Sleeping

I’m sorry I suddenly realized this morning that I hadn’t been on here since Tuesday. All I can say is that I’ve been doing a lot of sleeping still when I’m not at work.

Teaching:

I definitely sleep better when I don’t have the stress of going to work but I had forgotten how much I enjoy spending the day with kids. I even heard one the other day saying how fast the days go.🤣 My boys are having a it of difficulty adjusting to my being back, but we’re getting there. I think I have finally found everything and we’re getting there with the work.

Exercise:

You know me- I want to run, workout and do yoga everyday, but I have not been letting myself do that. I’m easing back into this. Tuesday I ran, Wednesday I didn’t plank and a short upper body workout from NourishMoveLove and yesterday I got to go back to my yoga class. (There are only six of us in an entire gym so lots of social distancing). Today I am hoping for a run and a stroll with a friend (my person as I’m single).

Knitting:

Well I actually have two projects on the go! I have started The Bonny by TinCanKnits and the Musselburgh hat in black for a friend for winter. I am hoping to stop at my parents apartment today and steal my mom’s Ott light ( she said it’s okay so I’m not really stealing) so I can get more work done on my cross stitch.

Reading:

I haven’t been reading much. I started a historical romance but can’t seem to really get into it. I feel like I need to find a modern, small town,sweet for right now.

Shopping:

Even with being home I’ve had an expensive week. I ordered the new appliances, paid my utilities and hit up Costco. I did better at Costco than I have in the past. I have been loving my $20 robe I had gotten from there so this time I picked up two new towels for $20. They are bigger than me and felt so soft and squishy!

Well there’s my life in a nutshell and I’ll do my best not to fall behind again!

Have fun!

AJ

Back To It All

Teaching:

Well I got to work and managed to get myself and my classroom mostly organized before the kids arrived. My TOC was a very young male and I don’t think there was much discipline or actual work going on. Some of my little people had a big adjustment today back to Miss B’d rules and routines🤣

We got through a lesson on the h brothers. I said that to my mom and she asked what the h brothers are… so, the h brothers and the 5 letters- c,s,t, p and w that when they come before an h they make a new sound. The kids did fabulous at it!

We also had a story, they had library, and this afternoon we started our unit on community. I made them restart the posters they worked on yesterday as they were definitely not their best.

The craziest part of the day was when we looked up at lunch and it was hailing and being blown sideways by the wind. The kids were brought in early and then suddenly the storm was gone and we were back to beautiful sunshine and could play outside at the end of the day.

Exercise:

After work I met up with Sarah and Dennis for an easy run to the park. The wind made it a little tougher but I didn’t push the pace at all and it just felt good to move. One good thing of being home for two weeks is that my knee is all better:). I couldn’t believe they neither of my running buddies ran without me!

Knitting:

Well I found a brioche pattern to try as that was another technique I have always wanted to try. I am hoping to use up some stash because I was bad and ordered yarn for a cardigan today so that I could participate in my very first KAL with a localish yarn store. I’ll let you know when o get it.

Unfortunately it is once again dark when I am writing this so you are getting a bad photo of my Hermione’s Everyday Socks. I love how the socks look, though don’t look too closely or you’ll see the mistake, however this free pattern definitely requires the knitter to already have knowledge of how to knit socks. There’s not much detail. I would definitely make them again though. The brown is Cascade Heritage in Bark and the pink is an unknown sock yarn- probably Kroy or Regia.

Well I’m off to watch an episode of the Crazy Sock Lady before I head to bed early again.

Have fun!

AJ

Getting There

It was finally Thursday! My days with the kids are fine, but I’m just so tired!

Teaching:

We got through printing the letter H, music, a lesson on adding on strategy for addition, and an art project for a hibernating bear.

The kids were really good, which was good because I was tired from the get go.

The funniest thing was that I wore my new school sweatshirt today and the first thing my students said to me was that my shirt was too big. I said, “but all the other teachers were getting them”, and one little guy asked me,” well if all the other teachers go off a cliff will you do that too?” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

After school, I had a zoom meeting and then we had Bookclub with the kids after that. It was our first Bookclub of the year and it was really nice to talk with the kids about books again!

