Moving Monday

I thought I was being nice to myself by running last night and sleeping in this morning, but then I ended up being grumpy all day until I got out for some exercise after school. Maybe I need to run in the morning?!?!

Teaching:

We actually got through a day without my having to raise my voice!!🎊🎉. The boys had no incidents at recess and lunch and my wild girl was pretty calm and my helpless girl didn’t stand around. Wow can I have a groundhog scenario of this day???

It was orange shirt day so after doing a journal in the morning and working on our math number printing book, we read a book about this movement called Shi shi etko. It’s really well done for little kids and we also had an assembly about the topic. Wow that was our entire day.

Exercise:

There were just going to be two of us for bootcamp today so we decided to go do the stairs on the crunch instead. I really hate doing this, but that probably means it’s good for me and I definitely felt better afterwards! I did 3 sets which totaled 1,343 stairs. Along with the run there and back, which of course was hilly, it was enough of a workout!

Eating:

I had another good eating day today. I had:

Cereal and yogurt parfait

Orange

Mac and cheese (the end of it)

Salad with sausage and cheese

This made for five good days in a row, so I got to get myself a treat:)

Shopping:

I called at lunch and found out the store was still carrying the product, so I stopped in after school to grab a pair of Goodr sunglasses. I have been reading lots of good reviews of these sunglasses and decided it would be nice to have a pair of running glasses. Right now, I wear my expensive pair and I’m always worried I’m going to hurt them. It turned out they didn’t have the smaller version so they are probably a little big for my face, but they’re just for running, so they’ll be fine. I love the names they give their sunglasses!!! Mine are called Sunset Squishee Brain Freeze. 🤣

Knitting:

I, of course, couldn’t go a day without knitting (more like I need to knit down the stash as much as possible this week in preparation for the weekend!) and so I started a scarf. I always have trouble figuring out a project when I have multiple colours of a yarn, but not a ton of yarn overall. I found this Pattern for a Triple Check Stitch and am really loving it! I think I see more of these in my future!

Well that’s it for me tonight!

Have fun!

AJ

Adulting Sunday

It’s so unfair that life and adulting get in the way of such a lovely day as Sunday!

Exercise:

I met up with Dennis and Brenda again this morning for a run. We did laps around Brenda again as she’s still working her way through the learn to run program. I got just over 5km done.

I ended up going out again this evening. Amazingly I felt so good and made a personal best in my 5km time of 31:47. I am getting closer to my goal! When I looked down to turn my tracker off, it said I was doing a 4:22/km pace- hopefully that’s true as it’s amazing for me!

Cooking:

I am mainly a snacker but decided I should try making some of the actual meal recipes from my current cookbook- Sylvana’s Gluten Free and Dairy Free Kitchen: Timeless Favourites Transformed. I tried the Homemade Fettuccine with Sausage, Broccoli Rabe and Parmesan. I can’t say I gave it a great test as I didn’t make the fettuccine but rather bought pasta. I also couldn’t find broccoli rabe and was a little disappointed she didn’t give an alternate suggestion. I also bought a ton of cheese today, but not parmesan🤣. I’ll say it looked good and was easy and I’ll let you know how my kale and sausage pasta tastes tomorrow.

Products:

I did buy a lot of cheese today! I tried three new kinds for dinner.

I had Sheese vegan mature cheddar style slices. I found it had a sharp taste to it, but quite a rubbery texture:(

Next I tried Chipotle Cheddar Style Wedge by Nuts for Cheese. This had a nice kick to it, but was soft like a cream cheese.

Finally I tried the Nuts for Cheese Smoky Artichoke and Herb Cheese. This had a tang to it and was even softer than the cheddar variety.

I would buy the Nuts for Cheese items again for a charcuterie board, but wouldn’t bother with the Sheese again.

Eating:

Speaking of food, as long as I maintain this, I’ll get to colour in another square today. I’ve had:

Brunch: steak ( makes my mom worry less about my iron)

Late lunch: Mac and cheese

Dinner: cheese and cucumber

Knitting:

After a quick cleaning of the important parts of my condo, and all my laundry, I have spent most of today knitting on my Not a Boring Sweater second sleeve. I actually finished and got the ends woven in. Here it is:

Well that’s it for my day!

Have fun!

AJ

A Pretty Perfect Saturday

It was a pretty great day, but nothing like my usual.

Shopping:

After being so tired last night, of course I was up super early this morning. I was super ready by the time my colleague Liane picked me up. The city next to ours had decided to do a Fall city wide garage sale, like the one in May, so of course we had to partake in it. We hit about 16 garage sales but definitely weren’t as successful as we usually are in the Spring. I ended up with some items for the price bin at work, along with an Ivivva tank top, a pair of shoes, an aloe Vera plant and a bankers lamp for $9. I think that’s decent:)

We are hoping that it was just slow because it’s the first time it’s been held. It was an absolutely perfect day for garage sales!

