Choosing Intention: Our Word of the Year

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You are listening to the Balancing Act podcast. Here's your hosts,

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Jamie Wonko and Joe Vitale.

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Hey, we are officially recording. Hello, and welcome back to the Balancing Act podcast.

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I am Jamie Wonko here with Mr. Joseph Vitale.

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Hello, Mr. Vitale. How you doing? What's up, Jane? What's up,

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Ms. Wonko? How are we doing?

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I am doing Wonder Bar. What? Wonder Bar.

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Yeah. Well, happy 2026, everyone.

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Happy 2026. I know. How crazy is that to think about? Cheers to this glorious

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year. Yeah, I know, right? Put 2025 in the past.

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It was a banner year at the old Bender house. You know what I mean?

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Yeah, I hear you. Um, so, and you know, maybe in the new year,

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Well, here we are. We're back on there. We're back on the horse. Yeah.

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Back in the saddle again you know what i think new year's needs i mean besides

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like old lang syne it's old legs i mean there's no songs like other songs there

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should be more like new year's songs,

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charles schultz felt the same way charles schultz oh okay explain from the peanuts

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charles schultz yeah so happy new year charlie brown is everything got it everything and more.

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How do I feel like I've never seen Happy New Year, Charlie Brown? I'm not.

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I'm sorry. If you haven't, I highly recommend it. I think all of the peanuts are on Apple TV.

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Yeah, I think. Yeah, I think you're right. I don't know if I've ever watched

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that one. Oh, it's fantastic. Get yourself a bottle of root beer.

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Nice. And sink in for a little, you know, slow, slow, quick,

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quick move across the floor.

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I mean, they learn how to dance. Okay. I mean, he's, you know,

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trying to get with the little red haired girl. It's a delight.

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I just feel like there should be more...

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New year songs like i just see like bruce springsteen's

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happy new year baby i just see like some kind

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of like you know uh and i'm not a bruce springsteen fan you know i know hot

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take uh i'm a new jersey person bruce springsteen doesn't do it for me i don't

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know i'm over billy i'm over billy joel guy um but yeah we're uh you know we're

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we're here back in 2026 it's exciting to be here again.

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I am so happy to be back. Yeah. Back to the pod, back to work,

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back to this new exciting year, although I'm lying.

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Yes. So, listen. January is a difficult time for me. Yeah. Yeah. I agree.

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I have to get my seasonal affective disorder lamp out, and, you know,

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I do. It's such a difficult time.

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January, to me, is the hardest month of the year. Okay.

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Am I freezing, Mr. Vitalik? You did just freeze just a bit there.

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Okay. Are you hooked into your new... See, Jamie's been having some internet

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issues as we've been working through. Connectivity issues, people.

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Yes. Connectivity issues. And also, you're freezing for me like every 15 seconds.

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Oh, okay. That's why I asked you, because I can't see myself freezing.

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No, and I'm not freezing at all. Are you... You must have internet connectivity issues.

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Darn it. Darn it. Yeah, so January to me is the longest.

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Most difficult, it's the Monday of the year, you know, and it can be a really rough go.

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So I am going to try to really tackle this month with as much grace for myself

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as possible, because to me, it's just, I have to just get through it.

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And then there's something beautiful and mysterious about February.

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And I love all the decorations and pink and reds and all the things for Valentine's Day.

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So for this January, we are just going to say it's so much fun to get through January.

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I like it. Yeah. But you know, what I wanted to do.

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Is a little bit of a year in review for us to kind of look back.

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I think that would be a great idea. Look at the shoulder move.

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Look at the shoulder move. Back. Oh, lean back.

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It's a little lean back, Rockaway. Okay. Remember that song?

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Oh, man. Jason loved that song.

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Okay. And just kind of talk about...

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2025. Yeah. You know, before we do though, let's make one quick comment about 2026.

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Okay. Um, this might be one of the biggest year of like our parenting lives, right?

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Cause we're, we're literally like, we've taken you on a journey so far as our

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listeners where, you know, our kids are still deciding what are they going to

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do? Where are they going to go?

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What's the college and all the things in the majors and all that stuff.

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And it is an exciting time, but it is also So very melancholy to think about.

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And I think you've often said, right, that you're preparing your children to

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live without you, not to live with you. Right.

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Like to see the I don't know if that was the exact quote.

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Really? Because I want my kids to never leave me. So I don't know.

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Was that my quote? I don't.

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I think it was. Wasn't it yours? Not yours. They were like it was from something.

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If I said it, I lied. Yeah. I never want them out of here.

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Um no it's it's amazing to see the young adults that

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they're becoming and uh you know it's going

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to be a big journey for us um as we

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continue through this in 2026 it's going to be a big year for us

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for our families for our kids um and

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although it there is change upon the horizon it

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is still exciting to think about um what

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that journey is going to look like and we don't know what that journey is going to look like so

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um it's kind of like being able

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to to take it slow and really you

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know you can't tbd tbd yeah you can't hit the pause button on life but it's

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definitely something i want to be um more aware and present for so it's pretty

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crazy for you guys because you're like an all-in all-out at the same time yeah

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you know so i still have my younger ones but the um,

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you know, the, the, the definite reality, I think of, of us,

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even as parents entering this phase of teenager, you know, parenting teenagers

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is that you're like back with your spouse a lot, like just the two of you. Yeah.

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And there's, you know, that can be like really awesome. And then also like a little,

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like a little bit strange sometimes, but the idea of like all these things that

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are going to be coming up um for for the kids with uh you know the prom and yearbook and.

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Europe like there's so much yeah yeah for them that i um i'm i'm really excited

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yeah and we've planned some little trips um individually as a family at um you

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know now that we're back into it my wife and you mean subgroups subgroups subgroups

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yeah my wife and uh my wife and son went to the winter classic hockey game in Miami.

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Which was on January 2nd.

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So that was very fun for them.

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And I'm taking my daughter to Orlando in May.

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We're going to go to a little Star Wars thing together because she's my resident Star Wars nerd.

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As much as my son likes it, my daughter is all in and loves and knows more about

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it than I do. And it's something we've always wanted to do.

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So, you know, isn't the only time we're going to be able to do that.

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But we figured let's enjoy some experiences.

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Um, you know, separately, but together, you know what I mean?

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So there's some exciting things happening and, you know, like you were saying,

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the prom and them going to Europe together and, and all those fun things that

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they're going to experience. It's exciting. It's exciting.

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Yeah. It's melancholy. It's exciting. And it's something that,

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um, I'm looking forward to, but at the same time, you kind of don't want it to end.

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So, um, you know, it's exciting to, to think about what it's going to look like.

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We're going to savor it. Yeah.

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Savor. I'm going to savor it. That's a good one. All right. So anyway,

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we're about to go into a wrap of 2025, right?

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But we definitely wanted to comment on the journey that we're going to be on

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in 2026 because it's something we'll be talking about on the show.

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2026. You know, when they were born and, you know, I remember probably not like

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an infancy or anything like that, but I do remember like going when the kids

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started kindergarten and there was like a lot of people who would do, or even pre-K,

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and they would do like those giant t-shirts, which were basically just

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like men's like large yeah yeah they would write like

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that you know they had like the the year of the high school graduation like

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the 2026 on the shirt and then each

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year the kid would put the shirt on put the shirt you know year after year

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i never did that no i've seen

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people do it it's super cute but it's also like you know

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this it's sort of this abstract idea of like

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2026 you know back in 2008

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oh yeah and now that it's here it

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is it's pretty crazy i was

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watching a tv show the other day and

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the show it was like one of those where like the show ended

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and it went immediately into something else that i had not

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chosen to watch and it was like an alien cartoon of

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the future oh okay and the people were living on another anyway and it was like

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it is the year 2030 30 and like the idea of like i mean it clearly had to be

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from like the 50s or 60s of the 19th but it was just so wild like that's what

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they thought was going to be happening in 2030 and.