Knitting:

I am knitting on my entrelac scarf in the morning and my socks in the evening. I got to the third row of the first chart and determined that I was four stitches short on my second sock. I have to rip out the second sock and will have to start over tomorrow.

Exercise:

Tonight I had my second athletic yoga class. It went really fast and didn’t seem as tough or as long as last week. It was still really great to get to go to a class though!

Well I’m sorry I don’t have anything more interesting for today. I’m off to bed!

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday

I really can’t believe it’s Tuesday again so soon! The time is going fast!

Teaching:

The kids were tough today as they always are after a long weekend. It’s like one extra day makes them forget everything!

We got through our last long vowel in phonics today. We also did a little math practice and learned about Groundhog Day, though I never heard if the groundhog saw his shadow. I can’t imagine any west coast one did today! This afternoon we did a mini book on hibernation which will be the end of that before we move onto adaptations.

Exercise:

I met up with Sarah and Dennis for a run after school. Just our usual over to the mill and back. My knee was grumbling slightly but it wasn’t until we were back that I realized I have ran five days in a row. Time for a break!

I also did 45 seconds each side and front for a total of a 2:15 plank. I’m getting there slowly.

Trivia:

In the first round:

Who played Tootsie?

Dustin Hoffman

The music round categories were:

Single Named Artists, “Black” Songs, Misheard Lyrics, Initialed Artists, Songs of 2000

In Kahoot:

Who was the alter ego of Bruce Banner?

The Hulk

In which city was the Wizard of Oz?

Emerald City

Who played second most games in the NHL?

Mark Messier

Which city has a team in all four major leagues in North America?

Detroit

What does the P in PDF mean?

Portable

What is DB Cooper infamous for?

Hijacking a plane

How many nautical miles in a league?

3

Who was the lead singer of Coldplay?

Chris Martin

Which US state is Bon Jovi from?

New Jersey

In the final round:

Who played Super Woman?

Gal Gadot

Who was Ariel in love with?

Prince Eric

How much is mom worth in Scrabble?

7

Which two rivers is Mesopotamia between?

Tigris, Euphrates

Who wrote the Magic Flute?

Mozart

Who played the counsellor in Good Will Hunting?

Robin Williams

Which girl ran around?

Sue

Well I’m off to bed, have fun!

AJ

Happy Friday Eve!

I can’t believe it’s already Thursday again! My kids have been getting crazier and crazier each day so it all made sense when I saw it was a full moon today.

Teaching:

We had a pretty productive day though I hear my kids got yelled at by other teachers at lunch when they were yelling in the bathroom:(

We got through printing m, music, adding practice, silent reading and our monthly stem challenge.

The kids were super engaged in the stem challenge where they had to create a sledding ramp and see how far their “sled” would go. They got a piece of card stock, a piece of tape and thirty pieces of tape. The sled was the top of my tea container. I think the best was twelve centimeters, but I loved how they just kept going. One little girl cried at the end and one of her classmates gave her an idea to solve the problem. It was great to see!

I finished prep after school, but was super happy to get out of there!

Reading:

I finally finished the third book in the Confectionary series I was reading by Sydney Jane Bailey. I had a bit of trouble getting through the third book, but only because I could see the trouble coming and I’m finding it tough to read angsty books right now. The whole series was fun and well written.

Knitting:

I actually finished my new mitts yesterday, but will share them now. They are the TinCanKnits pattern World’s Simplest Mittens which is free in Ravelry. This is the second time I have made this pattern and I still love it! This time they are made out of Tumble Mountain Fingering held doubled. They are soft and a gorgeous blue colour, though I’m sorry you can’t see that with the bad night photo.

Exercise;

I got to start a new exercise class tonight. A couple of years ago I took athletic yoga and really enjoyed it as it was a challenge. My friend and I wanted to go back but of course it wasn’t happening. It was finally offered again and while it is different, it was still a good class. It is much less aerobic and there are only eight people and it’s only allowed to be 45 minutes, but boy did I feel like I worked hard in those forty five minutes. You get into a yoga pose and then have to do weights or body weight movements. I think I’m going to feel my abs tomorrow!

Well I think that’s all my excitement today.

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday

It was an okay day, but I’ve been tired all day even after going to bed a half hour early last night.

