Saturday 2.0

I heard this phrase on the radio this morning and loved it! It’s a long weekend here so it’s appropriate:)

Exercise:

My run turned into a walk as otherwise Brenda would have been on her own. I did manage to run 0.7km so that I could ensure I made my 100km for this month:)

I also got a short walk in this evening, just because it was too pretty out not to be outside.

I also decided a workout was necessary so did:

50 squats, 50 plié squats, 25 front lunges, 25 lateral lunges, 25 curtsy lunges, 25 backward lunges, 100 front kicks, 100 roundhouse kicks, 100 back kicks, 100 standing crunches, 100 hamstring curls, 25 crunches, 25 bicycle crunches, 25 static crunch with scissors, 25 reverse crunches, 100 jabs with 2lb weights, 100 hooks with 2lb weights, 50 uppercuts with 2lb weights.

Socializing/ Shopping:

I had arranged to meet up with my Corianne as her husband and kids are away camping. She indulged me and agreed to hit Main Street with me as this has been on my bucket list for a number of years.

We skytrained down and didn’t realize we were so hungry until we had zero interest in looking around.

Bob Likes Thai Food was our first stop. I went here several years ago with a guy I was dating, but hadn’t been back. The interior has definitely been updated, but thankfully the food was still amazing. We shared Miang Kham bites which were several flavors wrapped in a lime leaf- amazing! And the green curry chicken which was as good as I remembered! It was great to be out with someone who would share:)

We started back and stopped to look in several shops. There are a lot of consignment stores in this area!!! I wasn’t impressed with their prices though:(. I tried on a t-shirt, but for $35, I wanted a better fit and more excitement.

We stopped in the Soap Dispensary and a few other places, but didn’t get excited until I came to Blue Heron Cheese. I had been told about this place from a parent in my class so I knew I needed to stop. I bought the four types of cheese they had left and got told I should come first thing Saturday morning for best selection. I can’t wait to try a recipe with ricotta as that is a cheese I haven’t found dairy free before. I will also be having a bocconcini,tomato and basil appetizer for a meal in the next couple days😀

Our final stop was Cartems Donuts. Neither of us are huge donut fans, but this was another place I had been told about so we thought we’d stop. I had a gf/df salted caramel donut, which I didn’t realize was a chocolate based donut and Cori had a London Fog donut that had cream filling, but the cream filling was lumpy and not creamy:(. We agreed afterwards we should have gotten the earl grey and salted caramel gf/df donuts and shared them. Oh well, they had four options I could eat which was nice and if I ever start craving donuts, I’ll know where to go.

On the way home on the skytrain, we got off one stop early and checked out Golden Spike Days which is my city’s Canada day celebration. Yet again I was disappointed:( First it cost money to get in. Second there was nothing there but advertising and food trucks:(. I think I need to find somewhere that does an old fashioned country fair for Canada day!

All I’ve managed to do since I got home was have a nice long nap!

Eating:

Peanut butter on toast

1/2 miang kham & green curry chicken

Salted caramel donut

Salmon burger

Knitting:

I have started the ribbing on the right front of my cardigan, however I’ve decided that I don’t like that only one stitch was taken off for the buttonhole, so I think I will be restarting this part tomorrow.

Well, yet again, I’m tired so I’m off to bed.

Have fun!

AJ

Today and Yesterday

The first day of holidays was lovely!

Exercise:

I laugh that I had to get up even earlier than usual for my run this morning, but that’s okay because I had company:)

We ran Coquitlam River which was really quiet at that hour which made it even better!

The one thing I’ve noticed was that I was very stiff when I got up this evening from sitting and I’m wondering if it’s because I didn’t do the dynamic stretches this morning? I’ll have to do them tomorrow and see if it makes a difference.

Reading:

I have to admit that I spent a large part of today cleaning and reading. I love the idea of having a clean house, but I have to bribe myself with reading breaks. I read Getting Worked Up by Erin Nicholas. Phoebe and Joe are working together to help each other get married to their best friends, but things quickly go awry.

I didn’t really love the premise of this book at the beginning, but the characters did grow on me. I think it was the small town background that saved this book for me. It also turned out to be on the steamy side, rather than the sweet.

Eating:

I had scrambled eggs after my run this morning. A Kind bar and some fake cheese mid day and then the tuna poke bowl this evening for dinner. So not bad for the first day of holiday:)

Socializing/ Movie:

I had arranged to meet up with my friend Allison (who is here from Boston), Melissa and Suzanne for dinner and a movie. We had dinner at Browns Socialhouse and the tuna poke bowl was extremely yummy!