Socializing:

After a quick stop at home, I met up with my friend Anna for a walk to the park with her two little boys. It ended up being a longer trip than I had planned, but was still awesome. It was such a perfect crisp, sunny, Fall day and I couldn’t have asked for better company!

We couldn’t get over their stamina!

Knitting:

I have managed to finish one sleeve completely and am ready to start the fancy hem on the second sleeve. I have had to use the extra skein of yarn as I only got to row 73 on the second sleeve and I ran out of my original skeins. I’m so glad I had the new one sitting there waiting! I had actually already started the hem of the second sleeve, but messed it up and had to rip it out. I figured I had better wait for tomorrow and a clear head to tackle the last 32 rows.

Reading:

Since I didn’t have the brain power to knit, I decided to read instead and finished another NetGalley book. I do wonder why my percentage stays at 80% when I have provided a review for every book I have been given. I wonder what else it is based on?

Today I finished the book, An unforgettable Christmas by Ginny Baird.

The story of Sam Singleton, a jewelry store owner who is a workaholic and bordering on Scrooge. He doesn’t even recognize how amazing his accountant Angie is until he falls and hits his head and suffers from amnesia. This was a very sweet, romantic story that surprised me. I wasn’t expecting Sam to become such a different person during his convalescence. It was a neat take on a classic Christmas story.

I greatly enjoyed the story and thanks to Ginny Baird, Hallmark and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Eating:

I think I get to colour in another square on my calendar. I’ve had:

2 rice cakes with Pb & j ( I should probably get this down to one)

Grapes

Mac and cheese

One scoop of vegan maple walnut ice cream

Red peppers and dip

Anna had warned me about going for ice cream in advance so I tried to make the rest of my day healthier so it would make up for the ice cream. It wasn’t unplanned so I think it’s okay. If anyone disagrees let me know. I don’t want to be too easy on myself!

Well, I’m done and going to sleep.

Have fun!

AJ

Terry Fox Run

It thankfully was a better day that started off well.

Exercise:

I got up before the sun today to meet L for a workout. It’s always tough to get up and out the door, but on the way home, I felt so great that it makes it worth it:)

We did a half hour on the treadmill that combined speed work and hills. Ugh isn’t one of those at a time enough?? I did get 4.18km out of it though. We then moved to weights and did bicep curls, squat jumps (mine were much smoother than usual), squats, hip bridges with skipping intervals regularly. I pushed myself to use more weight than usual and was more successful than I was expecting, so it was all good:)

Teaching:

My students were much better today. We started the day with the Terry Fox Run. I got to attend the assembly with my students but the run was during my prep. I was super torn as it’s such a fun event to do with the children, but I get so little prep time that I always feel like I need to take it. Thankfully the prep was super productive and the kids still had fun with the music teacher.

We wrote about the run after recess and then after lunch we had our first buddy meetup. It was cool to see how well it worked out.

My students were all much better behaved today, though I spoke to one little guy first thing this morning about interrupting and so later in the morning he waited his turn to talk to me but ended up having a slight accident. We will definitely be discussing when and how to interrupt on Monday. I just really hope I don’t hear from the parents about this!

Cooking:

I bartered with myself and decided against an afternoon snack, but I stopped and got the ingredients for Mac and cheese. I made the sauce based loosely on this Minimalist Baker recipe and used Miyokos mozzarella cheese. It was dairy free and gluten free and tasted wonderful. It made a lot so I’ll be having several meals of it over the next few days.

I had some frozen chicken noodle soup for lunch and realized that pasta doesn’t seem to freeze well for me, so I’ll just eat this pasta dish for the next several meals.

Eating:

I’ve had:

2 rice cakes with Pb & j

Larabar

Chicken noodle soup

Mac and cheese

I have decided that each day I eat an appropriate amount with no unplanned snacking or treats, I will highlight the day in my planner. After five of these days I get to have a treat (non food) and when I hit my goal weight I am going to order the Lululemon crops I want:). Hopefully this will motivate me as the holiday 87 days from now is too far away to do the trick!☹️

Knitting:

I have spent a lot of this evening knitting and have finished my first sleeve and am a quarter of the way through the second one now! I have to admit I’m enjoying the plain knitting right now as then I can listen to podcasts:)

Well I’m going back to my second sleeve.

Have fun!

AJ

Thunderous Thursday

This is the name that has been given to Workout Wednesday now that it has been moved to Thursday’s this year at school.

