Tell me a story a riddle or a rhyme...

Tell me a story once upon a time...that's a song from some children's movie or something. I can't remember where it was from. Well, I thought of it today because I was in professional development all day today, and it was with a FABULOUS author/editor. She gave a monologue pretty much, told a story, but was so animated and deomonstrative that it was enrapturing. She told the story of going into the library and reading her first book; Charlotte's Web. Now, I totally identified because I LOVE books and have always adored going to the library (I still go once a week). She also encouraged us as authors; to write stories, how to write stories, how to get them published etc. It was like the workshop was made for me! I sat there and came up with 25 possible book subjects while listening and thinking. I'm really going to pursue this, even though it's a challenging feat to accomplish and time consuming, but I've always wanted to write, and I feel like I got a glimpse of the how's what's and why's today. The second half of the day was quite boring and I was dying because....

Yesterday was my first college class! 5 hours of sitting in a seat! And then more sitting today! OMG it was so awful, my butt was numb! We had a 20 minute break at 10am and I took a walk because I felt so lazy! And since I had to meet my friends from the Fellowship whom I haven't seen in a MONTH, I only got a 35 minute work out in today. SO SAD! I can't wait for the weekend, it's going to be 90! I'm hoping to go to the beach.

What was your favorite book as a child? Mine was Little Women, followed by Anne of Green Gables, and then the American Girl books. (I had the Molly doll!)

June 1...

This is my favorite picture of Brian and I from 2005 at Block Island...I lost all my pictures in a computer crash but I had given him a cd with a bunch so at least I got some of them back! I will try to post pictures per a friend who claims pictures are the hook line and sinker for reading a blog :-)

SO, I can no longer say "I'm not eating desserts for the month of May!" Awww...I was talking to my friend Drew and I thought this will start in April next year and go through May, and he said I'd have to get a funky cute phrase ike *May*keover to convince him to do it...stay tuned. I'll try to post current pictures when Brian decides to give me my camera cord back...it got packed in the move because he borrowed it...so not cool.

RESULTS: I have weighed myself on two scales and I've officially (at least according to the scales) lost 8lbs in this month which is great! It was pretty much my goal, another few couldn't hurt so I'll continue exercising and making smart food choices.

Ok so Brian moved yesterday...can we say NIGHTMARE?! Everything was going GREAT until the elevator broke! He lived on the 6th floor....yea it was awful. We all got a good sweaty work out and I'm SORE! The biggest challenge was the couch, the poor boys had to move it all over the place, rotate it to make it fit, what a mess.

June begins my crazy summer. I start my college class on Wednesday, and it goes till July 2 (I think). 1 class, 2 nights a week (M&W), 5 hours per class. AH! It's better than the whole semester though. I'll definitely need some prayer. My second class July 7-31 and same deal, super long twice a week! It'll be better without having school though! I'll be working at the restaurant Mon-Thu enabling me to have some semblence of a weekend and a break. It's called the beach. :-) So if you think I'm ignoring you, not returning calls etc, well, I am, simply because I'm busy.

Seeing Alex was AWESOME!!!!!! And seeing my girl Jodi made it even better. We had so much fun. You know you have true friends when you can do absolutely nothing together and have the best time. We really did nothing but lounge and hang out and it was incredible. More laughter than can be imagined.

Tomorrow is a (potentially) big day...it's a half day at school for the kids but we stay full day for administration purposes...it's the "reorganization", which means all the teachers tentatively know which classroom they'll be in, grade etc...which is why it's potentially a big day for me. As a push in teacher I don't have just one class or my own classroom, so I'm called an "out of classroom" teacher; I have a feeling that I'll be a "classroom" teacher this fall. But I might not know it yet because they're still working things around, so it's super tentative. I may learn nothing new until mid June, but tomorrow I might learn something too. It's a waiting game. EEK! We shall see...

The end of May...

ONLY ONE MORE DAY LEFT IN MAY! And let me tell you, it's been a great month! Still haven't found an acceptable scale, but I feel better than I did at the first of the month! Anna asked me whether or not I have made made a "lifestyle" change, and I believe I have. Not eating dessert has become a lot easier. And I've had PLENTY of opportunity. And I feel like I've gotten better with snacking and keeping track of how much I eat and making healthier things to eat. And I definitely eat out differently as well, aiming for the healthier options from "Eat This, Not That".