We then went and saw the movie, Yesterday. It’s about a world without the Beatles and then one guy remembers them and sings their songs as his own. It was really well done and interesting g right from the start. As Suzanne said, it’s great because it’s introducing the next generation to music they may not know. I would definitely recommend seeing it:)

Well my eyes keep closing…

Have fun!

AJ

I Made It

Well I survived the admin day and am free (except I still have to go help my friend next week).

Exercise:

I really didn’t feel like it, but managed to get my 3.5km in this morning and once again, they dynamic stretching seems to have helped:). It was way busier out this morning, but I guess I was a little later too.

This afternoon I had a short workout with L as it got interrupted when she had to go pick up her son. We did a giant hill from 2-15% on the treadmill and back down again. I have to admit that starting at 11% I did a combo of running and walking. We then did chest press, hammer curls and bicycle crunches along with a minute of skipping between sets. It’s okay that it was short because I sure was sweating a ton!

The plan is to do some more exercise just before bed tonight, but it hasn’t happened yet🤣

Eating:

We had a staff breakfast this morning and twelve of us made it out. I had my usual at Coquitlam Grill and it was as yummy as ever!

The even better part was that it kept me full forever! I grabbed a Kind bar at about 1:30 and then didn’t eat again until I went out for sushi with friends this evening.

It was yummy but not very filling as I couldn’t have any rolls. Two times from now I get to go to the gluten free sushi place:)

Teaching:

No teaching today, just cleaning and piling everything in my coat room.

Knitting:

After a lovely nap on my couch, I have been working on my cardigan again and am finished the left side:)

Well, that’s it for me tonight. My run is even earlier than my usual Saturday morning tomorrow so I think I’ll go to bed early!

Have fun!

AJ

The Last Day with Kids

Well it finally got here- the last day with my students!

Exercise:

I was worried when I heard it called for rain today that I wouldn’t get out, but I actually did and still enjoyed my morning run in the rain. I went the opposite way as I have been, but it went well as I got to run on the new path:) I shouldn’t call it a path though as it’s as wide as a road and feels like a road.

I did do the dynamic stretching that Maureen suggested. I just did leg swings and high knees, but it seems to have helped as my average speed was 13 seconds faster per minute and I’m definitely not as stiff tonight:)

Teaching:

Again, absolutely no teaching today- just handed out report cards, talked about the best friend moment of the year, went to the leaving assembly and then watched a movie in the afternoon.

I got my PR cards done twice today 😖. Don’t ask!😫

Socializing:

I met up with five amazing women I work with who make every day better. Our school isn’t a particularly happy place right now, but these women make me laugh and keep me sane. I really can’t imagine working somewhere without friends. We had an awesome time snacking, sipping and socializing for more than the 25 minutes we get at school. A pretty awesome end to the school year!

Eating:

Was really good all day

Breakfast- cheddar and peanut butter sandwich

Recess- larabar

Lunch- apple sauce, fruit

Party- way too much yummy stuff!

Well, I’m off to bed!

Have fun!

AJ

Workout Wednesday and a Baking Challenge

It was a very busy day and yet not.

Exercise:

I got out once again for a run before school. I figured this may help calm my after school time. My left leg is definitely a little stiff and I hope it eases up. I got another 3.5km so am chipping away at that yearly goal slowly.

After school we had our bootcamp. It was quite the workout, but I think I need more cardio in between as I’m not sweating much:( we did 30 seconds of cross cross jumps and then a burpee between the first four rounds and then forgot the second four so we did two minutes of running at the end.

We did:

High rows/ superwoman

Reverse lunge with tricep extension/ hamstring curls

Lateral lunge to step up

Bench plank flies

Banded hammer curl/ banded static crunch with scissors

Plank with arms in and out/ band front raise

Bench lunges

Bench sit-up to jump squat/ uppercuts

It felt like there were a lot of arm exercises today, but that’s probably a good thing!

This evening I managed to be slightly active again by doing 100 front kicks, 50 squats, 50 plié squats, 100 roundhouse kicks, and 100 standing crunches.

Teaching:

There was absolutely no teaching today!🤣. This morning I gave the students their year end gifts- a Canadian beach ball. I had signed Happy summer on them and then the children got to go around and sign each other’s. I think I like this gift a lot more than the others I’ve done over the years.

We also cleaned out all our extra supplies and our desks.

This afternoon we watched a movie and played outside as I had two classes on my own. My co teacher had to be at the rehearsal for tomorrow’s leaving ceremony. It went really well, but it probably helped that two of the biggest issues were away.

Baking:

This evening I wanted to tackle Sally’s Baking Addiction monthly challenge which was an angel food cake. I figured this was the perfect time to make it as I’m meeting up with the girls tomorrow so I can take the cake and not eat it all myself. I had to use this recipe instead of Sally’s as I figured there would need to be changes for gluten free. It was super easy and looks like it turned out well.