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What's also funny to think about is like when you know sometimes you see these

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memes online and it's like if back to the future would happen today they would

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travel back to 1995 and i'm like damn it no 1995 was yesterday we can't talk

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about that you know when the music was when the music was better and everything

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was good and there was no internet and we just did things and had fun.

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I saw one the other day that said, like, I think the cure to perimenopause is like, I just need.

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So it was basically like a list of things from the 90s, like smell, tonflowers, perfume.

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Like, it was just like all the relatable things. And it was like,

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and another one that said the scent of the 90s.

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Like, when I smell this, it smells like the 90s, which was a little offensive

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to me because I only stopped wearing it a couple of years ago.

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Tommy Girl. Or there was the other one that I saw. Tommy Girl was my signature

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fragrance for years and years. I think it was a recent commercial for like a wrinkle cream.

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And it was like it was Donna Martin and David Silder from 90210.

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Right. And it showed like the two of them like in love and like Donna Martin

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is like about to propose to him or something.

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I don't know what I don't remember the exact premise of the commercial.

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But all of a sudden you see like the tv clip and then like a modern person walks

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in front of them in the screen and it's like well if you enjoyed this original

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scene from the 1990s it's time to apply your wrinkle cream and i just thought

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it was i just thought it was the greatest the greatest,

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advertisement ever it's time for some retinol people if you about if you know

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that donna martin graduates then you know it's time for a night cream it's true

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anyway um do you do do you have any skin do you do skincare routine or um.

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No, I don't. I just have a, I have a cleanser I use after I shave and just some,

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uh, I try to SPF even in the winter time.

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Um, I have like a, a face lotion that I put on after I shave,

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um, or, you know, every, every time after I shower, just a little something,

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but I don't have anything specific that I put on my skin or hair.

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I've been trying to encourage Jason, uh, listeners, that's my husband.

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And I've been trying to encourage him. He is in the sun a lot. He does SPF, which

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is very good um but try to

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encourage him to do a nighttime routine and he's extremely resistant

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to it yeah it would be it would be good um as we

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get older our skin gets you know thinner and uh and grosser um but yeah interesting

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yeah no but we don't people need to talk about skincare routines eventually

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okay oh i was like i'm trying to be crazy about it just a couple steps yeah

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trying to encourage him like hey let's you know let's do this together let's get into the,

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2026 routine here, pal.

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But, you know, we'll see. We'll see.

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I'm working on it still with him. I think you should. I think if you, if you are.

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Approaching 50 yeah yeah yeah well i mean you know 2026 the year of 50 another

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milestone for me this year you know it's just a lot going on actually months

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away from that big b day actually 50 though mr wonko as you're listening not

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59 as you whatever you think i am yeah,

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50 50 50 i know 50 and 50 i know i don't feel like it uh my you know i go and

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i play uh pickleball and I play with some younger guys,

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because pickleball is all the rage and I played tennis all my life and I miss

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it. But the tennis court is too big for me now.

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It's so nice that they have that option. Yeah, but there's like some...

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It's fun. It's great. It's competitive. It's awesome.

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And there are times when I play against guys that are in their 20s and they're

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like, all right, good shot, sir.

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And I'm like, son of a bitch, am I sir now? I'm like, I am. I'm sir now.

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But I try and hold my own with the younger guys.

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My mind says I'm 25. my left knee does not so you go to the pickler,

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uh no what is it called it's uh pickleball hq

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it's a place in um um down

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in there is one down by lbi by our house called pickler

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yeah they'll call the pickler there's all the indoor places it cracks me up

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every time i'm like you used to be a bed bath and beyond pickler you did used

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to be a bed a lot of ex-bed bath and beyonds are turning into uh pickleball

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places i think it's great i gotta be honest with you i go in there on a friday

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night or into the you know whenever i go It is packed.

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I mean, packed. Is it like golf? They just pair you up with randos?

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Yeah. I mean, you can go in with a partner.

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I have a few friends that play, but it doesn't really work out.

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But I just decided, you know what? I'm going to go, and you get paired up with

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a partner. You can play singles, but I'm not good enough to play singles.

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Fun fact, balancers. Joe has his own case for his pickleball racket.

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Oh, I have like a bag. Like a bag. The thing goes in. I mean,

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he doesn't do anything halfway.

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Yeah you know if you're gonna do it equipment having the

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proper equipment it's very important to have very important

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um so yeah you just show up and you put your

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paddle like uh on a on a fence you just put it

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in like one you know it's like a it's like a chain link fence so you put it

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in the in one of the holes and it sits there and you basically there's a line

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and whoever the two paddles are that's who you play with so whoever it is that's

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who it is and you join you join up and you play against other people and then

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winners stay on losers come off it's very competitive, but it's also fun.

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It's meant to be a good environment. It's a competitive environment. I love the competition.

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Anyway, that's part of me being an old person and trying to feel like I'm still young.

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What are we wrapping on 2025 there, girl? What are we going to talk about?

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We're going to be focused on the pod here and talk about our year in view for

00:15:26.423 --> 00:15:28.863
the Balancing Act podcast. All righty.

00:15:29.406 --> 00:15:34.826
Beloved passion project. Yes. And, um, I'm going to ask you.

00:15:37.926 --> 00:15:43.906
You do a lot of the vetting of our guests. Yes. So what qualities do you look

00:15:43.906 --> 00:15:45.806
for when picking guests?

00:15:46.686 --> 00:15:52.106
Um, I'm glad you asked that. So a lot of times the first thing I do is I say,

00:15:52.186 --> 00:15:53.986
Hey, hey, what do you think of this person?

00:15:54.146 --> 00:15:56.366
I talked to my co-host, WU.

00:15:57.906 --> 00:16:03.526
And a lot of times it's just, you know, looking through social media and seeing what resonates with me.

00:16:04.606 --> 00:16:08.146
Because I know that you and I think alike in regards to what we think about

00:16:08.146 --> 00:16:09.926
teaching, parenting, the classroom.

00:16:10.326 --> 00:16:13.066
And there are a lot of people out there in those spaces that,

00:16:13.066 --> 00:16:15.826
you know, have put some stuff out there.

00:16:15.966 --> 00:16:20.366
Like, for example, Courtney Varner, who's been on our show, right?

00:16:20.366 --> 00:16:23.946
Hi it's me it's hi it's me miss v um i

00:16:23.946 --> 00:16:26.786
absolutely love just about everything she posts on

00:16:26.786 --> 00:16:30.106
the internet like the memes that she posts and things about cheese and

00:16:30.106 --> 00:16:32.946
like just she's hysterical but my the

00:16:32.946 --> 00:16:36.546
thing that drew me to her in the very beginning that i went to a deep dive through

00:16:36.546 --> 00:16:42.706
her social media was she did this thing where if i died what middle schoolers

00:16:42.706 --> 00:16:46.266
would do at my funeral and she put like a hood over her head and she put the

00:16:46.266 --> 00:16:50.426
pimple stickers on her face and she would lean over the casket and be like,

00:16:50.486 --> 00:16:51.786
do you have a Chromebook charger?