In other news, IT'S THE WEEKEND! I'm so excited, tonight I have a date that was planned months ago with my friend Sarah! (She works at Evangel with Drew and Brian) We're going to see Sex in the City and I'm so excited. It's the girliest of girl flicks, even though some of it is a bit scandalous, I find it COMICAL. The reality of how they live is slightly far fetched (and by slightly I mean I KNOW people in Manhattan actually lead lives like this occassionally...) but it's the classic girl int he big city living her dreams and looking for Mr. Right with her bff's by her side; what more could I ask for?! Ha ha ha.

So yesterday I got a coverage...I WAS THE GYM TEACHER! And best of all, it was outside because the weather was nice! It was so much fun, we played hot potato and I sang all these stupid songs for it (Old McDonald, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, Apples and Bananas, and Mary Had a Little Lamb), relay races, in the middle, spud, what a good time. I got a good tan too. I'm darker than I have ever been at this time of the year just from running and walking around.

So this weekend Brian is moving, another work out in itself. And ALEX IS BACK FROM CHINA! YEA! I'm really excited to see him and Jodi tomorrow night (This pic is from the day he left in September). Sidenote: Does anyone watch Lost?! This is sheer craziness right now!!! So many theories, I still have to watch the other season besides this one!

Alright off to finish my second book of the week...first one was "Between Sundays" by Karon Kingsbury, very very good, and the second is "The Secret Between Us" by Barbara Delinksy, it's pretty good but I REALLY liked her book "Family Tree", it was SO interesting, get it and read it.

As I say to my kids, HAVE A *FABULOUS* WEEKEND!

It's getting hot in here...

HOLY HANNAH IT'S HOT!!! (I want to give a shout out to Jodi Zimmerman for the Holy Hannah statement.) Yea, so I think I'm just not used to it yet, but today I was like an overheated engine, there was nothing to give me relief! I ran the mile to the gym, which I had to stop TWICE during to catch my breath (Humidity was at 100%) and ran a mile at the gym, did an hour of weights and ran back. The run back was better because it was about to rain so the sky was ominously dark and windy, which worked to my advantage.

I ran 5 miles on Sunday, and the same thing happened: I had such a hard time! I hope I can get used to the hot weather and running outside, I love it so much, but I don't do it till about 3:30, and that's still a pretty hot time. Thankfully it's going to cool down a bit for a couple of days. I just need to up my water intake even MORE (I drink about 5-8 poland spring size bottles a day at work alone, not counting afterward which is even more!)

Alright, the *May*keover is almost complete, I'm feeling pretty good but I haven't gone on a digital scale and don't trust the stupid gym scale. We'll see if I can find one....but I have stayed dessert free all month until tonight at a friend's dinner which I was invited to which I was requested to bring a DESSERT for! AH! So, in the end, I decided to make this super healthy super yummy dessert. I didn't take a pic, but you get the idea. It's supposed to be a fourth of July cake, so I'll write it out like that:

What you'll need:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Fat-free sugar free cool whip (Can be regular)
fat free sugar free angel food cake (Can be regular)

1. Slice the angel food cake about 1-2 inches thick and place it sideways into a baking dish (Like a 9x13)
2. Take tops off strawberries then cut them into halves
3. Spread cool whip over the cake (Might need more than one container if you like lots of it!)
4. Put the blueberries neatly in the corner forming a square to be the "stars" of the American flag
5. Place the strawberries horizontally to be the strips of the flag

Or you could just be like me tonight and throw the berries all over the thing! Anyway, if you get the idea, it took me 10 minutes to put together and the ENTIRE thing was gone in 10 minutes everyone loves this (Men included) And it has virtually no fat and calories, perfect as a hot humid summer day dessert! Good luck!

Work out blues...

So, it's been HORRIBLE weather. Well, not exactly. It's been TEASING me. I wake up to a bright smiling blue sky, full of hope and promise, and right around my lunch time it goes downhill, and when I'm supposed to leave school for the day it gets even worse! Without fail. It's very sad. And these past two days I've been busy so I haven't been able to work out. These are my two days off I guess. But tomorrow is supposed to rain as well! I hate it. Maybe I have that condition where my mood is effected by the rain...nah. I just feel lathargic just like everyone else. I'll just bite the bullet and run on the treadmill tomorrow. :-( If it could just not rain for when I want to run, it would make my life so much better. Hopefully I'll hit up 6 miles today, and a big bulk this weekend. I had a 17 mile week last week, and I really want to at least match it this week.



So. I have a student named Fan. He loves the Mets. I love the Yankees. So he teases me if they lose etc. So I have been calling him "Met Fan"....He's been calling me Ms. Yankees! Ha I can't get enough o fit. So funny.