I hope it tastes good tomorrow with strawberries and coco whip!

Movies:

I watched Summer In The City tonight. I have to admit the leading man wasn’t particularly to my taste, but it was an interesting movie.

Eating:

Breakfast- peanut butter and cheddar sandwich

Recess- larabar

Lunch- assorted sashimi

Snack- tuna snack kit

Dinner- cucumber and cheese, grapes

Well I need sleep as I have to run before work again.

Have fun!

AJ

Learn Something Every Day

I got up this morning and really wished it was already Friday!

Exercise:

I got out for a 3.5km run first thing this morning since I had a massage after school. It was lovely and cool out, though I was still a little slow starting out.

I just realized this morning that I am probably slow in the morning because my muscles and joints aren’t warmed up. All I do is walk downstairs and then start running, whereas when I go after school I’ve had all day to warm up and loosen up. It’s only taken fifteen years to figure this out🤣🤪

Teaching:

We worked on finishing up our printing this morning, had a math drill, handed out some work and then this afternoon we did the “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” activity. We read the story by Charles G Shaw to the kids and then have them look at the clouds to figure out what they look like. It’s a lot of fun to do during this last week.

Blogging:

Today at lunch I learned that the search feature only searches the titles of blogs. I guess I’ll be changing all of my titles so I can actually find something. I don’t like this as sometimes I really like my title.

I have also installed google pics on my phone and will try to figure out how to get photos from there to show up on my blog. It’s times like this that I wish I was more tech savvy!

Which by the way, I was unsuccessful at which explains why there are no new photos in this post:(

Knitting:

Finally got the arm decreases on the left side so will hopefully keep making progress!

Shopping:

After a lovely nap, my evening took a downturn when I went looking for my angel food cake pan. I don’t seem to have it. I tried three different stores for it or the ingredients for some roll ups and came home empty handed:(

Movies:

At least my Hallmark movie of the night was cute- My Perfect Romance was quite cute:)

Eating:

Breakfast- my last chorizo sausage

Recess- granola bar

Lunch- Pb & j sandwich, Rice Krispie square

Snack- granola bar

Dinner- cucumber and cheese, popcorn

I’m off to bed as I need to change around my day tomorrow to allow for going to Walmart for a Pan after school tomorrow.

Have fun!

AJ

The Last Monday

This week is full of last days, and it’s all about survival. The kids are crazy and the to-do list grows by the second so it’s going to be all uphill to Friday.

Teaching:

We spent the morning writing our Summer Bucket Lists. This is an activity I have done each season this year and I really want to keep it up. It’s neat to see how much the students can come up with. I wrote my own too.

Walk on the beach

Read on my patio

Go trail running

Visit my parents

Go on a road trip

Go to Sechelt

Make ice cream

Go to Canada Day celebrations

Stay in bed drinking tea

Bake on rainy days

Can fruit

Pick berries

Go to Seattle

Visit my brother

Watch Gus play football

Workout lots

Have a picnic

Go on a hike

Meet friends for fun stuff

Walk along Main Street

Explore Commercial Drive

Go on a bike ride

Use my herbs

Go for ice cream

Knit 2 sweaters

Visit new yarn and book stores

Go to a farmers market

Try a new restaurant

Help on my parent’s house

Play with Anna’s kids at the park

See as many friends as possible

Work on my cross stitch

Make my Christmas presents

Watch movies

Check out a new library

Go shopping

With 62 days, hopefully this list will make my blog interesting this summer:)

Lunch was taken up with an interminable meeting where absolutely nothing was decided or changed:(

We also got the scrapbooks finished and tried to get all our torn Canadian flags done- not quite, but close.

After school I got all the kids hallway writing put into books for them to take home tomorrow. After each event this year we have written about it and now I have taken all the pages and made them into books for the kids to take home. It’s great to see how far the children have grown in their writing.

This is from last year, but they look exactly the same this year. I guess I am obsessed with yellow🤣

Exercise:

After a nap I managed to get my butt out the door for a run. I wanted to go longer, but one of my students got me with dairy today so I didn’t last very long. I got 3.9km done towards my goal and at the end I managed to hit a 6:15/km. Not sure how, but I’ll take it!

Knitting:

This evening I have finally sat down to work on the cardigan some more and now have the left front up to the arm decreases. I don’t think I’ll have this done by July 1st, but hopefully by the first week of the holiday.

Movies:

As I’ve been knitting away, I watched Lucky In Love. It was a cute movie, but it seemed like the whole thing was a dream. I kept expecting the female lead to wake up and find out it was all a dream! Actually the female lead so reminds me of my server at the pub on Tuesday nights.

Well I’m off to bed so I can deal with tomorrow.