Exercise:

I started the day with my usual run in the dark. I didn’t see another soul out there so obviously I’m the only crazy person! I got 3.55km done and under a 7min /km average so I’m happy. To make it even better, it didn’t rain on me:)

This afternoon we got part of a bootcamp workout done, but then got interrupted by the daycare:(. I guess something is better than nothing. We did: lunges to front raise and lunges to lateral raise, rows, lay pull downs, a scissor move with a crunch in between, banded jacks with butt kicks in between, pulsating squat jumps, crunch with scissors,squat with side leg lifts, banded bicycle crunches, I might try to get those last couple done later tonight.

Teaching:

The day was going along pretty well until last thing. We had thunderous Thursday, calendar and a Fall mini book this morning. We did some more math work after recess and then this afternoon we started on our first core competency- I can describe my characteristics. It was very funny to hear what some of them said! “I am very sill” and one kid just wanted to write “I play soccer everyday” all over his sheet.

This afternoon my students had to sit quietly for five minutes after the other class had gone outside because they had taken nine minutes to get ready for planners after lunch!!! I gave them a taste of what waiting feels like. Of course when we went outside the other class had several injuries and one of my little girls turned around and stuck her tongue out at me when I asked her to sit and calm down on the wall. I then directed her into the office and she turned around and said no. I couldn’t believe it! I never would have thought of saying that to a teacher! She got to visit with the principal! I will need to revisit this issue tomorrow.

After my aborted workout I went to the dentist which is not my favourite place with my tiny mouth, but I survived.

Reading:

I finished Puppy Christmas by Lucy Gilmore.

What a cute book! How can anyone resist cute puppies and a gorgeous man?

This book was very cute and imaginative. It was not what I was expecting, but was better. I liked how the whole relationship was fun and creative, and eat it helped both main characters grow.

I also loved the supportive family cast, as usual.

It was a lovely seasonal read.

Knitting:

I have been knitting away on my first sleeve still and am hoping to be done soon!

Oh I forgot

I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about my early morning excitement yesterday!

I was on my way to work, got to the trail onto the school grounds and thought I saw something ahead of me. My running buddies are always teasing me about my thinking a stump is an animal, but it turned out this stump that looked like a bear, was a bear!! I backed up and went up onto the field, but he also went up onto the field, so I ended up having to walk around the block. Third times the charm! It definitely got my heart racing though!!!

Teaching:

I slept in a little this morning, on purpose, and so just got directly ready for work. This morning I had a prep that was interrupted by a fire drill. They didn’t do too badly for coming from music. After recess we coloured our first Terry Fox shoe and worked on our number printing booklets. This afternoon we did a second Terry Fox shoe with the grade 1/2 class and they had to include who they were running for and a pattern. There were endless stories from this activity🤣

After school we got a few items checked off the list to organize which felt good!

Exercise:

I couldn’t decide whether to eat first or run first, but in the end I went with running in case it started raining. I had a pretty fast 4.5km run which felt really good. I would really like to keep getting a little faster so I can get to a thirty minute 5km. I am so close!!!

Thankfully this run was uneventful and quite lovely as it was a perfect Fall day for a run!

Knitting:

I am busy finishing up my first sleeve on the Not a Boring Sweater. I can’t believe that I got my first squishy mail today! I only ordered the skein of yarn on Monday and it came today. It’s a perfect match and I am much calmer knowing I have an entire extra skein if it is needed.

I guess that’s about it for my day.

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday #23

It was a better day today:)

Exercise:

I really didn’t want to go for a run this morning, but I was having a massage so knew I had to. I just barely got the 3.3km minimum in. Thankfully my hip was okay, but I sure wasn’t fast. I guess I had to pay for yesterday.

Teaching:

It was a better day today. We started printing today with the letter l and I was super tough! We started our number printing booklet and played a game about letter names and sounds this afternoon. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to do alphabet jive and letter names and sounds.

Trivia:

It was an all Disney theme night and it’s quite official- I know nothing! Thankfully we had a wringer in my friend’s old friend. We came in fourth for the first round.

They didn’t tell us how we did on the music round which is the second. We think we did pretty good though:)

The third round was Kahoot and we came in third. We were first for 8/16 questions, but then we dropped:(

I knew:

What was the bouncing material in The Absent Minded Professor?

Flubber

Who killed the White Witch in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?

Aslan

After three rounds we were in third.

In the fourth round- I knew nothing, but at the end of the night we won the round and the whole night!!!

OMG!!! That has never happened!! So exciting:).

Well, I have to go home and get sleep!

Have fun!

AJ

Meh Monday

You ever have those days where you really just wanted to stay home and curl up on the couch?!?!

Teaching:

The children started out really quiet today! We got through calendar and our individual photo day. We had quiet time and finished the math sheet from Thursday. I have two little girls who don’t seem to understand the concepts of before and after. I need to come up with a way to practice this idea. We also finished up our rights and responsibilities work.