I had to test the kindergarten SPECIAL ed kids today...it reaffirmed why I didn't go into special ed. I love them, but I know my patience would wear thin quickly. There is just no reasoning with them, once they have their mind set on something, that's it. One kid told me his hand was cut and he needed a band aid; it was not cut, no need for a band aid, but he wouldn't calm down because he was convinced he needed to go to the hospital. Very sad. Very heartbreaking.



I start summer school (college) in June...it's looming! I'm going to be so tired. EW. NO ME GUSTA! But if I can knock out a course in a month, I might as well bite the bullet. Thankfully I figured everything out today for it, so it's a big weight off my shoulders.

Back to school to prove to dad that I'm not a fool...

So it's another Monday. I had an amazing weekend, nothing spectacular, just plain nice. Friday night I visited a friend who made dinner and it was stupdendous. Then Saturday I worked at the restaurant and it was great to see all my friends. That night Brian and I went to dinner with our friends Drew and Sarah in Little Italy, and let me tell you, we're going to spend a lot of time down there in the summer! It was so nice, I never thought to go down there so late (9pm for dinner) but it was FUN! Sunday went had church and spent the rest of the day lounging and reading. Ha I had too many bananas which I thought were not ripe (Turns out they were prematurely browning...) so I thought, hmmm, I'll make banana pancakes! The whole time I sang the Jack Johnson song. I'm such a nerd. And adding cinnamon to the batter was a fabulous addition.

I am now GRADING tests for the NYSESLAT test. No biggy. Got called into the principal's office to discuss my preference sheet (Meaning what I would prefer to teach next year, what grade etc), and I was SO nervous! For absolutely no reason whatsoever. I just feel like my wonderful school is going to kick me out for having no experience :-) Trying to get over my fear.

My pastor made a great suggestion yesterday. He said so many people claim they're such prayers, but when you look at your life not a whole lot of time is donated to prayer. So he suggested focusing and praying for 10 minutes a day - 5 min in the morning, and 5 min at night. And I'm starting that today. Good suggestion. And I'm really excited because I've copied and pasted the Bible into my ipod (so far just Ephesians!) and it's a WAY more accessible way for me to read my Bible! Even if I have a book, I really hate reading it in the morning, I just want to relax, so I've been pounding out just a chapter or two and really trying to remember it, because that's what works for me. Some read a ton, some just one verse, I read two chapters or so. It's calming and really helps me get my mind right for the day at hand.

Working out today was TOUGH! I was tired, well, my body is just tired and sluggish today, so I forced it to act! :-) Only ran three miles but did a lot with weights. I can't do a long run inside, it has to be outside (A goal spot, turn around and run back etc...) so when it's questionable weather I only do about 3 miles. It's dissappointing but I'll try for more tomorrow. Last week was a 17 mile week! I tried to wake up Sunday to run but I kept falling back to sleep :-( So I'm way behind in running! GAH!

We'll see what this week holds...

Another bridge, different story...

SO, instead of running over the bridge into the waiting arms of a prison, I instead chose to go on the 59th st bridge which I KNOW drops me into Manhattan! :-) So, I ran for 1 hr 14 minutes, I know I know, slow runner, but the bridge was a tough incline and I was fighting through my allergies and crosswalks. . I can't really clock it because I took some one way's etc, but I want to say it was over 5 miles, maybe not quite 6....sad because I wanted to go for 6! Another day, another dream...

FREE ICED COFFEE DAY! At Dunkin Donuts! Yea! It was nice to not have to pay. But it was a small so I got a small hot too (hot feels better on my scratchy throat!).

Cute story: A new student arrived from China named Rory. Rory is a little intriguing because he understands some things in English, but I don't think he has ever been in a school setting, and therefore sitting with his hands folded, not putting things in his mouth like his pencil or his backpack, may be a foreign thought to him. I've been teaching him this week how to "fold his hands" and my name...it's so sad, but I feel like I'm talking to a dog. "Rory, sit." I show him how to sit, and he sits. "Rory, stand up....Rory, open the door....Rory, get the pencil out of your nose..." and I have to act it out and say it over and over. But my cute story is this. When I asked him to fold his hands, I didn't show him how, and he did it! And then I said, "What is my name Rory?" "Miss Mac." He replied...awwwww! My heart melted even though he proceeded to put his backpack handle into his mouth to hold it (kinda like a dog...hmmm...) ANYWAY! A lot of my Chinese students have trouble pronouncing the letter "r" because it doesn't exist in their language. WELL, why did his parents name him RoRy!? I ask him his name and he says, "Loly." Too cute. But in all seriousness, the boy needs to say his name correctly!

TGIF. I'm hanging with an old friend tomorrow night, seeing Prince Caspian (!) after work on Saturday, Sunday is just going to be church and that's it!!!