Have fun!

AJ

Unscheduled

An odd thing for me- but my day didn’t have a plan. It turned out just fine😀🤣

Exercise:

A 6.3km run this morning. We ran Coquitlam River and I just trotted along at a slightly slow pace while Dennis did circles around me. We agreed to the shortcut on one side and then I took the longer route on the other end. We got to the bridge in 30 minutes so someone (not me!) had the brilliant plan to add on. I only needed 5.1km today, but I love how Dennis always pushes me. One thing I noticed was that I run much faster on concrete than I do on the trails! I’m finding since my last fall that I’m quite cautious when running the trails.

Shopping:

Hmm what did I do today- I went to Chapters and returned two things I had been gifted that were too big. I looked around, but felt guilty buying a new cookbook when I haven’t finished trying out all the ones I have. I’ll hold off until I think of something I really need.

We managed to stop off at the thrift store and I found a cute new outfit for work and a new pair of running shorts.

Eating:

I’ve had an extremely good eating day- a homemade granola bar, 3/4 of a plate of fish and chips and cucumber slices with cheese. If only every day could be like these past two- the pounds would be gone in no time!

House:

My mom talked me into cleaning the patio today. We started at the top and made our way down. It looks so great! I really need to put a quick cleaning on the calendar each month to keep it looking this good. I want to be out there all the time:). Too bad it’s supposed to rain a lot this week:(

Movies:

My mom and I binged Hallmark movies on our last night. We watched the end of Ms Matched which we had started last night. This movie was cute, but the unrealistic ending really bugged me!

We moved onto a new Hallmark movie- Eat, Drink and Be Married. We both agreed this was a really bad Hallmark movie. The script, the plot and the acting were all bad:(

Finally we watched Love at First Dance which was super cute!

Well tomorrow is back to reality.

Have fun!

AJ

Super Saturday

It was a very busy day after a long night so I’ve been yawning all day.

Yesterday was great but busy with a field trip and the staff year end party. I didn’t let that stop me today though!

Exercise:

I ran Mundy Park with Sarah this morning. It was nice and cool so a good day for a run. It got my distance in for the day, but definitely wasn’t a challenge. Unfortunately that was my only exercise for the day:(

Family:

I went to grab my mom but my brother and nephew had gotten there first so I visited with them a bit, and this cutie.

Shopping:

I grabbed my mom and started on the list, but it changed immediately when we saw how low my tires were. We went straight to the tire store and I was happy they didn’t charge me at all. I figured since I was so close, I might as well get a car wash too. It was then back to grab Mio and graph paper from Walmart, a gift card for L from Lululemon and I went a little crazy on Bath and Body Works because they were having a sale. I decided I wanted shower gel and lotion that were the same scents so I bought almost all the ones they had😳

We also hit Black Bond Books so I could spend a gift card from two years ago. They didn’t have many knitting books and the only cookbook I liked was double the price of the gift card so I got two books for my classroom instead. I’m just glad the gift card is finally gone!

Eating:

After having fruit salad after my run this morning, I actually didn’t eat again until we met up with Lyndsay and Corianne for a late lunch at Taps and Tacos. I definitely made up for the lack of food by eating my weight in tortilla chips! It was a great lunch! I had the tuna taco:)

Movies:

After a quick trip to Costco to look at a vanity my mom and I are both considering- we decided to veg out and watch Hallmark. We watched Season For Love which was quite cute.

Well I desperately need sleep!

Have fun!

AJ

Friday Eve Thankfully!

I am tired!

Teaching:

The kids were great today. We wrote about our field trip yesterday and the kids wrote so much!!! It’s great to see how far they have come!

Most of the rest of the day was taken up with trying to finish our Canada Flag torn paper art and gluing everything into our scrapbook. I only have about five kids who have managed all of that so I know what we will be doing tomorrow afternoon.

My mom came up after work to deliver all my shoeboxes and we started on the big job of replacing them. We’ll finish tomorrow, though I feel like there’s some I need to go back to.

Exercise:

After a quick cup of tea with mom I was off to the trail running clinic. We were running in Bert Flynn Park which is my usual Saturday morning run. I thought I had a picture but I don’t have one of the single track technical trails we were doing tonight. It was awesome to start and end on new trails and to have some familiarity in the middle. I got 5.66km done so that helps out my yearly goal too!

I did notice my left knee doesn’t like the stabilizing it has to do during trail running:(

Shopping:

I have to admit I prioritized my trail running over baking something homemade for the staff party tomorrow night. I always love having the excuse to bake, but not when I’m getting home late. I’m sure they’ll like the four flavour cake I bought.

Well I need sleep as I have an early workout with L in the morning.

Have fun!

AJ