00:16:52.542 --> 00:16:56.382
Or like somebody would open up a bag of Takis and like start chewing them.

00:16:56.562 --> 00:17:00.082
And I was roaring because it was just hysterical.

00:17:00.562 --> 00:17:03.542
So, but then when I looked through some of her social media,

00:17:03.742 --> 00:17:06.182
I saw that a lot of the things she did that were like humorous,

00:17:06.302 --> 00:17:09.862
we're not to like make fun of students, but we're like, here's what it's really like.

00:17:10.442 --> 00:17:15.882
And I want to make sure that we have people on our show that can kind of really tell us.

00:17:18.122 --> 00:17:23.422
Like reinforce what we feel already in the classroom. And these are people from

00:17:23.422 --> 00:17:24.502
all over the country, right?

00:17:24.702 --> 00:17:27.802
It doesn't matter where you are. A middle school kid is a middle school kid

00:17:27.802 --> 00:17:30.222
is a middle school kid, right? They're all doing the same things.

00:17:30.522 --> 00:17:32.822
Six, seven is still all the rage, okay?

00:17:33.782 --> 00:17:36.922
I hope we leave that in 2020. I hope we left that in 2020. I mean,

00:17:36.922 --> 00:17:38.702
I hope so. I think it's making its way.

00:17:39.062 --> 00:17:42.162
Yeah, I think it's making its way. I think we're doing a good job killing it

00:17:42.162 --> 00:17:50.982
because, you know, we, a few weeks ago, I played Celebrate by Cool and the Gang

00:17:50.982 --> 00:17:52.182
as everyone was coming in the room.

00:17:53.622 --> 00:17:56.982
Celebrate good times, come on! So everybody's coming in the room and I'm playing

00:17:56.982 --> 00:17:58.462
this song. I'm like, alright, I'm gonna take attendance.

00:17:58.602 --> 00:18:02.842
And I just hit play and it's playing in the background and nobody's really doing

00:18:02.842 --> 00:18:05.942
anything and they're all looking and they're like, why is this on?

00:18:06.022 --> 00:18:08.582
And I'm just playing the song and I'm like, congratulations!

00:18:09.742 --> 00:18:11.062
You guys made it!

00:18:12.442 --> 00:18:18.582
The 67th day of school! And I counted because I was out to dinner the weekend

00:18:18.582 --> 00:18:21.882
before And one of the kids was like, Oh, my entire school is Tom's river.

00:18:22.082 --> 00:18:24.122
It was like Monday's the 67th day of school.

00:18:24.342 --> 00:18:26.802
Yeah. People make shirts and yeah. Yeah.

00:18:27.182 --> 00:18:29.862
And I was like, is it the 67th day of school for us? But you know,

00:18:29.962 --> 00:18:32.722
with days off and in services and stuff like that, it wasn't.

00:18:32.762 --> 00:18:34.142
And it turned out it was like that Wednesday.

00:18:34.342 --> 00:18:39.482
So I was like, all right, I'm going to do this whole elaborate plan and like, and do something. Um,

00:18:40.371 --> 00:18:43.891
But and so I think that we're in the process of killing it because now that

00:18:43.891 --> 00:18:46.231
we're like, oh, it's so cool. I'm going to do six, seven, two.

00:18:46.391 --> 00:18:47.271
And I'm like an old person.

00:18:47.531 --> 00:18:50.911
Like, that's why I say and do the things I do, because eventually it will die.

00:18:52.151 --> 00:18:57.251
But no, I try. I try to look for guests that are going to resonate with us and

00:18:57.251 --> 00:18:58.391
think the same way that we do.

00:18:58.851 --> 00:19:02.971
A lot of times it's people that I already have relationships with.

00:19:02.971 --> 00:19:06.351
Uh, in the example of like, uh, Merv Lapousse, who's been on the show,

00:19:06.531 --> 00:19:10.471
um, who's somebody that I talked with and bounce some ideas off of.

00:19:10.551 --> 00:19:14.011
He works for common sense media, but he's just an overall just,

00:19:14.211 --> 00:19:16.211
I mean, phenomenal person.

00:19:16.411 --> 00:19:19.911
Right. And just somebody who I really enjoy, but I know that he has this very

00:19:19.911 --> 00:19:24.131
strong background in like the classroom and social media and,

00:19:24.331 --> 00:19:27.191
you know, technology and all things that we talk about often.

00:19:27.471 --> 00:19:31.511
So it's good to get somebody who's a quote unquote expert on the subject as well.

00:19:31.711 --> 00:19:35.211
So, you know, that's what I look for. I look for people that are going to add

00:19:35.211 --> 00:19:42.371
value to our show and are going to speak to, you know, our guests in a way that

00:19:42.371 --> 00:19:45.711
they're going to say like, hey, we're not alone in this. There's other people that feel the same way.

00:19:46.111 --> 00:19:50.731
Yes. And I think we also usually where we agree and, you know,

00:19:50.811 --> 00:19:55.631
where we intersect on our feeling about guests is that we don't mind if people

00:19:55.631 --> 00:19:58.511
are going to, you know, Courtney has such a great outlook of like,

00:19:58.571 --> 00:20:01.071
if you're not laughing, you shouldn't be doing this job.

00:20:01.191 --> 00:20:05.051
You know, if you can't find some way to enjoy and celebrate with the kids every

00:20:05.051 --> 00:20:08.331
day, you know, then you should reevaluate what it is that you're doing. Right.

00:20:08.791 --> 00:20:14.871
But I think what we like to do is have people that are enthusiastic about education

00:20:14.871 --> 00:20:20.171
and also are very much interested in not just complaining,

00:20:20.171 --> 00:20:24.011
but taking things that are true, serious questions.

00:20:25.427 --> 00:20:30.047
Areas that need improvement in education and then really wanting to try to fix

00:20:30.047 --> 00:20:32.267
them. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

00:20:32.767 --> 00:20:37.027
So I think that that all is, you know, definitely something that that goes into

00:20:37.027 --> 00:20:39.507
the selection process for for the guests.

00:20:39.767 --> 00:20:42.907
Yeah. All right. Next question. Yeah. Next question. All right.

00:20:43.707 --> 00:20:46.047
Am I asking one of you or are you asking one of me? Are we going back and forth?

00:20:46.207 --> 00:20:47.507
You can ask one for me. OK.

00:20:48.207 --> 00:20:53.987
Was there any guest that we were having on that you were nervous about having on the show?

00:20:55.324 --> 00:21:00.184
Like nervous to interview. Anybody that I was nervous to interview? Yeah.

00:21:00.664 --> 00:21:04.124
Like butterfly style? Yeah, like butterfly style. Huh.

00:21:05.084 --> 00:21:08.624
Not really. Yeah, I don't think so either. Yeah, no.

00:21:09.024 --> 00:21:12.504
It's more excitement than it is nervousness, I think. It's very exciting.

00:21:12.864 --> 00:21:18.224
I, you know, there was, there may or may not have been a couple of times when

00:21:18.224 --> 00:21:22.144
I didn't have time to do my homework properly.

00:21:22.144 --> 00:21:27.244
And so I was more nervous about making sure that I had enough background information

00:21:27.244 --> 00:21:32.364
to ask questions and, you know, have have the right sorts of responses.

00:21:32.364 --> 00:21:34.484
But I wouldn't say nervous.

00:21:34.964 --> 00:21:38.924
Definitely like somebody that fires me up is Tyler Tarver.

00:21:39.044 --> 00:21:44.204
And his excitement and energy is so much fun to have.

