Happy Easter

Is it bad I didn’t even realize it was Easter today?!

Exercise:

I met up with the crew for a Sunday morning run and it was awesome that Sarah came with Kula so I had company:) Kula did the park about four times while Sarah and I managed one loop of the perimeter trail. I counted this time and it has 5 hills!!!

This evening I got out for another short run to the park and back to get some mileage in and start the Squad Runner mission. My legs were a little tired, but it went okay.

Cooking:

After a quick stop at the grocery store I spent a lot of the day in the kitchen getting my food ready for the week.

Out of the The Best of Clean Eating 2 cookbook I made a berry crisp which didn’t crisp:( and a Baked Manicotti Bundles dish. I found this had a super runny inner mixture which didn’t stay put very well and once again it was quite bland:(

I also was intent on cleaning out the freezer a little bit and so made a pizza with pepperoni, green peppers and mushrooms.

Knitting:

The rest of my day was spent knitting on a sock that ended up being too big so it has been frogged. I have 284 yards of sock yarn and am on the lookout for a tank or sleeveless pattern for myself.

Oh and I finally got up the nerve to try on my April Tank. It fits, but is really a mini-dress on me as it’s super long!

Well I’m off to peruse Ravelry:)

Have fun!

AJ

Tradition

It’s amazing how once you do something more than once, it becomes a tradition.

Socializing/ Shopping:

Today was the city wide garage sale and I again went with my co-teacher. We hit 37 different houses in 3.5 hours. I managed to spend about $35. Some stops were great and others not so much. I am happy with what I got though and I think the deal of the day would be either the $5 Coach Tote or the $15 Lululemon backpack. I just hope I didn’t embarrass my co-teacher as I made offers on everything!

Knitting:

I have done a little bit of reading, but have to admit that most of the day was spent finishing up my April Tank Top. The lace went so much easier and quicker today! I thankfully only had to rip out the one row! I finished the lace and all of the I-cord bind off. Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be way too big forme(

We shall see after it finishes blocking.

The pattern was a lot of fun because it starts with the back lace, then has lots of tv stockinette knitting and ends with the interesting bottom lace. The pattern is the first for Carolyn Day Designs and it was well done- easy to follow, lots of pictures, all necessary information, both metric and imperial measurements, and it even had imbedded links for techniques that might be unfamiliar.

Unfortunately I was less happy with the Cascade Heritage yarn. I loved the colour- anis, but I found it incredibly splitty and slippery:(

I am already looking for my next project. I have a multicolored Cascade Heritage Prints yarn to use up. I need a simple pattern done in the round to show up the colours. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Exercise:

I just did: 50 squats, 50 pair squats, 50 pushups, 50 dips, 50 crunches and 50 bicycle crunches so that I could say I had done some exercise. The plan was to go for a run today, but unfortunately I finished the tank after it had gotten too dark outside.

Well I’m off to peruse ravelry and read.

Have fun!

AJ

Not Enough For Lace

It was a lovely day filled with some of my favourite things.

Reading:

I have to admit I laid in bed this morning, but did eventually get up and make it to my book on the couch.

I finished The Summer of Sunshine and Margot by Susan Mallery today. Thank you to Susan Mallery, Harlequin and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows fraternal twin sisters Margot and Sunshine as they both attempt to turn over a new leaf in their life. Margot is getting over a mistake of a man and going to concentrate on her work which is an bold actress who needs to learn to fit into the political world. Sunshine is going to go back to college and quite running off with the wrong men. She’s also going to be the best nanny she can be. Of course, things never go as planned.

I liked how the book constantly went back and forth between the two characters and there was lots of interaction between them. They had a fun and great relationship and it added to the book!

I also liked how the relationships surprised me. Margot’s was the one I expected to be tame, however it developed much quicker than Sunshine’s.

This book had great pacing in that it didn’t feel rushed and there was enough time passing to make the relationships believable.

I enjoyed the book and think people who enjoy reading about second chances and overcoming your own mental obstacles would enjoy this book.