My problems at work today came from the staff. We have problems at our school and generally within our district, I’m not trying to deny that, however, they are problems that I can’t do anything about so I would prefer not to rehash them every lunch and recess time. All it seems to do is bring me down. I’m not sure how to solve this problem though as I can’t avoid the staffroom- I want my cup of tea at recess and don’t really want to eat my lunch with my students, so I’m left not knowing what to do:(

Exercise:

I got out of school quite quickly today and went right out for a run. I wanted to do a little more than my 3.3km minimum and actually managed 4.05km by going around the park. The amazing thing was that I was fast! For me🤣. I can’t run after school every day, but hopefully on occasion I can if it makes me that fast:)

Knitting:

I got the best news today! I had looked online for anyone who sold the yarn I am quickly running out of on the Not a Boring Sweater knit but even Ancient Arts who made it doesn’t seem to carry it anymore. I decided to email them my dad plight just in case and today I heard that they had found one skein left over in the back of their stockroom. The woman said she had never had someone reply so quickly (I called with my payment info before she had even opened the email saying I wanted it)! At least now I can make the sleeves as called for and don’t have to worry. It relieved a lot of stress!

Baking:

I made a bread pudding out of my hot dog buns instead of making myself eat them, but I’m thinking they may have managed to ruin bread pudding too:(

Well that’s it for me!

Have fun!

AJ

Kitchen Adventures and Misadventures

It was a quiet day, with lots of time in the kitchen.

Exercise:

I ran with Brenda and Dennis this morning. Our fourth is still away so I did circles around Brenda so she wasn’t alone. We did 3.7km in the absolute pouring rain! My feet were squelching by the end! I have a 0.9km cushion this week. Hopefully that will help me out.

Reading:

I finished The Walk of Manitoba and Me by Mariana Zapata. I had heard about this book on the Not Your Mom’s Romance Book Club podcast I’ve been listening to lately and knew I had to read it. I didn’t get much else done for two days other than reading this book. I really enjoyed it as it has a spunky female heroine who really doesn’t take anything from her guy. It also has a gorgeous sporty hero. It is a slow burn, on the sweet rather than steamy side, romance. I did get a little annoyed about how often the author mentions how big the hero is, but I could overlook that as he also turns out to be quite sweet. I enjoyed the ending because the book is only from the heroine’s POV so you have to wait until the end to know what the hero was thinking.

Knitting:

I have finished the body of Not a Boring Sweater and am onto my first sleeve. I am knitting it as called for and just hoping I’m going to have enough yarn!

Cooking:

I started the day by making myself some sausage and kale pizzas for lunch this week. I had some for my dinner today and it was quite yummy. I have to admit I used an Udis ready made crust and am not super happy with it. It stayed quite soggy:(. I had used a new vegan mozzarella cheese by Myokonos which was wonderful and melted really well!

I also tackled the Sally’s Baking Challenge for September which was Cheese bread. I won’t be posting this one on Instagram as it was an utter failure. It was super dry and I ended up not loving the taste of the new vegan cheese I tried. I won’t be buying this again. I found myself eating the bread even though I didn’t love the taste of it, so I threw it away and took the garbage out. This is definitely not something I usually do, but I really don’t want to waste my calories on it!

Movies:

This evening I’ve curled up in bed and watched the movie Miss Potter. If you haven’t seen this movie with Renee Zelleweger, you definitely should as it was wonderful!!!!

Well, it’s back to reality tomorrow so I’d better get to sleep!

Have fun!

AJ

The Storm and the Calm

I so prefer when my life is calm and drama free.

Exercise:

I got up and got out for my run and my left hip felt fine. I started off slow but managed a decent average per kilometer. I also managed to catch up on my mileage for the week even with two days off. I just don’t have that nice cushion anymore:(

Home:

I got home to a letter from my strata saying that I would be fined about my truck leaking oil as this was the third offense. I have cleaned it up after every letter so shouldn’t I start back at one each time? Letters from strata always stress me out, but I guess now I need to write them a letter. ☹️

I also did a ton of cleaning this morning and can actually stand being in my condo again:)

Knitting:

I have done a little bit of knitting today but probably not as much as I should have:(. I at least have permission from the designer to crop the sweater if I need to.

Socializing:

I stopped in and had tea with my running buddy Brenda and picked up some stationary supplies she was getting rid of. I take everything I’m offered now since we can’t get things at school.

I also went on a coffee date this afternoon. I can’t even remember the last time I went on a date. The guy gets points for arranging the date, but he dropped some when he didn’t pay for my tea. He was a nice guy to talk to, though I did tell my mom he had a foxish look to him. He did have nice eyes though. We shall see if he contacts me for another date or not.

Reading:

I’ve been reading The Wall of Winnipeg and Me like crazy today. I had heard of this book on the “Not Your Mom’s Romance Book Club” podcast and it sounded good. So far it has been good.

I’m going back to reading now.

Have fun!

AJ