00:21:44.344 --> 00:21:48.664
So I wouldn't say nervous, like, oh, no, more so just like the excitement of

00:21:48.664 --> 00:21:53.244
it. And you, I think, um, and also it's like, oh boy, how am I wrangling these

00:21:53.244 --> 00:21:55.684
two men who have very similar energy?

00:21:56.084 --> 00:22:00.904
Um, so, so that is definitely a person that is like, oh no, what's happening.

00:22:01.344 --> 00:22:06.284
Um, focus people, you know, um, we are definitely like, we are like,

00:22:06.504 --> 00:22:08.904
you know, cats with a string where it's like, oh, shiny object.

00:22:09.144 --> 00:22:15.364
And we're, yeah. Um, but he's, he's, but not only, um, you know, I, I, I.

00:22:16.024 --> 00:22:19.844
Um, we'll take that compliment and wear it as a badge of honor because I find

00:22:19.844 --> 00:22:22.244
him to be not only someone who's

00:22:22.244 --> 00:22:26.564
high energy, but also is just incredibly knowledgeable in what he does.

00:22:26.824 --> 00:22:30.864
And I'm going to say it again, if you're not following Dr. Tarver on any of

00:22:30.864 --> 00:22:32.984
the social media platforms, you absolutely should be.

00:22:33.244 --> 00:22:39.904
And 99% of all the things that he produces, the forms, the Google sites,

00:22:40.084 --> 00:22:41.504
the slides, it's all free.

00:22:41.784 --> 00:22:44.324
He does this stuff because I'm a teacher, you're a teacher.

00:22:44.664 --> 00:22:48.204
That's not on teachers pay teachers like he's got like a paid portal that you

00:22:48.204 --> 00:22:51.324
can go through that's got a hell of a lot more stuff on it and if you're really

00:22:51.324 --> 00:22:53.744
looking for like ai content or stuff like that,

00:22:54.361 --> 00:22:58.241
great, great resource. But a lot of the stuff he has is free and you could just

00:22:58.241 --> 00:23:01.401
download it, make a copy, change it, edit it, make it yours.

00:23:01.501 --> 00:23:04.221
He's like, Hey, you do whatever you want with this. I'm putting it up there for you.

00:23:04.721 --> 00:23:10.041
Um, so, and that's, that's what I love too, is I love finding people that are

00:23:10.041 --> 00:23:13.361
not just advocates, but are champions for teachers in the classroom.

00:23:13.741 --> 00:23:19.121
Um, I think that that's, that's a huge, huge thing as to why we have those people on the show.

00:23:20.261 --> 00:23:25.981
Is there any particular topic that you chose to stay away from this year?

00:23:27.221 --> 00:23:30.281
Yeah, I think there were some political topics. Yes.

00:23:31.432 --> 00:23:35.932
You know, I don't want to speak too much politically, but in the state of New

00:23:35.932 --> 00:23:39.412
Jersey, there was a very, you know, hotly contested governor's race between

00:23:39.412 --> 00:23:40.912
Mikey Sherrill and Jack Citarelli.

00:23:41.472 --> 00:23:44.492
I had personal opinions about Jack Citarelli as a candidate,

00:23:44.492 --> 00:23:50.232
but more about his stance on what he wanted to see for public education.

00:23:50.232 --> 00:23:54.772
I think it would have done a disservice to our public schools.

00:23:55.952 --> 00:23:59.872
I personally thought that an educator who casted their vote for Jack Citarelli

00:23:59.872 --> 00:24:03.232
maybe didn't do all of their homework.

00:24:03.592 --> 00:24:06.032
I'm not trying to speak ill about anybody's political choices,

00:24:06.052 --> 00:24:10.312
but I know in our profession that I don't think he was the best choice for the job.

00:24:10.412 --> 00:24:13.912
So we tried we had other people we wanted to have on. And then once I found

00:24:13.912 --> 00:24:18.372
out that they were staunch supporters of him, I was like, I don't know if that's

00:24:18.372 --> 00:24:21.832
the right place or space for those people to be in.

00:24:21.972 --> 00:24:25.732
Our show really isn't for that. We try and stay neutral as much as possible. Yes.

00:24:26.012 --> 00:24:29.352
But we also want to, you know, we advocate for teachers and we talk about like

00:24:29.352 --> 00:24:31.652
what's best for teachers in the classroom.

00:24:31.912 --> 00:24:35.552
So we can't do that if we're, you know, those dialogues might be good.

00:24:35.952 --> 00:24:40.152
But I didn't know what direction those shows would go in.

00:24:40.152 --> 00:24:43.392
So there were times where you do a little deeper dive on someone that you're

00:24:43.392 --> 00:24:46.552
looking at on the show and you're like, I don't know, maybe maybe the right

00:24:46.552 --> 00:24:50.392
time is later, but it definitely wasn't during like a political cycle,

00:24:50.612 --> 00:24:52.032
which is very divisive. Yes.

00:24:52.352 --> 00:24:56.472
And our governor elect, Mikey Sherrill, is getting ready to be sworn in. Yes.

00:24:56.872 --> 00:24:59.852
Yeah. Yeah. Very soon. Very soon. Yeah.

00:25:01.052 --> 00:25:05.892
So that'll be good to see, you know, what plans she wants to put in place. Yeah.

00:25:07.472 --> 00:25:13.892
Oh, OK. Do you? Oh, I keep forgetting going back and forth. Um, do you...

00:25:15.452 --> 00:25:16.172
Um...

00:25:17.866 --> 00:25:22.506
Nope. I don't want to do that one. What is one mistake that you made this year?

00:25:22.546 --> 00:25:23.806
And what did you learn from it?

00:25:24.706 --> 00:25:28.306
So should this be in podcasting? It can be in podcast.

00:25:28.806 --> 00:25:33.086
Sure. It can be in podcasting or like any of our podcast related things,

00:25:33.226 --> 00:25:34.746
our social media, any of that stuff.

00:25:35.006 --> 00:25:39.706
Yeah. So I'm still trying to figure out that this is good.

00:25:39.886 --> 00:25:43.566
There's so many different nuances of things that, you know, they are like,

00:25:43.646 --> 00:25:44.586
oh, do this, but don't do that.

00:25:44.706 --> 00:25:48.686
And then try this and don't try that. So, as far as mistakes,

00:25:48.906 --> 00:25:53.046
I would say I'm still learning how to master meta business.

00:25:53.746 --> 00:26:00.866
The part of meta for business is that is, you know, I didn't go to college for marketing, right?

00:26:01.046 --> 00:26:03.966
So, a lot of these things are, we're just learning as we go.

00:26:04.206 --> 00:26:10.426
And so that, but it's also the titles that are involved in naming the show.

00:26:10.426 --> 00:26:13.226
Yes, because, you know, and I've spoken to this before.

00:26:13.386 --> 00:26:21.306
Anyone that's ever listened to the show knows I love podcasts and I listen to as many as my time.

00:26:21.826 --> 00:26:27.226
I mean, some of them I listen to like on 1.7 speed so that my new car actually

00:26:27.226 --> 00:26:29.466
has like a little turtle if you want to slow it down. And then,

00:26:29.686 --> 00:26:31.106
oh, yeah, it's really cool.

00:26:31.826 --> 00:26:38.386
So I try to as fast as possible. Can't do it. I can listen to more.

00:26:38.826 --> 00:26:42.926
And I actually just started following someone who talked about like signs that

00:26:42.926 --> 00:26:48.226
you are a fast or slow processor of information. It's a really,

00:26:48.326 --> 00:26:49.266
he's a really good follow.

