Trivia Tuesday #34

Well I survived!

Teaching:

We got some printing of the letter s done this morning and completed some more pattern work, but the big event today was the Christmas Concert. The children did very well, though the finale song started before the kindergarten kids were even on the stage!🙄 This was definitely the quickest concert I’ve ever seen as it was only about a half hour long!

The bake sale afterwards was of even more importance to the children!🤣

Exercise:

After school we had a bootcamp workout. We did:

Lateral lunges with upright rows

Plank punches

Overhead tricep extension

Rows

Sit-ups

Superwoman

Bicep curls

Pop jacks

Up downs

Front raises

Banded froggers

And then in between each two we did cardio where you did 2 burpees and then 10 front kicks and 10 knee raises and then worked out way down. We also did jump squats for the song Thunderstruck and every time the word thunder was said, we had to do a push-up.

I wish I’d been able to push myself more as it would have been an amazing workout, but I guess for now I should be happy I did anything.

Knitting;

I sat after school and did some knitting on my current market bag while listening to a podcast. It was a quite lovely interlude:)

Trivia:

There were just three of us tonight. I never know if it’s good there’s less people to disagree or bad we don’t have more breadth of knowledge.

First round:

I knew the points in a basketball game.

How do you spell tzatziki?

I got that:)

Round 1 was really tough!

Round 2 had indie bands so we definitely didn’t do well!

Round three:

Who won on Sunday?

Pittsburgh Steelers

Who is the Duke of Edinburgh?

Phillip

Which letter has the most tiles in Scrabble?

E

Which Shakespeare play has a loan of 3000 ducats?

Merchant of Venice

Who was Marie Antoinette married to?

Louis 16

Round 4:

What is hummus made of?

Chickpeas

Who wrote The Nutcracker?

Tchaikovsky

How many biological children did Al and Peggy Bundy have on Married with Children?

2

Put the Tom Hanks movies in order.

You’ve got mail, the green mile, castaway

Which king does not have a mustache?

King of Hearts

Well I’m off home to bed.

Have fun!

AJ

Monday Mayhem

It was such a day- Monday, concert and December. It’s a trifecta of doom for teachers!

Teaching:

We got jobs and journals done this morning. The kids were super excited to tell me what they would do if they were the elf on the shelf!

After recess we had our dress rehearsal. It went okay, though we had to move some children around and encourage our speakers to slooooow down! We will see how tomorrow goes!

This afternoon we started a Christmas mini book, practiced our song and played outside.

Most of the children were okay, but my little girl had quite the day! She started by kicking another little girl this morning and then went downhill from there:(

After school we finished imputing our report cards into the computer. Hopefully it all worked! We were rewarded with a beautiful sunset!

Eating:

One of the teachers brought Western Family Turkey and Stuffing kettle chips today. They were very tasty though I would say they taste more like sour cream and onion than anything else.

Exercise:

I got out for a short run this evening. I’ve been dragging all day so didn’t push the pace or the distance- didn’t even do the loop of the library or go all the way through the park.

I also did a short Hallmark movie workout. I ended up doing:

30 curtsy lunges/ 30 lateral lunges

20 squats with leg lift / 20 pulsing squats

10 plié squats/ 10 froggers

25 squats/ 25 deep squats

20 burpees/ 20 mountain climbers

10 pushups/ 10 dips

25 jacks/ 25 cross jacks

85 crunches/ 85 reverse crunches

In between each I did a minute of either jogging or fast feet.

I am thinking that I should pick new exercises at the start of each movie so that I keep targeting different muscles.

Movies:

Tonight I watched Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa. It was a very cute movie, but I wish I had watched the first one again first as I couldn’t remember what happened with Ali in the last movie.

Well I need sleep!

Have fun!

AJ

Grateful Sunday

It was a pretty nice day all around, though it still feels like work to breathe.

Exercise:

I got out for a run with Dennis this morning while Brenda and James walked. We were supposed to do 10km but we got talking and didn’t start running right away so it ended up being 7.3km. I am just fine with that. Neither Dennis nor I can figure out why we were slower this morning, but we were. Maybe I spent too much time admiring the sunrise.