Exercise:

Well I’ve sat in the couch for two weeks and my cold still hasn’t gone away. I decided that f not exercising wasn’t making me healthy, I might as well exercise and be happy. My running buddy Sarah wanted to do a lap of Buntzen Lake for her birthday so today we headed out. It was a gorgeous day and the run definitely improved my mood! We didn’t go fast, but for the first time in my life I ran the loop. Usually I just go to North beach and back.

This picture is from a cloudier day. It was gorgeous today, but none of my pictures turned out well.

Knitting:

I thought I was healthy enough to tackle my April Tank again, but I guess I’m not quit healthy enough to do lace. I made it to row 15 before I screwed up, but unfortunately I didn’t have a life line in. I’ve taken the row out, but will have to look tomorrow to see if I need to take more rows out. I’m supposed to be done by tomorrow:(

Well that’s it for me!

Have fun!

AJ

Friday in Disguise

It was so lovely to have a Thursday that was really Friday:)

Teaching:

I don’t feel like we got much done but we completed a fact sheet about the Yukon Territory. It has the highest Canadian mountain- Mount Logan. It’s largest city and capital is Whitehorse which also happens to be the third largest city in Canada in actual size. It has the most northern botanical garden. The gold rush hit Alaska in 1896 and it became part of Canada in 1897.

We also got a class book made about comparing measurements. It was super cute as the book goes, ” I am smaller than a *, but bigger than a *”. The children came up with some neat ideas!

The best part of the day May have been my lunch! On Thursdays I have lunch delivered from lunch lady and today it was tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich. The ultimate comfort food on a wet, rainy day:)

This afternoon my co teacher and I got really ambitious and dyed eggs with 40 children. We only had five broken eggs and one tipped dye pot. Not bad! I like doing these things as I’m sure those are the events the children will actually remember:)

Knitting:

I have been alternating between knitting and reading and have gotten 1/4 of the way through the lace band at the bottom of my tank top. I’m hoping to finish tomorrow, but we’ll see.

Reading:

I am reading The summer of Sunshine and Margot by Susan Mallory and am really enjoying it so far!

Exercise:

Still not really energetic so nothing but walking to and from work and 50 squats for me today. I’m hoping tomorrow to go back to normal!

That’s it for me tonight and I’m looking forward to lounging in bed tomorrow morning!

Have fun!

AJ

Why???

It was quite the day! I slept until 9:30 and then went off to the dentist for a “deep cleaning”. If you’ve ever had one you know how horrible they are! It’s always a blood bath for me and I still hurt now. I did manage to get a little more sleep afterwards which helped a bit.

Teaching:

I still went to the Como Lake Relays. We have had the children running since January training for this relay race. They are in teams of four and each person runs 1.2km. That’s a long way for a nine year old! Mostly it went very well! We took six teams and came home with rosettes for 2nd, 2nd, 3rd and 10th. I’m very proud of the students- they were cheering, congratulating, supporting and helping each other. It was great to see! Most of the parents were awesome as well, but two ruined it for me:(

I felt like saying, well if you don’t like how I do it, I won’t volunteer next year! For grade four boys we had a boy drop out so we only had seven boys. Instead of having to tell three we couldn’t take them, every school brings all the kids and they make up teams with the extras. The children have just been running for four months and then on Monday we looked at their times and the consistency of their participation and put them into teams. We literally took the four fastest, made a team and then put the other three together for the second team. We had two parents complain and get upset because their boys were on the second team. I couldn’t believe it!!!

Knitting:

I am on the bottom edge lace of my tank top, finally!!!

Exercise:

I had signed up for Zumba class with my friend Corianne and finally tonight I was healthy enough to go:). I was always four counts behind, but it was quite fun:)

I’m now off to bed!

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday

The work day was long, but the night was fun!

Teaching:

Nothing too exciting- another day of being flexible because we had class photos interrupt us this morning. There went writer’s workshop:(

We got a math drill done and the children drew our tree in Spring while I was out doing track attack again this afternoon.

