JAREDRYANLEE.COM

So we arrived safely home from New York this past Wednesday morning around 5 a.m. where we rushed home and got a good hour and a half of sleep before getting ready for work.  It was an amazing day as you can imagine.  Actually I got about three hours of sleep on the busride from Dallas so it wasn’t as horrible as I had thought it would be.

The trip was amazing.  I can’t wait to go back and actually spend some quality time in the places we visited instead of rushing through them on a rigid schedule.  Next time we go, I don’t plan to spend so much time in Times Square.  Ugh.  Once you’ve spent a couple of hours there and gotten over the initial awe, you’re pretty much done.  Way too touristy.

Flickr only allows you to upload 100MB a month and I’ve already filled it up.  Those pictures are 9 megapixels each so it fills up pretty quick.

Change is happening everywhere in my life.  I’ll be starting my new job in 3 weeks which just absolutely blows my mind.  I won’t be teaching anymore.  I told the kids before I left and most of them took it pretty well.  A few are pretty pissed and one even cried which made me feel terrible.  I also got a buzz cut which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.  I had one in college and despite looking weird back then I wanted it again.  Ariel said no last summer because she wanted me to have hair for the wedding but when I mentioned the other day she said go for it and that it would be awesome.  So I did.  I was nervous going in and almost chickened out (even Donna, who cuts my hair, was hesitant…”You sure?  Before your new job?”)but it turned out to look pretty stinking great.  I think I’ll keep it for a while.

So I must say that I absolutely love this city and wish I lived in Manhattan.  I could totally be a New Yorker.  I’m just grumpy enough and always in a hurry.  The trip has been great, though I want to return very soon with just Ariel and I so we don’t have to have a bunch of kids in tow.  It’s kind of a pain trying to get everyone to agree on where to eat, where to shop, and what to see.  Also, having a strict schedule to adhere to can kind of be a bummer.  Trying to rush through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2 1/2 hours is ridiculous…especially when high school kids could care less about Greek, Roman, and Medieval sculptures and would rather shop at the M&M or Hershey Stores. 

We went to church at West Point today and I’m embarrassed to say I slept through most of the service.  I tried and tried to keep my eyes open, but they just wouldn’t cooperate.  Then we had about an hour and a half to see China Town, which actually was okay with me.  There’s only so many ripoff purse and watch stores one can see, although the restaurant where you could buy cooked baby pigs was interesting. 

The highlight of today was going to the top of Rockefeller Center at night.  It was beautiful.  By the time you read this I’ll have a couple of pictures put up on the Flickr site.

We saw Spamalot tonight which I found to be absolutely brilliant but a few parents found a little too racy and were a little upset.  I laughed my ass off.  Much better than Mary Poppins (which I also slept through as did most of the rest of the group).  Curtains was really good and it was cool to see David Hyde Pierce of Frasier fame.

Tomorrow we’re off to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Mets game (maybe…it’s supposed to be rainy, windy, and cold all day).

Off to bed.

I’m sitting in a hotel room in Dallas right now after a lengthy bus trip.  Ariel and I are sponsors on the Randall High Choir Trip and we’re heading for New York in a few short hours.  Our flight leaves at 6:50 a.m.  It’s 11:45 as I write this. 

We’re both really excited, neither of us having been there before.  I plan on trying to post on here at least every other night and updating my Flickr account with pics every night at least.

If you wish to look at these picks go HERE.

You may recall a few weeks ago that I said some big news would be coming in a few weeks.  Well, here it is.

Today, I turned in my resignation to Canyon ISD.  That’s right.  I’m leaving.  In fact, I’m getting out of teaching altogether.  I have accepted a position as an IT Consultant at Run Business Solutions in Amarillo.  I will be working for my great friend Toby Giddens. 

I could not be more excited.  Since I started college, I’ve wanted to work in technology and now it’s finally happening.  I didn’t have a great year teaching this year.  Almost every year that I’ve taught, I usually start contemplating a career change come springtime.  This year it started in the fall.  It was time for a change.   I had lost the love and passion I had for teaching and it would be unfair to the kids, faculty, and myself if I were to go on and trudge through it.  Ariel and I have been praying for an opportunity like this for a long time and God was faithful and answered.

I start on June 9.  Wish me luck.