This afternoon I got another Hallmark movie workout done. I changed it up so that each movie item coincided with two exercises.

I ended up doing:

30 crunches and 30 reverse crunches

10 jacks and 10 cross jacks

15 burpees and 15 mountain climbers each side

15 squats and 15 deep squats

5 plié squats and 5 pulsing squats

15 curtsy lunges each side and 15 lateral lunges each side

In between each of these I put a minute of with jogging or skaters.

I think I’m liking these workouts because every one is different, though I realize I’m not going to build much muscle with them. Oh well, at least I’m moving a bit.

I’m grateful for the beautiful place I live in and the many outdoor places I have available to run. I’m grateful for running buddies who keep me going and make me laugh even when I’m dying. I’m also grateful for the body that allows me to do all these things.

Cooking:

I made a gluten free, dairy free trifle today. I did Schar gf/df ladyfingers, a layer of raspberries, then a layer of chocolate pudding made with almond milk, then a layer of So Delicious Coco Whip. I then repeated them all again and topped it with more fresh raspberries. It was very delicious and went over well at Bookclub.

I’m grateful that I love to spend time in the kitchen and that there are becoming more options for me all the time. I’m also grateful to have a grocery store that carries lots of allergy free options. I’m grateful for the Bookclub girls who willingly eat what I make and provide so many laughs:)

Reading:

I finished the kids Bookclub book today, Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm. This was such a great book! It is about Turtle, a little girl who has to go live with her aunt in Key West during the depression. It was fast paced, the characters were awesome and it made the depression really understandable for kids. It’s told from the perspective of Turtle and so from a kids perspective. I would highly recommend this book and In fact, I’ve read Holm’s other book The Thirteenth Goldfish and loved it too.

I’m grateful for wonderful authors and for getting to share books with the older kids at school.

Movies:

My Christmas movie for today was Pride, Prejudice and Mistletoe. It was super cute, though perhaps a little tough to tell who was supposed to be who at times. I think I have it straight now, but who knows. As a cute Christmas movie it was entertaining:)

I’m grateful that there must be other people who like these movies like I do so Hallmark keeps making them:)

Bookclub:

We had our Christmas meeting of Bookclub today. This is the time when we choose our books for next year. It was better this time than last, perhaps because here were six of us and so the new girl didn’t get to talk continuously! None of my books were chosen for next year, but that’s okay. I will probably still read them myself:)

Well I have to get to bed.

Have fun!

AJ

A Lump on the Couch

I slept in until 9am this morning which is almost unheard of. Unfortunately this extra sleep doesn’t seem to have helped as I was super tired all day:(

I started the day by heading over and getting my iron checked again. I just checked and my iron has gone from 6 this past August to 2. I don’t think any iron stayed in me long enough to help, but I guess this explains why I’m asleep all the time!

Cooking:

For my snack this morning, I made the homemade eggnog recipe off of Minimalist Baker. I made a third of the recipe as I definitely didn’t need eggnog in the house. It was fine, but I can’t say it really tasted like eggnog to me:(

Knitting:

Since I was on a roll I called about the bands I need for my winder and got assured that they would send it out today! I sure hope it shows up soon!

I worked on my sweater a bit, but have to admit that the short rows are confusing me right now. I think I need more brainpower for that!

I have also spent some time working on another market bag. I need to get going on these!

Reading:

I finally finished The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary. I loved the premise of two people getting to know each other through sticky note messages. This book also tackled a very tough topic and did a great job. I have to admit the epilogue was the best part for me!

Exercise:

I dragged myself out for a run today as I was hoping the fresh air would help. I just went to the park and back so only 2.8km. It was slow and steady, but got it done. Thankfully I’ll be doing 10km tomorrow to help with my lack of mileage lately.

