Better than Usual

My day was actually quite nice, despite the weather!

Exercise:

I didn’t run this morning, but did get a workout in this afternoon with my friend Lyndsay which means I was sweating like a pig by then end of it. Twenty-five minutes of treadmill intervals and then twenty minutes of weights. I’m sure I’m going to feel that tomorrow!

The view on my way home from my workout:) We had had hail, thunder and lightning and torrential downpour within the half hour before this!

Teaching:

Today was a professional development day and normally I find these horrible. I would rather spend the day teaching as I often am overwhelmed and feel like the worst teacher ever by the end of ProD. I don’t sit and listen all day very well and then to be told of all these amazing things I should be doing in my class, but yet not given a simple place to start or any time or resources to start with usually leads to a disheartening and throughly miserable day! Well today I did something different! I went out to a local nature reserve with the primary team from my school. One of the teachers who doesn’t even work on Fridays, but is incredibly knowledgeable about nature prepared a package of resources for all of us and took us around the park and explained things we saw and could communicate to our classes. We discussed good areas for certain activities and learned lots of interesting facts, like did you know that mushrooms only grow on trees that are dead, that beavers only come out at dusk, and that bared owls can be identified by their stripes??? Even with it pouring buckets on us the entire time (my outerwear is still dripping wet seven hours later), it was better ProD than I’ve ever been to before! I have resources I can use immediately. I was not overwhelmed by the amount of information given and was given simple ideas I could start using immediately to improve my teaching practice in this are. I also got to spend the day in nature and moving:) 

Sorry for the poor pictures today. It was pouring so my phone had to stay in the locksac!!!

Eating:

I just had to share how I started my day. I have quite the collection of mugs – tea and a mug seems to be the usual teacher gift that I get. This morning though my first cup of tea was enhanced by this awesome mug:)

I got to try a new Pho restaurant called Pho51 after our outdoor adventure. I’m sure the owners would have liked to deny our group of drowned rats entry, but we invaded anyways. I always get the seafood with rice noodles, but this time I changed it up by having hot and sour seafood with rice noodles. I have to admit I was not impressed by the fact that as they were bringing the orders out for the rest of the table, they informed the four of us who originally ordered the Sate Seafood soup that they had run out. The other members of our party were done before we ever got our food. It also seemed a bit more greasy than what I’ve had at Pho99 which is my regular pho place. This restaurant was very busy, but with the long wait for the food, and the greasiness of the soup, I won’t be rushing back:( And sorry, I was too cold and hungry to stop to take a photo before I inhaled my soup!

Knitting:

I have begun a new cowl to use up my bulky yarn ends, but am only done the first section so I can’t show it to you yet. Hopefully tomorrow🙂

Reading:

I HAVE FINISHED THE BOOK!

I finally completed Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

This book tells the story of Daniel who at the age of ten has lost his mother and lives with his father who owns a bookstore. On a night when Daniel is very upset as he can’t remember his mother’s face, his father cheers him up by taking him to a secret place. Here, Daniel finds a book that changes the course of his life!

I found the first fifteen chapters (of forty five) quite long and difficult to get through. Then at chapter sixteen the book hooks you with murder, mayhem, romance, mystery and revenge. I liked how the characters were well developed and complex. The plot had so many twists, turns and red herrings that I ended up being completely surprised! It even ended on a happy note (which I doubted would happen right to the page before) with well wrapped up and resolved story line. I like how I feel satisfied! The author didn’t leave me with questions or any unanswered questions of what happened to so and so.

I really liked this quote from the end of the book:

” the art of reading… is an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already. Art inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind,…”

I think that anyone who likes a good mystery or is obsessed with books would enjoy this novel. There is a hint of romance, but it is by no means trite or a chick flick in the making.

I didn’t think I would say this, but I enjoyed the book and would recommend it!

I also have to admit loving that it takes care of the “z” author on my A-Z Book Challenge:)

Well I have to get up early to help out a friend in the morning so I think I’ll leave you now.

Have fun!

AJ