After school I ran around gathering all the supplies we need for Como Lake relays tomorrow. Looks like I’ll be standing in the rain for a few hours tomorrow:(

Knitting:

I tried the German short rows today and was doing fine, but I couldn’t do all the repeats because I ran out of stitches. The first row I had to knit to 15 stitches before the marker each way. On the second row would it says to knit to 14 stitches before the double stitch. Is that right or should it be 16 stitches before the market? Please help if you know about this!

Trivia:

We had a pretty good group for trivia tonight, but I was absolutely no help as it was an all-tv night and I don’t watch tv. I got a couple of the questions from shows I watched as a kid.

I got:

The actor who played the father on Growing Pains.

The last name of the family on the show Family Ties.

The name of the judge on Night Court.

The last name of the actor on Silver Spoons.

The name of the actor who played Roseanne’s husband.

The name of the character on Saved By the Bell who went on to Showgirls.

The country Lucy’s husband came from on I Love Lucy.

The creator of Fraggle Rock.

That was about it though. It seemed like a lot of the questions were about really old shows.

Next week it is back to being a variety of topics. I feel like I should read some non fiction so I can be more helpful as they never ask about Hallmark movies🤣🤪

Have fun!

AJ

Flexibility

It’s a good thing I’m a flexible person!! My day at work never seems to go according to plan!

Teaching:

My special helper was pulled for reading support first thing this morning, so Calendar was delayed, journals went out the window and we worked on finishing up stuff from last week.

At lunch I had a meeting where nothing was decided and I got to hear people complain about how track attack was going. Too bad no one had the guts to tell me these things to my face when I was planning track attack!

Track attack this afternoon seemed to go fine, but then, what do I know. When I’m with children I’m focused on them, not on what else is happening. Hopefully it was smooth everywhere else!

After doing a few laps for jog-a-long after school (yes I just walked today), I sat down to organize the drivers for Como Lake relays. It is a local race that I am taking 25 students to. I guess there was some drama last week as two other teachers sat down to do the drivers, decided there weren’t enough drivers, sent hinge another set of forms, and of course today I found we have too many drivers. I’m glad I won’t be there Wednesday afternoon when parents grumble because they’ve taken time off and only have to take their own child.

It is days like this that I would like to just teach in my classroom and nothing else!

Family:

My mom stopped by this evening to help me with a few things before they leave town in the morning. I don’t think she considered these to-do items when she prayed for a petite daughter. We got my chair moved, the lightbulbs replaced in the kitchen, my storage locker checked, and my bike repositioned in the back of my truck. It’s a pain that being so short none of these items are easy. We also figured out my SodaStream and it was user error.

Knitting:

I have spent the evening knitting like crazy and have finally finished the stockinette body of the April Tank. Tomorrow I have to learn how to do German short rows😳

Movie:

Once again, Hallmark kept me company as I was knitting. I watched Matchmaker Santa which was cute and extremely unrealistic, even for a Christmas movie! I also watched Autumn Dreams which was quite cute!

Well I need sleep in the hopes of one day getting rid of this cold so I can run again!

Have fun!

AJ

It Started With Fun

My day started off fun, and continued to be quite nice, though normal. Everything is always nicer with company.

Exercise:

I started the day with a forest walk with running buddies who were just in town for the day. I seem to have earned the nickname “Petri dish”.🙄🤣

I have refrained from any other exercise, but it is getting more difficult every day! I hope I get some lung capacity soon!

Socializing:

We had an awesome brunch at our regular place. It was great to catch up with everyone!

I read all the options, but got my regular still!

Errands:

I grabbed my mom again for company and got going on the list. I looked at the second hand store for a canning pot, but there wasn’t any. I finally ended up getting a starter canning kit at Canadian Tire. My mom says I started canning at about age 2 and often made jam when I was around 9, but my mom had downsized the canning equipment, so I had to rebuy. I’m excited to get started ASAP! I think it makes sense for me to can as then I’ll know exactly what’s in my food!

We stopped at the mall and my mom returned her printer ink, I grabbed some tech items at Walmart and then it was time for tea!