This evening I did another Hallmark workout as I watched Picture a Perfect Christmas. I ended up doing:

5 squats

40 jacks

10 plié squats

5 pushups

20 pulsing squats

5 burpees

15 curtsy lunges

35 crunches

35 reverse crunches

40 front kicks

In between each of these I did a minute of skipping or jogging.

Movies:

I also watched Recipe For Love today, but have to admit it definitely isn’t my favourite Hallmark movie. I found the lead guy really annoying as he can’t control his temper at all.

Eating:

I’ve had eggnog, roast beef slices with cream cheese, mustard and pickle slices, cucumber with cheese and half of an eggnog cupcake.

My friend Melissa and I ordered from Pikanik which offers food that is top 8 allergen free. I went to Langley today to pick up my half of the order. I got eggnog cupcakes, butter tarts, and sugar cookie and gingerbread dough. I had half of the eggnog cupcake tonight and have to say, I still think homemade is better!

Well I’m off to sleep again, as usual.

Have fun!

AJ

Fun Friday Supposedly

It was quite the day!

Exercise:

I really dislike getting up early for exercise, but I love how I feel afterwards. I reminded myself of this fact this morning when I wanted to cancel on L. We did floor work where it was a lot of single leg squats, step ups, tap downs, lateral lunges, and toe reaches. We did it first for a change though so at least I felt semi capable of these. I do notice my tap down is not nearly as light as L’s so I’m thinking my legs are still quite weak.

We then got on the treadmill and did hill sprints. Just what I want to do at 6am Friday morning!

Teaching:

Today I got to spend my music prep doing a concert run through where the music teacher suddenly wanted to change things🙄

We had just gotten to the fun pattern sheet when we got called for the concert finale practice.

Finally we did STEM with our buddies where the children had to create a parachute for Santa. It was awesome to see the kids loving it!

Some were super creative and they all seemed to get the idea that a larger piece of material worked better than a small one.

Socializing:

After a lovely massage, I picked up Lyndsay and we headed out to our staff Christmas party. There was quite a large group of us which was great! I had the Brussels sprouts appetizer and some corn chips and salsa. I actually ended up going across the street for ice cream with the music teacher too. The cranberry ice cream was very good!

It was a nice night, but I have to admit I called it a night at 9. Some people were caring on to the breweries, but I just didn’t feel like following drunk people around tonight.

Blogging:

First I want to start by saying sorry I haven’t been reading many blogs. I have a quieter weekend this weekend and hopefully I’ll get caught up on your lives.

I love how Abbey put together this super cute blogmas! Be sure to check out her blog as she’s a very interesting woman with diverse interests:)

Now, wintery breakfasts…. I insist on warm food most of the time in the winter but really do love oatmeal best! It keeps me full and is super yummy and can be made with so many different flavours that I never get bored! Lately though it’s been a spoonful of peanut butter in it. What’s your favourite breakfast?

I think I’ll go enjoy my book.

Have fun!

AJ

Another Year Done

Well my birthday is almost over and as usual it’s been pretty quiet. I wonder at which age birthdays start becoming just another day. I think it might be attached to having to work on your birthday.

Teaching:

I got a lot of birthday wishes today as my students were very excited about it! My EA organized them to sing to me at the end of recess and at the end of the day I came back to a perfectly silent class- that may have been the best gift.

We had a presentation about water conservation this morning that was very engaging for the children and then we wrote about it after recess.

We also finished our Christmas bauble decorations this afternoon. I’ll have to remember to take a picture tomorrow.

All in all, a pretty normal day.

Reading:

After Bookclub with the kids and some more report card stuff, I spent the early evening reading Flat Share by Beth O’Leary. It’s a cute read so far.

I really need to think about what my adult Bookclub suggestions will be for next year. If anyone has read some good books or heard of some, I’d love to hear about them!

Exercise:

I met up with the group for the run tonight and there were eleven of us!! It was nice to run with such a big group again! It was nothing fast, but I did do my 39:39 for my birthday:)

Eating:

My run was fueled on junk today and I could tell!

