Weekly Highlights

Oh how good it feels to be plopped on my couch right now. Even better is knowing that Joe is on his way home with a bottle of wine.

This week, as you can tell from my scattered blogging schedule, has been really busy.

 

Lesson planning, my first observation, and everything else has kept me on-the-move.

 

Highlights of this week

• I’ve been waking up at 4:50am and getting in my workouts
• Subsequently, I’ve been going to be at 9:30pm
• I had my first really bad day of teaching

• It was followed by some good self reflection
• My meal planning this week was great

• Tried a great new recipe
• I’ve been in tune with my body’s signals, even the ones telling me to eat for comfort

• I’ve been able to redirect those signals

 

This weekend I don’t have much planned. Tomorrow I’m sleeping in really late (9am?) and then hitting the gym and doing work for school.

 

Sunday I’m going for a training run with my friend Katie.

 

What are you guys up to this weekend?
What were your highlights from this week?

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The Great Indoors

Happy Saturday folks!

 

I’m spending mine inside getting some work done for school next week.  It’s nasty out (freezing rain, sleet, etc.) which is perfect weather for a day spent in PJ’s.

 

I started off the morning with some flavored brew

I’m normally a grind your own beans kinda gal, but I love me some DD French Vanilla. I couldn’t resist when I saw it on sale.

 

Coffee was followed by an awesome breakfast sandwich that was inspired by Tina’s new favorite lunch.

 

I topped an everything bagel thin with a garlic and herb laughing cow, an overeasy egg, tomato, and spinach.

This was seriously one of the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had. The Garlic and Herb laughing cow MADE IT!

 

The rest of the morning (and now afternoon) is being dedicated to a project for my class. I’m constructing a game board that will be used for classroom management. For each 30 minutes on task, the class will move 1 square. Once they get to the end, they receive an afternoon "game day".

 

There are also "chance" squares which give them the opportunity to pick from smaller prizes. The roads are "fast tracks" that move them ahead on the board.

 

The bus is their game piece. I also made a big bus that has all of the kids pictures on it (in the windows on the bus)

My house is now a crafting mess

I love foam letters and sheets. That’s what I used for everything on the board.

After this, I am going to write up some lesson plans and I’m just taking it easy the rest of the day.

 

9 mile run on tomorrow’s agenda!

 

Do you enjoy doing crafts? If so, what kinds?

How are you spending your Saturday?

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Myths

So while I we all know that Eden is the queen of myth busting, I thought I would share a few of my recently busted myths with you today.

 

Teachers work shorter days than most professionals:

Um no. I have been working at least 8-5 at school and then I’m plugging away for hours at home planning for the next day. Lunch is barely 30 minutes because of meetings and phone calls and other responsibilities.

Teaching is easy:

I’m a newbie, and while experienced teachers make it LOOK easy, teaching little kids is HARD. You can plan and plan and plan, but 8 year olds don’t really care how much time you spend lesson planning or what you need to accomplish. Some of them will even try as hard as possible to destroy the lesson. And P.S. – they smell fear.

Working out is a great end of the day stress reliever:

This is true……….but I can’t seem to make it that far. All I want to do at the end of the day is go home, change, and eat. (Not the best cycle for my figure, and not the best cycle for someone training for a half marathon).

I’ve realized over this week that I suck at evening workouts and I need to be more effective.  Morning workouts will be on the agenda for next week. This week might just be a lazy one (with a lot of weekend running).

 

Guys, I’m tired.

And I don’t want to be whiny like my 3rd graders, but I just wanted you to know And don’t get me wrong- I am LOVING teaching! I certainly didn’t enter the field because I wanted an easy job. I wanted a satisfying and fulfilling one!

 

 

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for my Ask me Anything post!
If you haven’t submitted a question yet, CLICK HERE!

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Early Morning Chef

This morning I was up bright and early in hopes of a snow day.

 

No such luck.

 

Instead of pancakes and hot coffee on the couch, I decided to go with a quick shower and getting my lunch together.

 

Since we ate out a lot this weekend, we really don’t have any leftovers or lunch stuff for me to bring. I had to get a little creative.

 

I saw spaghetti squash.

I saw leftover mashed potatoes.

Could it work?

 

Yeah!

I first squeezed out the cooked spaghetti squash for any extra water. (Click here to learn how to cook one in the microwave easily.)

 

I mixed the squeezed squash with about 1/4 of a cup of leftover mashed potatoes, 1 egg, salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder.

 

Sautéed on medium for about 5 min per side and voila!

 

Along side I packed a greek yogurt, an apple, a few leftover zucchini fries, a string cheese, and a banana.

 

For breakfast I broke into the stash.

Peanut Flour Spread on a bagel thin with some honey

Love starting the day with a little suga! And how cute is that bear?

Off to school in a few. I’m sure my students are just as bummed about spending the day inside instead of at home in the snow.

 

Oh well. At least I have some form of pancake to eat today.

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Guilt Free Fun

The best thing about a snow day is that I feel no guilt for being inside doing nothing.

Usually when I take a day off of work for being sick or a personal day I feel some sense of responsibility for what is going on at work.

 

And often if I’m sick, the second I call off of work, I start to feel better and then feel bad that I didn’t suck it up and go in.