Teaching:

I now have seven kids who have changed levels in the reading program and I am super happy about that, so happy that we started the day with two prizes for kids who had changed. We then proceeded to work on the long o sound in phonics. One of my little girls finally got tested by the SLP and it’s a bigger problem than expected:(

We started a tiny bit of addition and the kids then had library. I spent my prep walking home for lunch as somehow I went to school with just grapes for lunch. I guess it got me to run my car🤷🏼‍♀️

This afternoon we had silent reading and I took my lowest reading group. The two girls now have all of their sounds and the boy is only missing one- so at least there has been some improvement!

We also worked further on our hibernation work. I love science Asian ways learn things too.

The best part of my day was when my students begged me to read books to them rather than showing a magic school bus video. I love that they love books!❤️❤️❤️

Exercise:

My run was supposed to be later,but Sarah texted to just go ahead without her. Dennis and I ran to the mill and back, but once again it felt tough. I also got my 1:30 plank done. I read during my plank today and that really helped!

Trivia:

I really wanted a nap,but had to pick up milk so did that instead.

It was our regular five for trivia tonight. In the first round:

What animal is Hedwig in Harry Potter?

Owl

What did the main character of Castaway do before he became stranded?

Fed-Ex

Name the first four words in Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield.

Jessie is a friend

What Ed Sheerhan song debuted at #2 in 2017?

Castle on the Hill

Who wrote the Scarlet Letter?

Nathaniel Hawthorne

In the music round the categories were :

P Bands, Single Girl Names, Songs about Pot, Prince and Hits of 2013

We came in second in Kahoot.

What were the initials of the agents in Men in Black?

J&k

What was the name of the princess in 1959 Sleeping Beauty?

Aurora

What was the name of Roy Rogers horse?

Trigger

What does C&H stand for in the sugar world?

California & Hawaii

Which two countries in South America are landlocked?

Bolivia and Paraguay

What is a blow to the back in boxing called?

Rabbit Punch

We didn’t win any drink tonight and ended the night still tied for fourth place overall.

Have fun!

AJ

Monday

I had absolutely no ambition today, really wanted to just stay in bed with my book!

Teaching:

We got through a journal, music class, gym class of What Time is it Mr. Wolf?, an assessment of place value, and a lesson on hibernation.

The kids were best during the assessment and I actually got the entire class done in one go- unheard of!

At the end of the day we went outside as it was sunny when we went. It started hailing, but the kids didn’t appear to even notice. I was a frozen popsicle by the end though!

I headed out quickly after school as I had a massage.

Reading:

I finished the book The Toffee Heiress by Sydney Jane Bailey. This is the second in the series and I enjoyed it as much as the first and have started on the third book now. It is complete fluff, but happy and enjoyable!

Knitting:

I had started a toque out of the yarn I bought in Burn’s Lake last year, but it just wasn’t right, so I’ve ripped it out and have started on a pair of mitts for myself. For a long time I had a grey pair of the Simplest Mittens in the World by TinCanKnits that I loved, but they got holes in them, so now I am replacing them. I really need to get going as it’s cold outside right now!

Netflix:

I have finished the Canadian Baking Show and Emily in Paris so far and am almost done Virgin River. If anyone knows of any other good chick flick things on Netflix, please let me know.

Well that’s it for my Monday.

Have fun!

AJ

Happy Friday Eve

At least I’ve said it on the right day this week!

Teaching:

It was a crazy day at work today! On my walk up the hill I passed the BC Hydro trucks and sure enough I got to school to find a partial power outage. My class thankfully had lights, but no heat. All day long the power came and went. The kids loved doing everything old school, but it did give more stress to the day.

We managed to get through printing n, music, practice of place value, and an art project as well as playing outside in the sunshine at the end of the day.

Exercise:

I came home and got right to it. I did my 1:25 plank, a ten minute Fat Burner workout from the lean machine and fourteen minutes of yoga. The fat burning workout should have been called the jumping jack workout as it seemed like that’s what made up 80% of it!

This is the first day that my knee hadn’t hurt, and I just hope I didn’t overdo it with the workout!

