Mark: GOLF, sports in general, both real and fantasy, poker. I'm kind of a dork. I also love cooking, traveling, coaching about 900 different sports and hanging out with my wife. Tracey: Being with Mark, reading, watching movies, shopping, ebaying, gardening, beading, cooking, scrapbooking, knitting, and of course spending endless hours in my classroom always preparing for tomorrow. Julie and I are team teaching this year. My emphasis is math, so I focus on that with my kids in my class and then "coach" new teachers on getting organized in their classrooms. I'm also the PTA vice president for our school, and have worked my butt off all year long! Our other major interest is our boys. Seymour (orange tabby) and Stanley (black and white) are our babies. Seymour is 2 and a half and Stanley is 1 and a half. Mark's nickname for Seymour is "Mizzle" or "Miz" and we call Stanley "Stan Man" and "Stan Boy." We now have a third addition to our little family. We adopted a third kitty named George. He's a tan and white tabby and is driving us absolutely NUTS. The three boys play and despite the occassional hiss here and there, they get along just fine.
In March 2007, Mark was injured in Palm Springs, CA. He sustained multiple head fractures and had a grapefruit sized blood clot in his brain. He was airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center and was immediately rushed into the operating room to remove the clot. His surgeons performed a miracle surgery to save his life. He was in ICU less than twenty-four hours and we left the hospital six days later. His surgeons told our family that he is a very strong person and his recovery was amazing and miraculous. We came home to open arms, lots of well wishes and the endless support of our family, friends and colleagues. It's now almost a year later and Mark has completely recovered...in fact, he's been completely recovered for a long time already! Mark's surgery, tests and hospitalization cost a whopping $175,000!! Good thing we didn't have to pay for it--(THANK YOU, insurance!) Thank you to everyone for your support and kindness--it meant so much! Here's to our health--it's the most important thing we have!
TONS, including Country and 80s rock.
Mark is a closet Justin Timberlake and Usher fan...along with his entire list of "Mark's angry rap music" on his iPod.
Mark's Favorites: "Hoosiers" and "The Sandlot". Though, any sports related movie will do! Tracey: My all time favorite movie is "It's a Wonderful Life"--my parents taught me right.
ESPN....so I can catch up on my....baseball, basketball, football, golf, tennis, soccer, boxing, horse racing, what did I miss....?!? Tracey and I love HEROES (Nissan Versa!) and have gotten into the latest edition of American Gladiators. We also watch American Idol, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, MythBusters, Food Network and GSN.
This school year we read the Spiderwick Chronicles to our kids and will take them to the movie coming out in February! I'll also, of course, read The Phantom Tollbooth to my kids at school--my favorite book of all time!
Grandpa Otsuji, Eldon and Joan Vaughn, Ryan Reed Vaughn and Mike for his fantasy sports skills! Mark and I teach. I teach 5th grade and Mark teaches P.E. We spend countless hours everyday, every week with our kids and I have learned far more from these experiences than any college class could have taught me. They make me proud and drive me crazy, but at the end of day, there's NOTHING I'd rather be doing. As they enter and exit my classroom, they'll always remain with me. The school year has flown by...we're over half way through and will celebrate our 100th day on January 24th!