First we had to have carbonated water.

Yesterday I bought the SodaStream, but last night I kept getting flat water. I’m not the best at this type of thing so it was no surprise that my mom immediately got lovely bubbly water. Of course tonight, I’m back to flat water:(

I got all my food made for this week while my mom shortened some running tights for me. It was nice just to have company around.

Food:

I made the Thai Style Chili Mango salad from Costco and mixed it with ground turkey again. It was so good last week, I wanted it again this week.

I also roasted a ton of veggies with chicken for my lunches.

I have coconut yogurt, strawberries and oatmeal for breakfast. I really wanted granola, but didn’t get around to it until this evening. Unfortunately, my regular granola recipe didn’t turn out:(

Knitting:

I’ve been knitting on the April Tank again and have 27 rows of stockinette left!

Movie:

Of course, I was watching Hallmark as I was knitting and enjoyed the movie, All Things Valentine.

Have fun!

AJ

Finally Out

I finally got to leave my house today!!

Exercise:

I felt like if I didn’t move, I’d go crazy, but I also knew I couldn’t do much. My awesome running buddy Sarah did a nice, slow 2.5km Koop of the forest so I could at least feel like I had done something. It was nice to be able to breathe at the end:)

Errands/ Shopping:

I grabbed my mom for some company and headed out to get a few things done, though I wasn’t allowed to leave her place until I got my taxes done!! We both got haircuts, I picked up this cool calming drink that my sister in law told me about, grabbed some diet gingerale, and actually ended up buying a SodaStream machine. I’m hoping I’ll never need to deal with a can again!

I also got to try out a new cafe in the mall food court I had been eyeing. It’s a sandwich shop that actually had gf options. I split a Cali from Chachies with my mom. Guacamole and chicken- how much better can it get?

Reading:

I finished Sister’s of Summer’s End by Lori Foster today.

What an amazing read! Joy Lee is the recreation leader at the RV park and Royce has bought the drive-in next door. After a rough first meeting, these two quickly grow necessary for each other.

First I liked how this book had realistic emotion without drama just for drama. I admire an author who can take everyday emotions and make them enough for a book!

I also liked the whole group mentality of this book. It is definitely about more than just Joy and Royce and features the whole crew of the RV Park. Daron and Maris’ story is enough of a reason to read this book!

I love the strong focus on friendships in this book too. It seems to acknowledge that these are just as important as a love interest!

I think anyone who enjoys sweet with a touch of steamy would enjoy this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Lori Foster, the author for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Knitting:

Since I’ve been too sick to knit this week I am now trying to get caught up quickly on my test knit. I don’t know why this tank seems to be taking me forever!!

Movie:

I have Pitch Perfect on to keep me company as I knit away. It just makes me want to get the others in the series. It might have something to do with Jesse😀🤪

Have fun!

AJ

Half Alive

Well I went back to work today though all I really wanted to do was sleep!

Teaching:

We had to do a lot of catch up as my TOC spent a lot of time singing with my class. Singing is great, but I really wish she had done what I had left first!!! My students were great though and we got through a lot!

Of course, first thing this morning I got the news I was getting a new international student today! It definitely made for a busy start and I’m nowhere near having everything ready for her:(

After school, I got home as quickly as I could so I could get a nap in. Totally necessary by that point!

Family:

I’ve had my nephew Gus tonight. We met up with my parents for dinner at Red Robin. I split a guacamole bacon burger with my mom, and it was okay. It was nice to see my parents finally since I was quarantined until this point

Gus and I continued on to play a couple of games of bowling. We were way better when we had them put the bumpers up🤣. I’m not sure bowling is ever going to be our game.

Finally we stopped for ice cream at Matteo’s and came home to veg. He is playing on his phone and I found a Hallmark movie:)

Movie:

The Sweetest Heart is about a bakery owner who wants to expand, but just as her business has the opportunity to grow, her old flame returns to town. This movie has two very cute men in it and makes me want to bake!!!

I’m back to enjoying the couch with this cutie!