00:26:49.846 --> 00:26:54.706
Anyway, and how fast, you know, you can kind of take information in it.

00:26:55.686 --> 00:26:57.426
I can't figure out.

00:26:59.024 --> 00:27:03.984
What makes a good title or correct title or an interesting title or the right

00:27:03.984 --> 00:27:05.884
title or capital letters or lowercase.

00:27:06.044 --> 00:27:08.964
I'm very confused still about all that.

00:27:09.104 --> 00:27:14.904
So for January, you know, for this 2026, I am going to pump up my seasonal affective

00:27:14.904 --> 00:27:17.424
disorder lamp. I'm going to put on my sunglasses.

00:27:19.244 --> 00:27:21.764
It does look like the surface of the sun when I, because, you know,

00:27:21.804 --> 00:27:25.824
I'll use that all this whole month when I'm getting ready in the morning and

00:27:25.824 --> 00:27:31.264
I will just blast it at my face. And I will also try to figure out how to make better titles.

00:27:31.884 --> 00:27:35.624
What do you think? Right, Tally? What's what about you? What what's your answer

00:27:35.624 --> 00:27:37.544
to that same question? I think.

00:27:41.224 --> 00:27:45.724
I don't I don't really have a specific answer. Would it be interrupting me?

00:27:47.164 --> 00:27:48.744
Interrupting me for 400, Alec.

00:27:50.464 --> 00:27:54.724
Come on. Now you're giving me a complex here. Yeah, I'm awful at that, by the way.

00:27:54.724 --> 00:27:59.244
Um which which i know is something i need to work on and my wife tells me that all the time,

00:28:00.784 --> 00:28:03.544
um you know that's that's part of like everybody wants to

00:28:03.544 --> 00:28:06.624
get their ideas in and i see adhd in me

00:28:06.624 --> 00:28:10.424
um so if i do that on the show people and it annoys you know that it's something

00:28:10.424 --> 00:28:15.164
that i'm working on um and i apologize to my uh and if any of the listeners

00:28:15.164 --> 00:28:21.784
have said jamie joe interrupts you a lot no one has ever told me that no one

00:28:21.784 --> 00:28:24.444
ever told joe yeah it's an intervention,

00:28:24.904 --> 00:28:27.304
Yes, it's an intervention. We're called you here for this meeting.

00:28:28.404 --> 00:28:32.544
No, we try not to. I know. It's so hard because you can get excited and then

00:28:32.544 --> 00:28:37.084
you want to have a turn and all of that. It is by no means to...

00:28:39.183 --> 00:28:42.683
What is the word I'm looking for here? It's by no means. There's no ill intent in it.

00:28:42.943 --> 00:28:46.183
Yeah, there's no ill intent in it, but there, and also it's by no means to like

00:28:46.183 --> 00:28:49.103
slight your opinion. No, no.

00:28:49.623 --> 00:28:54.723
Cause I think that you add, you know, a incredible amount of value to what we do.

00:28:55.063 --> 00:28:58.103
So, um, there's that.

00:28:58.343 --> 00:29:03.443
And I think I'm still trying to learn, you know, in regards to the editing process,

00:29:03.443 --> 00:29:08.243
how to make sure that I can do this, um, in the most efficient way possible.

00:29:08.563 --> 00:29:11.843
Um, we have a certain number of files that I don't want to go through the minutia

00:29:11.843 --> 00:29:14.023
of everything, but we have a certain number of files that we need to upload

00:29:14.023 --> 00:29:17.543
every week and make sure that they're done and completed and downloaded and,

00:29:18.123 --> 00:29:21.963
and how things get up, get uploaded and put into things, which I think is something

00:29:21.963 --> 00:29:24.063
that eventually I can tackle. Yeah.

00:29:24.983 --> 00:29:28.263
But that's what, you know, our, our friends at human content help us with.

00:29:29.323 --> 00:29:33.483
But I'm trying to make sure that I do that as efficiently as possible.

00:29:33.623 --> 00:29:36.783
Cause I always, not that I feel pressure, but I want to get the episode into

00:29:36.783 --> 00:29:41.283
your hands to listen to, to make our audiogram clips, to listen to things as

00:29:41.283 --> 00:29:43.443
quickly as possible because I know your time is valuable too.

00:29:43.563 --> 00:29:47.603
So I want to make sure that that gets done in a timely enough manner so we can

00:29:47.603 --> 00:29:50.903
get things taken care of. This is like some of the behind the scenes stuff.

00:29:51.103 --> 00:29:55.223
Like for those of you that don't know, you know, I reach out to the guests and

00:29:55.223 --> 00:30:00.023
focus on our schedule, our recording schedule and do our editing and uploading

00:30:00.023 --> 00:30:01.883
and getting all that stuff ready for release.

00:30:02.083 --> 00:30:06.463
And then Jamie is listening to the episodes, creating some documents that we

00:30:06.463 --> 00:30:10.883
need as well as doing the social media part of this. So, like, the team is us.

00:30:11.823 --> 00:30:16.563
And I have to say, we really enjoy it. Yeah.

00:30:16.863 --> 00:30:19.923
I mean, I totally, I do, I don't always...

00:30:20.306 --> 00:30:22.406
You know, sometimes people will say like, oh, do you make money?

00:30:22.666 --> 00:30:28.266
Is it, you know, and I feel like I have gotten more out of this as a passion

00:30:28.266 --> 00:30:31.266
project of something to really throw my energy into.

00:30:31.526 --> 00:30:34.566
And I think it's very similar to teaching in that way.

00:30:34.826 --> 00:30:42.906
It doesn't always equal, but you can certainly get, I feel like it really definitely fills my cup.

00:30:43.106 --> 00:30:46.146
I mean, like there is so much that I get from

00:30:46.146 --> 00:30:48.846
the people and the interviews and the learning new things and the

00:30:48.846 --> 00:30:52.066
challenges and all of that that um is really i

00:30:52.066 --> 00:30:54.686
love it and yeah and there's there's and there i

00:30:54.686 --> 00:30:58.066
go interrupting you um there are there are

00:30:58.066 --> 00:31:02.186
things that we do you know trying to find sponsors and creating content on social

00:31:02.186 --> 00:31:07.006
media you know both for our sponsors and to grow our social media platform and

00:31:07.006 --> 00:31:12.186
things that we've learned along the way in regards to like um people who want

00:31:12.186 --> 00:31:16.206
long-form content like like podcast might not want short form content,

00:31:16.206 --> 00:31:19.986
like stuff on social media. And so like our.

00:31:22.146 --> 00:31:28.486
Listenership and how it grows does not exponentially equal to how our social media grows.

00:31:28.626 --> 00:31:32.846
So we're treating them as two separate parts of a brand that we're trying to work on.

00:31:33.546 --> 00:31:37.166
Cause our ultimate goal, once again, is to get advice out there and to help

00:31:37.166 --> 00:31:38.186
as many teachers as we can.

00:31:38.406 --> 00:31:41.746
Yes. And we really do genuinely feel like if it's helping us,

00:31:41.906 --> 00:31:43.386
it's helping other teachers.

00:31:43.866 --> 00:31:48.126
And that is, you know, the ultimate goal from the very beginning.

00:31:48.786 --> 00:31:52.266
Yeah, I learn things from this all the time. Yeah. Things that I approach.

00:31:53.446 --> 00:32:06.106
Yeah. So how about, is there a guest that surprised you with an unexpected answer or perspective?