I started the day with my Starbucks free chai latte on my way to work. I then found a macaron in my pocket so had that and a small banana for recess. My turkey and kale salad for lunch and then chips at Bookclub for dinner. I figured I had better stop there!

Well I’m off to bed as I have an early workout tomorrow. Oh I will be starting the 12 Days of Blogmas that Abbey is hosting tomorrow.

Have fun!

AJ

Woopeeee Wednesday!

I was screaming woopppeee in my head this evening!

Teaching:

It seems like this week has just been full of different! We had music this morning where I ran around like a headless chicken, but didn’t accomplish much:(

We had quiet time where I read with three children and practiced numbers to twenty with another while the rest of the children tried to make snowflakes for the gym decorating.

We had a concert practice and then wrote about painting with the artist yesterday. They all really seemed to enjoy it and here’s the fruits of our labor, or at least some of them.

This afternoon we had silent reading where I managed to read with two other children. We then tackled the huge Christmas baubles we have to also make for gym decorations. We didn’t finish as it was finally sunny so we went outside for the last half hour.

After school I helped put up the snowflakes, read Lyndsay’s report cards and then finished and handed in my report cards. Yippppeeee🎊🎉. I just really needed to make progress on something!

Eating:

I haven’t had too bad a day except for one gift treat that was delivered to me.

I’ve had my pb&j and cheese on rice cake, a small banana, kale salad with ground turkey, a sour key, roast beef slices with cream cheese, mustard and pickle on them. Yum!

Movies:

I watched Christmas Scavenger Hunt tonight. It was a cute movie and I wish they had that type of thing for me- what a great excuse to make snowmen, bake cookies, visit Santa, decorate a tree, etc. The only annoying thing was the father played by Tom Arnold.

Exercise:

I unfortunately didn’t get home in time for my planned run (it’s a good thing I had extra miles saved up for this month!), so it was another Hallmark workout for me. I alternated a minute of cardio with:

40 crunches, 15 pushups, 5 squats, 10 plié squats, 5 pulsing squats, 10 burpees, 15 jumping jacks, 10 curtsy lunges,

And then I added on: 40 reverse crunches, front kicks, side kicks and high knees.

It was only twenty minutes, but hopefully better than sitting on the couch:)

I’m going to curl up in bed and read now:)

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday #33

It was a crazy day full of one time a year events!

Teaching:

I did teach the children how to print the letter “d” this morning, but that was the end of my teaching.

We had a painting workshop with an actual artist, Lauren Albrice, which went really well! I will take a photo tomorrow, but it’s amazing what she can get the children to accomplish!

Finally this afternoon we visited the Holiday Market. The children have the opportunity to buy Christmas presents for their families. The children were extremely excited about this and couldn’t wait! Surprisingly, it went quite quickly and we finished the day with centres so I could do some decorating for the holidays in my classroom.

Exercise:

I forced myself out for a run in the pouring rain. I did 4.68km and didn’t feel too bad, though I did learn that I have to wait for my watch to get GPS before I start my run.

Knitting:

I continued to work on my Head in the Clouds sweater. It’s going well so far.

Trivia:

There were four of us for trivia tonight:)

In the first round, we knew:

Which tree grows from an acorn?

Oak

What is the official Canadian animal?

Beaver

Who wrote The Divine Comedy?

Dante

Which two countries were involved in the Falkland wars?

Argentina and the UK

We found the music round tough as usual:(

The Kahoot! Round:

How many degrees is 3/4 of a circle?

270

Which state is close to California?

Utah

Name the girls in the Brady Bunch?

Jan, Marsha, Cindy

Which Starbucks drink is 16oz?

Grande

We really felt like trivia was tough tonight:(

Well that’s it for me.

Have fun!

AJ

The Best

I really do have some amazing friends!

Teaching:

We got through our first day in December. It wasn’t all great but we are all alive:)

We started working on patterns in math and did a search for them in the classroom.

We also wrote our letters to Santa. It was neat that a couple of children had a difficult time coming up with three things they wanted to ask for.