 

In my new career as a teacher (student teacher for now), the feeling is different. If it’s a snow day, there is no other choice I could have made but to stay home. Also, there is no "work" being done at the "office". It is closed. As a result, I can relax guilt-free

 

Another guilt free pleasure I indulged in today was Chocolate Peanut Butter Pancakes. Why didn’t I think of this before?

I followed my trusty Peanut Flour Pancakes recipe, and added a heaping tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, and an extra splenda packet for sweetness.

 

On top I put a dollop of cool whip which I spread all over the pancakes and it made them taste pretty freakin amazing.

 

On the agenda today is some shoveling, a little tidying around the house, and maybe an outdoor run if I can find somewhere that is shoveled enough to do it.

 

Do you feel guilty when you take the day off of work?

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Shovel Pump

I was bummed to find out this morning that we didn’t have a school closing our delay despite the rapidly accumulating snow outside my window.

 

I was even more bummed as I white-knuckled it all the way there. I don’t think I took a breath until I pulled into the unplowed parking lot. I couldn’t believe how bad the roads were. But, I made it.

 

Fortunately, around 10am the school decided they would send the kids home early.

 

My original workout plan for today was to run 5 miles outside, but it doesn’t look like that is happening.

So I’m about to take on a different workout. Can you guess what it is?

I think they should create a new class at the gym. An outdoor one where we shovel the gym parking lot. It could be called Shovel Pump. Seriously, this is such a workout!

 

If the snow continues to be stopped for a while I miiiiight go to the gym for a little workout too.

 

But then again I might just opt for hot cocoa on the couch. Tough choice.

 

Do you have snow where you are?

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LOVE-ly

Good evening peeps! (do people still say "peeps"?)

It was another good day at school. I’m slowly but surely I’m getting the lay of the land.

 

Today the kids had a fun time trying to understand how I could look so young and be married. I swear. LOVE THEM.

(gratuitous wedding photo)

 

After school I went to try a class at my gym’s other location. It was 40 minutes of treadmill trekking (high incline running and then high speed sprints mixed with some other plyo stuff) and then 15 minutes of circuits (planks, squats, etc)

 

The instructor is a maniac, but it was GREAT and one of the hardest workouts I’ve had in a long time.  He told me after class that I was a great runner. LOVE HIM.

When I got home I made a quick but hearty dinner.

I marinated some bone-in pork chops in dijon mustard, honey, a splash of cider vinegar, salt, pepper and a bit of garlic powder. Then I broiled them for about 8-10 min on each side.

 

I served these with some quick mashed potatoes (cut them small and it goes quickly), I smashed them with a little bit of margarine and a few tablespoons of light sour cream.

Roasted broccoli that was leftover completed the plate. LOVED THIS MEAL.

 

And the icing on the cake?

Flowers from the husband. LOVE THEM!! LOVE HIM!

What did you LOVE about today?

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Exciting News!

Half marathon #2 here I come!

 

I’ve been thinking about this race a lot. There were some personal reasons why I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sign up, but the runner inside would not be ignored!

 

I am in good shape for training since I started a long run schedule last week when I was strong for over 6. I also am not going to put too much pressure on myself to break my PR, I just want to do the best I can.

 

Another cool thing is that the race is just a few weeks before my 30th bday. What a great way to celebrate!

My friend Katie who ran the Philly half with me is running the Suntrust full marathon. It’s her first marathon! I’m excited to be running with her on that day!

Hope you guys are excited as I am for another half marathon training journey!

 

In other news, I’m off for Day #2 of student teaching.  I’ve got my buffalo tofu salad wrap, a berry yogurt, carrot sticks, string cheese and clementines.

I loooove my built lunch bag!

See ya after school!

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Day 1

Woohoo! I survived my first day on the "job"!

 

Despite an early morning water main break at the school, a substitute who didn’t really know what to do with me, and a classroom that barely reached 50 degrees, it was all good!

Seriously, it was!

 

I’m so tired now though- I really forgot what it feels like to be on the go from around 5am until 7:30 when my class ended.  Back in my corporate days this was my normal schedule.

 

Guess I better toughen up!

 

Dinner tonight came together late, but it hit the spot.

 

A simple bulgur bowl with the grain on the bottom, roasted broccoli and cauliflower and baked buffalo tofu on top.

I probably could have eaten the whole block of tofu, but I decided to use the rest to make buffalo tofu salad for lunch tomorrow.

Trying to plan ahead!

 

Do you make your lunch the night before?

Tofu eaters, how much of the block do you usually eat in one serving?

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First Day of School!

It’s here! Finally!

 

My first day of student teaching is finally here. I’m nervous and excited all at the same time. Unfortunately my cooperating teacher is out sick today so I’ll be spending the first day with a sub, but oh well, this might actually help me get even more comfortable in my surroundings.

 

This morning I woke up at 5:15 and hit the gym for a quick treadmill speed workout. I felt kind of crazy doing it, but it really helped me to shake off some of the nerves.

 

Now I need to go and finish getting ready. My lunch is all packed and my outfit is all picked out.

Breakfast isn’t made yet, but coffee certainly is.

Tonight I have class as well so I will report back later on how it went.

 

Oh and incase you didn’t hear….my team is going to the superbowl!!

GO STEELERS!!

 

See you tonight!!

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