00:32:08.606 --> 00:32:09.326
Yeah.

00:32:14.527 --> 00:32:18.487
I do. Our interview with Courtney White that we did about a four day school

00:32:18.487 --> 00:32:20.527
week, I would have expected more.

00:32:20.867 --> 00:32:23.147
I'm glad to hear. Let me put it this way.

00:32:23.607 --> 00:32:27.667
I'm glad to hear because what I was worried about hearing from her was that

00:32:27.667 --> 00:32:30.507
this was a rushed process to go to a four day school week.

00:32:30.667 --> 00:32:33.667
I am glad to hear that they took their time.

00:32:33.887 --> 00:32:36.927
They surveyed the parents. They talked about what it was going to look like.

00:32:37.067 --> 00:32:41.387
They had a good year of lead up into going into everything.

00:32:41.387 --> 00:32:47.147
And I felt not that that was like her perspective, but I'm very glad and happy

00:32:47.147 --> 00:32:52.967
that that was her experience because I feel that in making a change like that, um.

00:32:54.587 --> 00:33:00.047
You have to make sure that you have buy-in from everyone and not just your staff members.

00:33:00.247 --> 00:33:04.847
It has to be from, like, students need to understand why the change is happening.

00:33:05.547 --> 00:33:08.387
Legislators need to understand why the change is happening. And the big move

00:33:08.387 --> 00:33:10.907
of going from instructional days to instructional minutes.

00:33:11.247 --> 00:33:17.207
Like, there was some very good work, I think, that was done in regards to putting

00:33:17.207 --> 00:33:23.307
together the plan to go to a four-day school week.

00:33:23.307 --> 00:33:26.107
So and again not that it was her her perspective on the

00:33:26.107 --> 00:33:28.927
matter but i thought that it was very interesting to see that like i

00:33:28.927 --> 00:33:31.987
felt that that was done right and that might not be everybody's experience

00:33:31.987 --> 00:33:36.127
in that district right but i felt that like surveying the parents talking about

00:33:36.127 --> 00:33:38.587
what it's going to look like preparing them for what it's going to look like

00:33:38.587 --> 00:33:41.367
here's what the child care is going to be like here's how much it's going to

00:33:41.367 --> 00:33:45.747
cost like all of those plans were put in place before they rolled something

00:33:45.747 --> 00:33:49.187
out and i'm not saying that it was smart i think it was smart And even the,

00:33:49.187 --> 00:33:50.767
the backup plans for the,

00:33:51.147 --> 00:33:55.707
or the not backup, but the plans for what do you do with your kids on the day that school is closed?

00:33:56.107 --> 00:34:00.347
Yeah, that's what I mean. Like, and businesses started opening up and this started,

00:34:00.447 --> 00:34:02.647
I hope those conversations were had.

00:34:02.807 --> 00:34:07.107
Like they, they talked to, you know, the local gymnastics place and the basketball.

00:34:07.587 --> 00:34:10.827
You know, the, the, the rec center that has a basketball thing.

00:34:10.947 --> 00:34:12.427
Like, do you guys have things available?

00:34:12.567 --> 00:34:15.547
Cause it's not only an avenue for kids to get in your facility,

00:34:15.547 --> 00:34:18.447
but it can be a way for you to increase your revenue as well.

00:34:18.687 --> 00:34:23.227
So I think it helps the community, um, on, in a wide variety of ways.

00:34:23.327 --> 00:34:26.587
So I thought that that, that was a, it was very interesting to me.

00:34:26.647 --> 00:34:28.027
I really wanted to hear how that went.

00:34:28.187 --> 00:34:32.427
I was, we were looking for somebody for a while because we had heard and read

00:34:32.427 --> 00:34:37.307
articles and all that stuff about, um, schools going to a four day week.

00:34:37.387 --> 00:34:39.807
So we really wanted to find somebody that was, that was in it.

00:34:40.167 --> 00:34:44.347
And Courtney is a, was a, was a great, um, A lot of Courtney's on the show.

00:34:45.047 --> 00:34:48.407
She's fantastic. And I all, it must be the age, like a lot of Courtney's in

00:34:48.407 --> 00:34:52.787
their 30s, right? Yeah. Yeah. I thought that she had just such great energy.

00:34:54.110 --> 00:34:57.050
I really liked that. And she's such a great follow online.

00:34:57.210 --> 00:35:00.330
I really enjoy what she posts and the things that she's doing.

00:35:00.330 --> 00:35:03.830
And she's a mom with three little kids. I mean, there's just, yeah. Yeah.

00:35:04.170 --> 00:35:09.530
And all of the people that we have on the show, what's really great is,

00:35:09.730 --> 00:35:12.450
you know, we try to tell them like, please publicize, send it out to your own

00:35:12.450 --> 00:35:14.410
listeners, repost the stuff that we need.

00:35:14.950 --> 00:35:19.250
If I reached out to Courtney specifically because her episode did really well,

00:35:19.370 --> 00:35:21.870
I was like, hey, this clip that you did is getting a lot of traction,

00:35:21.870 --> 00:35:25.190
especially because she had an article that she was on today,

00:35:25.710 --> 00:35:27.990
todayshow.com. She was quoted in an article.

00:35:28.270 --> 00:35:33.770
And then I said, hey, let's put some clips back out from your episode and push

00:35:33.770 --> 00:35:39.330
people back to it because there's so much in there that is also going to talk about that article.

00:35:39.330 --> 00:35:41.950
So anyone that's looking at that article, if they want to hear more about your

00:35:41.950 --> 00:35:44.210
journey and what it's like to work in a four day school week,

00:35:44.390 --> 00:35:47.030
we can put you in, put that episode out there, too.

00:35:47.090 --> 00:35:50.030
And she's like, absolutely, let's do that. So it's great to see.

00:35:51.230 --> 00:35:55.710
We love when our guests work to help publicize the show for their own,

00:35:55.850 --> 00:35:59.090
for themselves and for our own listeners, too. Right. For everybody.

00:35:59.530 --> 00:36:01.170
Teachers supporting teachers, for sure.

00:36:02.170 --> 00:36:07.550
Are there any topics that you are excited about going over this year?

00:36:09.081 --> 00:36:11.841
Anything you'd like us to talk about looking forward in

00:36:11.841 --> 00:36:14.721
2026 yeah like like specifically like uh

00:36:14.721 --> 00:36:17.801
show topics that we maybe have discussed or you know

00:36:17.801 --> 00:36:20.661
i think we'll talk about blah blah for like

00:36:20.661 --> 00:36:25.541
for joe's big birthday celebration the petty party petty patrol is coming back

00:36:25.541 --> 00:36:31.701
right we're gonna have like a uh is it is it grind is grinding gears coming

00:36:31.701 --> 00:36:37.041
back up you broke up on me i'm sorry so yes ground grind uh what grinds my gears

00:36:37.041 --> 00:36:38.401
is coming back for joe's birthday,

00:36:39.621 --> 00:36:42.761
and I'm interested to hear like what our

00:36:42.761 --> 00:36:45.621
kids when we circle back to I'd love to talk to

00:36:45.621 --> 00:36:48.981
Jen again college counselor and kind

00:36:48.981 --> 00:36:51.921
of talk about like my biggest question is like Jen

00:36:51.921 --> 00:36:57.541
do you have any advice for how do you make the decision now that there are like

00:36:57.541 --> 00:37:02.581
financial aid on the table or scholarship offers on the table and guiding through

00:37:02.581 --> 00:37:07.501
that yeah that's like a whole other weeding through situation that I'm unfamiliar

00:37:07.501 --> 00:37:09.041
with. We're still waiting.

