an account can not be removed from the account.
If the account was in trust for someone, then you can remove that person’s name from the account and put another person if you like. If when you owned the account OR when you decided to add someone to this account – they became a co-owner and it’s considered a joint account.
If you need to get your money some place where it is safe withdraw the money and place it into another account at a different bank. This may be bringing on a legal battle in court if you co-mingled your money and that other person can show that they deposited money or their paycheck into that account.
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