Thankful

I'm sitting and listening to my fifth graders while they do a winter art docent project. It's so funny to me to listen to their conversations. Some are so grown up, yet will be silly in their words. For example, two of my students wrote "swaggerz" on the sweatshirt of their snowman. I went by and said, "Swaggerz?!?" "Yep, Swaggerz." I told them I was old and didn't even know what that meant. I was accentuating the 'z' and they thought that was hysterical.

Tomorrow The Fast One and I will spend the day with my side of the family, watching the Seahawks (hopefully) kill the 49ers and stuffing our faces with my mom's amazing cooking. I have to bring the green bean casserole (because my brother likes it- ick) and my sister is bringing pies. She makes the best pies. I think about how our family is getting older and the ones we have lost along the way. It just seems like yesterday I was 6 eating dinner at Grandma Betty's house, eating black olives off my fingers, laughing like crazy at my two cousins, and setting my Grandma's alarm for 3:00 AM.

I miss those days.

This is a test. Only a test...

OK. So I started this blog using my home email address. I now have a Google account so I just figured out how to move the blog to that account. Makes it less confusing. Everything in one place as they say!

My Second Family

Everyone knows by now that I am a CrossFitter. My sister got me started a year and a half ago in a tiny garage box down the alley from her house. I was hooked. My previous coach was really into health and food so I "adopted" the Paleo lifestyle and lost 25 pounds along with gaining a ton of strength and muscle. Most of our morning crew ended up together at our current Box when the coach closed her gym down. Our new coaches are awesome and really pay attention to our form and our overall health. I still have A LOT of work to do on the food end of things, but I didn't get this way over night so this will take some time.

I'm feeling a little emotional at the moment because today I ran a mile. Well. Let's be honest. I didn't "run" the whole thing. Probably 2/3 of it and so slowly that someone walking could have kept up with me easily. I was the last one in but did it in 13:34. The thing that was the coolest is that when I came around the corner, one of my morning crew gym mates was waiting for me in the middle of the street. He knew that I was last. He knew running is my least favorite thing AND the hardest thing for me. But, he waited and ran the last little bit with me. AFTER running the mile himself. When I got to the end, another one of our morning crew was waiting to congratulate me and just support.

I can't tell you what that means. As someone who has been fighting weight issues for most of her adult life to have someone that isn't directly associated with your daily routine or life, do something like that for you is HUGE. And to do it willingly. He/They could have been in the box getting ready for the AMRAP that was on the board, but they chose to run with me.

It makes me feel so proud to be a part of a community that supports everyone in every stage of their process to get healthy and strong. On those days when it's hard to get up at 5:15, I think about my 6 AM crew and know that when I get there, not only will I be supported, but I will also have the best time.

So. Thanks North Bend CrossFit and the 6 AM crew for everything. You guys are the best.

May Photo a Day

Science Matters

One of the units I teach my fifth graders is called Chemistry. We talk about matter, atoms, mixtures, solutions, etc. On the day we were talking about matter, I was trying to get them to see that matter is in ALL things so I asked them to name things that were made of matter. In my second block class, most of the kids just looked around our classroom and named the things they saw: window, curtains, books, teacher, students... that is until on student, who had just come back from a vacation in Hawaii shouted out:

Him: Pina coladas!!!
Me: What?!?
Student 2 (singing): If you like pina coladas and gettin' caught in the rain...
Me: ?!?
Student 3 (a girl who just returned from vacationing in Cabo): VIRGIN pina coladas.
Murmuring in the background: What's a virgin?!?

I think that's a discussion for another time.

YIKES!

I hadn't posted in so long that something weird happened to my account and password. Finally figured everything out and here I am again.

Ready to write some more. I've missed it! 

March 3- My View

After a week in Mexico. VERY sad to leave. 

March 2- Button

March 1

My first harvest from my blueberry plants.

March Picture Challenge

So I have three days to make up for. Really want to do this this month and The Idea Room is great for posting these.