00:37:09.401 --> 00:37:13.701
Both you and I have kids that are, I have kids, have schools that our kids are

00:37:13.701 --> 00:37:15.941
waiting on to hear from before they make a decision.

00:37:16.121 --> 00:37:21.261
Yes. But I will say that they have gotten into schools that they didn't think

00:37:21.261 --> 00:37:24.101
they would get into as well as schools that they knew that they would get into,

00:37:24.221 --> 00:37:25.281
not to sound arrogant. Right.

00:37:25.641 --> 00:37:27.261
Their schools are like, yeah, we know they're going to get in there.

00:37:27.381 --> 00:37:29.781
They have the grades. They have the numbers. We've looked at the whatever.

00:37:30.061 --> 00:37:32.701
And then you get like this much money and that much money and this much money.

00:37:32.821 --> 00:37:34.361
And they're figuring it out. Like.

00:37:35.501 --> 00:37:39.441
All right, well, what's the best thing to do? Like, I don't know what that is.

00:37:40.021 --> 00:37:45.621
And I remember her saying, do not apply to a school that you don't want to go to.

00:37:46.450 --> 00:37:51.050
You know, and that was that was good advice for sure, because then you get an

00:37:51.050 --> 00:37:53.070
offer, which I didn't listen to when we did it.

00:37:54.030 --> 00:37:56.890
And so there is like one school that it's kind of like, well,

00:37:56.930 --> 00:37:58.070
you don't really want to go there.

00:37:58.170 --> 00:38:01.710
But now you got in there and they offered you money. And but it's sort of like,

00:38:01.810 --> 00:38:06.230
well, that school really isn't on the table because you don't really want to go there.

00:38:06.330 --> 00:38:09.430
But, you know, waiver codes, sometimes the waiver codes get the best of you.

00:38:09.610 --> 00:38:13.730
And, you know, you just kind of send it out and why not? But check out the box.

00:38:13.730 --> 00:38:16.390
So that i would really like to um and then of

00:38:16.390 --> 00:38:19.510
course um you and i had discussed briefly like you know

00:38:19.510 --> 00:38:22.390
maybe there's an episode uh somewhere with um

00:38:22.390 --> 00:38:25.470
like maybe don't say that like maybe great yeah

00:38:25.470 --> 00:38:28.370
you know uh i don't know how we make an episode

00:38:28.370 --> 00:38:31.510
of that but like we we are gonna we're gonna we're gonna not talk

00:38:31.510 --> 00:38:34.650
about that one yet um because jamie

00:38:34.650 --> 00:38:37.370
and i are of the ilk where we've worked long enough in our

00:38:37.370 --> 00:38:40.750
career and we're we're old i'm old jamie's not

00:38:40.750 --> 00:38:43.650
names i am old not for the club but

00:38:43.650 --> 00:38:46.390
you know it's like uh screw it

00:38:46.390 --> 00:38:49.310
just say it like we can we can do that not in

00:38:49.310 --> 00:38:52.130
a rude way right but in a way where it's like yeah you know

00:38:52.130 --> 00:38:55.890
yeah we can say it because we but

00:38:55.890 --> 00:38:58.670
you know what you you can't say it like i can

00:38:58.670 --> 00:39:01.550
say it but you can't say it you can't say it and there's a reason why i

00:39:01.550 --> 00:39:04.770
could say you can't say we want to talk about that reason so that's

00:39:04.770 --> 00:39:08.110
going to be an episode that i'm looking forward to i'm also looking forward to um if

00:39:08.110 --> 00:39:11.230
if you don't mind me tagging in yeah um

00:39:11.230 --> 00:39:14.850
we are gonna probably talk about um i

00:39:14.850 --> 00:39:17.790
think in march we're gonna have a a tech reset month a little

00:39:17.790 --> 00:39:20.590
theme that we're gonna do where we have some guests that we're so we're gonna break from our

00:39:20.590 --> 00:39:23.930
normal pattern and we're gonna have some guests on every week where we're gonna

00:39:23.930 --> 00:39:28.390
be talking about um a number of different things the walk back of technology

00:39:28.390 --> 00:39:33.270
in regards to the chromebooks um we're gonna talk about you know uh australia

00:39:33.270 --> 00:39:38.790
recently had a um tech talk a a law that was passed that, um.

00:39:39.050 --> 00:39:41.930
If you are under the age of 16, you cannot access social media.

00:39:42.090 --> 00:39:43.510
Oh, that's right. Social media in general.

00:39:43.850 --> 00:39:48.130
Which, which we talked about in my classroom and students were like appalled.

00:39:50.006 --> 00:39:57.986
I found it almost split where many were like, I wouldn't mind that because I

00:39:57.986 --> 00:40:00.806
have seventh grade, you have eighth grade. Kids are a little bit younger.

00:40:01.006 --> 00:40:04.746
There's kids that are not on it because their parents just don't want them,

00:40:04.906 --> 00:40:06.966
don't let them, which I think is a big part of it.

00:40:07.026 --> 00:40:12.286
But I was interested to see about a government legislating what that looks like.

00:40:12.426 --> 00:40:15.166
I'd love to get someone from Australia on the show to talk about it.

00:40:16.026 --> 00:40:19.726
Haven't had any luck. So that's one of those things like we've been trying. um yeah

00:40:19.726 --> 00:40:22.706
and that's and to add if any if any

00:40:22.706 --> 00:40:26.226
of our listeners call to action call to action attention

00:40:26.226 --> 00:40:29.566
if any of you have any guests

00:40:29.566 --> 00:40:33.086
or topic ideas that you would like to hear uh please

00:40:33.086 --> 00:40:35.806
let us know and uh we would

00:40:35.806 --> 00:40:39.006
be so happy to pursue um any of

00:40:39.006 --> 00:40:41.946
your leads anything that you would like us to discuss

00:40:41.946 --> 00:40:45.006
we would be very happy to do that absolutely well

00:40:45.006 --> 00:40:48.206
one of our traditions that we've done last time

00:40:48.206 --> 00:40:50.886
oh wait wait wait wait no we don't want to do that

00:40:50.886 --> 00:40:53.886
yet okay wait wait wait before we do word of the year because

00:40:53.886 --> 00:40:57.006
that'll be our that will that'll be our finale before we

00:40:57.006 --> 00:41:00.046
do what are the year did you have a standout guest

00:41:00.046 --> 00:41:05.286
for 2025 did i have a standout guest for 2025 yeah did you have i hate to say

00:41:05.286 --> 00:41:11.326
favorite but if you let's say it at the same time because i have one i i don't

00:41:11.326 --> 00:41:18.146
think we're i think i think it's gonna be i think it's gonna be challenging. Okay.

00:41:19.083 --> 00:41:22.943
Three, two, one. New Jersey convention.

00:41:23.443 --> 00:41:26.323
See, I love, I love Santorelli. She's awesome.

00:41:26.503 --> 00:41:32.023
But like that episode we did at the teacher's convention, I know it was hard.

00:41:32.203 --> 00:41:33.943
It's hard because it's multiple guests.

00:41:34.363 --> 00:41:37.343
That's the, the interview. Yeah, I know.

00:41:38.063 --> 00:41:42.683
All right. Well, it's hard because like, I really love the conversation we had

00:41:42.683 --> 00:41:46.603
there with Nick Ferroni about like, I have such a great talk.