Shopping:

I stopped and grabbed my first ice cream of the year tonight as they had new flavors to try. I am trying to just have ice cream once a month so I won’t go back until they have new flavors I want to try. I had their banana fudge caramel walnut which was amazing and a pumpkin brittle chocolate ganache which had amazing brittle, but they still need to work on the base as it was a little grainy for my taste. It was satisfying and seems very sweet after not eating sugar lately.

I met up with my friend Liane from work to hit Costco tonight. We have been doing this once a month and it’s fun to go with a friend, though somewhat expensive so far!

Tonight was better! I picked up several items of clothing, but ended up putting them all back. I also picked up an instant pot for $70, but ended up leaving it too. I mostly just bought things that were actually on my list or were regular good things for me. The only new thing I bought were these potatoes that my friend says are good and quick to make. It would’ve nice to have something a little more instant in the house.

Now it’s time for bed!

Have fun!

AJ

TriviaTuesday

It’s been a busy day!

Reading:

Just before I forget.. I finished a good book last night and started the second in the series this morning. The first was called The Chocolate Duchess by Sidney Jane Bailey. This is complete fluff, but it was fun.

Teaching:

The kids were fine. We got through long I in phonics, a little bit of place value practice, library and a science experiment on why birds fly in a v when migrating.

I really noticed today that some of the kids are noticeably better at things now than they were before Christmas break. It’s great to see.

I was also super happy to see that four children have already moved onto the next level in home reading. Yay! I had a feeling this group would move fast if I could just get the program for them.

I spent my prep and some time after school making an inventory list of our guided reading books. I’m going to use mine to keep track of what books I use with what groups.

Exercise:

I drove over to a nearby River and ran there with Dennis and Sarah. This got my car moving (I had to jumpstart it again yesterday) and got my run in:). It was actually quite a quick run as we were racing the daylight.

House:

My gas fireplace turned itself off again yesterday and wouldn’t come back on so my cousin came again tonight to fix it. I wish I had been more organized and had something on hand to clean the glass. I tried vinegar, but I don’t feel like it did anything:(

Trivia:

There were just four of us for the first round.

What we knew in the first round:

Who are the goalies for the Canucks this year?

Dipieteo, Holtby, Demko

Which province produces the most milk in Canada?

Quebec

Where was the Dodo bird from?

Africa

When was the penny discontinued in canada?

2012

The second round was all music. It went from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s.

The Kahoot round was tough!

In the final round we knew:

What movie won best picture in 2020 Oscars?

Parasite

Who played the son on Happy Days?

Ron Howard

What is the official language of Egypt?

Arabic

What is the previous name of Mumbai?

Bombay

What element used to be called quicksilver?

Mercury

Spell commitment

In the song Beer for my horses, what do the men drink?

Whiskey

What are the first six words of Dancing Queen by Abba?

You can dance, you can jive

We are sitting in third place overall right now. It’s really bugging me that one of the guys on the team in first always has his phone out though. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it’s bugging me!!

Have fun!

AJ

Finally Finished

Another normal day. If my knee didn’t still hurt, it’d be great!

Teaching:

We had a good day. All but one of my students is doing their home reading🎉🎊. We got through a lesson in printing the letter r, our first lesson on place value, and worked again on our line art, though we unfortunately didn’t get that finished😞 We still celebrated by going outside to play in the sunshine.

When looking at the home reading program I saw that one of the girls in my class recorded her reading at 11:31 last night. Doesn’t that seem a little late for a six year old to be up? She said she was washing her hair when I asked her about it. Hmmm, I so couldn’t do that!

After school I stayed to finish prep for next week.

I couldn’t believe I got to walk home in daylight! No rain really helps the light situation!

Exercise:

While my hand really only complains during my daily plank, my knee is still talking:(. I tried to take it easy again today by doing only upper body and abs for my workout, and an easy round of yoga. It’s better than nothing, I keep telling myself. It is bugging me though that I’m not anywhere near what I usually am for mileage:(

Knitting:

For a project that I thought would take one day, my sweater sleeves instead took five days. I finally finished them today and I will probably wear the sweater tomorrow to test them out. I have moved onto a slouchy toque for one of the ladies at trivia. My plan is to use two charcoal remnants and hope it looks good!

Well I need sleep!

Have fun!

AJ