This afternoon we made our Christmas class book about what gifts we want to give to others. They had done good ideas.

Our staff meeting after school was wonderful because it was only 45 minutes long!!!😀

Socializing:

My friend Lyndsay has asked if I wanted to grab dinner with her tonight and of course I said yes! I was a little confused when she said we were going to GreenMustache and to meet at 4:45 since they close at 5. I eat fast, but not that fast! It turned out she had arranged for Liane and Cori to also meet us and we did an Inferno Escape Room and then had dinner at Milestones. She even brought me a piece of gf df cheesecake. It was such an awesome night and the first time I’ve had this type of thing done for me by friends. It was such a great night out!!!!!

Movies:

Tonight I watched Holiday for Heroes because I got home late. I enjoyed it again:)

Exercise:

My Hallmark workout tonight was:

20 burpees as they went to four town traditions.

15 curtsy lunges as there were 3 decorating scenes

45 pushups as there were 9 bright dress coats

30 squats because Santa was mentioned or seen 6 times

35 crunches because Merry Christmas was said or seen 7 times

30 jumping jacks because there were 6 scenes of drinking hot festive drinks

15 squats because Christmas spirit was mentioned 3 times

In between each of these I put a minute of skipping or jogging in place so that I got some cardio too. Still not much but at least something.

Have fun!

AJ

The Beginning of the Season

I started the holiday season off in the best way!

Exercise:

My run this morning turned into a walk since my running buddy has been sick all week and Brenda would have been left on her own. I have to admit my calves were also happy for the break. We did a lovely 2.24 miles around the park. This seemed as challenging as running since Brenda walks really fast!

I ended up going for a run this evening and got 4.5km in. I tested out my new watch on this run and my mom absolutely loved the live tracking feature as she can watch me do my run on a map. Thankfully I can also send out an alert if I get hurt. I liked this feature of Garmin since I run alone so often. I really wish I could figure out how to have my weight in pounds and everything else in metric on this Garmin though! I just don’t think in miles!

Knitting:

I did end up finishing up the Mommy daughter hat last night.

This is a new pattern from Zanete Knits and it should be available soon. It was a quick knit and it turned out super squishy! I used Regia sock yarn so it’s not even itchy:)

Of course I spent about five minutes without a project and promptly casted on the Head in the Clouds sweater. So far, it’s going well:)

Socializing:

My friend had arranged to take me for high tea for my birthday. I was super excited about this as I used to love going for tea, but these days my allergies keep me from going. The Neverland Tea Salon however has a high tea that is both dairy free and gluten free and we were lucky enough to hit the first day of their Holiday tea as well. It was amazing!

I didn’t eat before or after and was still stuffed! I actually felt like one of those baby birds that eats three times their own body weight and then can’t move for several hours!! When I walked into the tea salon I was shocked at how busy it was, but amazingly it didn’t bother me once we were settled. I had the Heavenly Cream tea (no dairy) and it was a lovely afternoon! It’s also cool as this tea salon has been the location for a few Hallmark films🤣

Movies:

I had promised myself that I could enjoy one Christmas Hallmark movie per day in the month of December. Tonight it was A Christmas Detour with Candace Cameron Bure and Paul Greene. I wonder if he always plays characters who have been dumped by a girlfriend or fiancé and is now cynical about love? It was a cute movie.

A friend had sent me a workout plan based on watching Hallmark movies and I took the challenge of doing it based on this movie. I think I got off really easy with this one. I ended up having to do:

50 crunches because they said Merry Christmas ten times

5 jumping jacks because they had one mug of a hot drink,

10 burpees as they mentioned holiday traditions twice,

15 squats for the Christmassy Inn name they showed three times,

15 plié squats because of three incidences with mistletoe,

5 pulse squats because we see one Santa

5 curtsy lunges because they show decorating once

It was kind of neat to do this because not only did I pay close attention to the move, I also had a different workout than usual:)

Well I’m going back to knitting.

Have fun!

AJ