00:41:46.603 --> 00:41:50.903
And Jamie Centrella, I hope I'm not saying her name wrong. Yeah.

00:41:51.383 --> 00:41:54.183
I loved her comments from that episode as well. Yeah.

00:41:54.343 --> 00:41:58.203
Like there was just so many, like I, it was an electric episode for sure.

00:41:58.263 --> 00:42:04.083
I have to pick that episode as like, it's so far, like that's the best one you're most proud of. Yeah.

00:42:04.323 --> 00:42:07.643
That I'm most proud of for you and I, I think that was something great that we did,

00:42:07.723 --> 00:42:13.703
but also it was just so like inspiring and interesting and hearing from all

00:42:13.703 --> 00:42:16.103
these different people from all these different districts across the state of

00:42:16.103 --> 00:42:20.283
New Jersey and about how passionate they are about teaching and the things that

00:42:20.283 --> 00:42:23.503
they want to see happen that are awesome. I mean, don't get me wrong.

00:42:23.923 --> 00:42:27.203
Noelle Santorelli is awesome. My Diet Coke buddy.

00:42:27.883 --> 00:42:32.663
I just carry her with me. Like her voice is in so many of the things that I

00:42:32.663 --> 00:42:39.183
do and so much of what I think about that I find her to be so influential.

00:42:39.183 --> 00:42:44.563
So if I had to separate maybe the person that I feel like had the greatest influence on me.

00:42:45.514 --> 00:42:50.814
From the interviews, it would be her and the best episode, hands down, convention. Yeah.

00:42:51.594 --> 00:42:54.834
That's why it was hard for me to put that together. I get you.

00:42:55.494 --> 00:42:58.254
All right. So should we drum roll onto our word of the year?

00:42:58.254 --> 00:43:00.294
I mean, we should. Let's do it.

00:43:00.594 --> 00:43:06.214
Last year, my value, I wanted to do things that added value to my life, which I did.

00:43:06.214 --> 00:43:10.614
I also removed some things that did not have value to my life,

00:43:10.614 --> 00:43:15.134
which I thought I did a decent job of. If I was to give myself a grade,

00:43:15.154 --> 00:43:16.334
I'd probably give myself a B.

00:43:17.454 --> 00:43:22.594
I think that there's always room for improvement. But I felt like it went well.

00:43:22.874 --> 00:43:26.274
And yours was again. Hold on. Wait. I have a prop. I have a prop.

00:43:27.113 --> 00:43:32.493
Oh, you have a prop. So my word of 2025 was worth.

00:43:33.153 --> 00:43:36.053
And I'm holding up to the camera. Oh, that's right.

00:43:36.333 --> 00:43:41.313
Yes, I was gifted this really amazing bracelet that I wore throughout the year

00:43:41.313 --> 00:43:44.093
with my word of 2025 on it.

00:43:44.153 --> 00:43:49.513
And that really came from, you know, is it worth it? Is it worth my time? Is it worth my energy?

00:43:49.793 --> 00:43:57.873
And that I have to say, I genuinely repeated and repeated and repeated that or like, all year long.

00:43:57.993 --> 00:44:01.573
So I feel like a hundred percent dedicated to worth.

00:44:01.733 --> 00:44:06.313
Not that I didn't have some missteps of things that were like nonsense, but also worth.

00:44:06.433 --> 00:44:09.193
Is it worth it? Let me work it, put my thing down, flip it and reverse it.

00:44:09.253 --> 00:44:11.033
It was like all the, yeah.

00:44:12.313 --> 00:44:17.593
All right. So here we go. Ladies first, what is your word for the year?

00:44:18.753 --> 00:44:24.733
Well, my word for 2026 is a word that you and I both enjoy using quite a bit.

00:44:24.953 --> 00:44:33.733
We have used it sometimes to describe ourselves, but in really tribute to the

00:44:33.733 --> 00:44:41.553
big year of having a high school graduate coming up and also sending my little babies,

00:44:41.873 --> 00:44:47.253
my baby girls off to high school, my word for 2026 is delight.

00:44:47.673 --> 00:44:51.473
Love it. I would like to delight in all of the joys.

00:44:51.653 --> 00:44:56.973
I would like to delight in the accomplishments. I want to delight in the small,

00:44:57.173 --> 00:45:01.293
delicious little things that come with the magic of every day.

00:45:01.673 --> 00:45:07.293
And I want to delight in them instead of rush through or worry or,

00:45:07.293 --> 00:45:09.453
you know, any of that. So I'm going to work on,

00:45:10.090 --> 00:45:16.090
the delight. Very nice. Um, mine I've chosen to go with, um,

00:45:16.310 --> 00:45:20.490
I got a difficult time, but I was like, can I struggle?

00:45:20.790 --> 00:45:23.670
Uh, because I'm on the struggle bus. No.

00:45:24.150 --> 00:45:27.710
Um, well, you know, I always want to keep it positive. Mine is onward.

00:45:28.430 --> 00:45:33.090
Um, and the reason I've chosen that is because I need to, I realized I need

00:45:33.090 --> 00:45:35.870
to do a better job of putting things behind me.

00:45:35.910 --> 00:45:39.550
So I need to move onward from things that um you

00:45:39.550 --> 00:45:45.730
know i i do have this tendency to get um i don't want to say i would say stuck

00:45:45.730 --> 00:45:51.950
um sometimes to to a point where it affects me and my decision making so i want

00:45:51.950 --> 00:45:55.650
to make sure that um i move onward past things especially things that i can't

00:45:55.650 --> 00:45:59.510
control um also i want to make sure that i i.

00:46:01.619 --> 00:46:07.899
The journey that we're going to go on, you know, is it is, it is going to happen with or without me.

00:46:07.919 --> 00:46:14.439
So I might as well move onward on that journey and enjoy, um, and enjoy it as, as I do.

00:46:14.639 --> 00:46:21.179
So that's what I'm focusing on this year. So onward and delight and delight.

00:46:21.419 --> 00:46:24.579
I mean, and we are delight. I mean, we are delight.

00:46:26.499 --> 00:46:30.539
Onward. Onward. I love it. And you know, What else is a delight? Yeah.

00:46:32.179 --> 00:46:38.839
Segway. Season three. As we are now, you know, into our second half of season three.

00:46:38.999 --> 00:46:43.079
Season three is brought to us by our presenting sponsor, brought to you by our

00:46:43.079 --> 00:46:44.739
presenting sponsor, Teacher's Insurance Plan.

00:46:44.919 --> 00:46:47.999
Check out their website for more information and to get a quote.

00:46:48.359 --> 00:46:51.939
Teacher's Insurance Plan, auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings

00:46:51.939 --> 00:46:56.639
and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

00:46:56.639 --> 00:47:00.759
And pretty soon my little commercial is going to be coming out.

00:47:01.019 --> 00:47:04.999
So I mean, I can't, I can't wait to see it. I'm very excited for it.

00:47:06.079 --> 00:47:09.719
It's going to be awesome. So be on the lookout for that. You'll be like, I know her.

00:47:11.319 --> 00:47:16.759
That's that girl that gets interrupted all the time. Oh no, don't feel bad.

00:47:17.619 --> 00:47:20.639
Oh Joe. Onward, Joe. Onward from the comment.

00:47:21.539 --> 00:47:24.439
That's probably Jason who says it all the time. So I don't care about his opinion.

00:47:25.959 --> 00:47:34.939
No He's because he's doing his skin care We love you We love you Jason Hey so listen.