First of the School Year

I don’t know if it’s a record, but I officially have my first cold of the school year.

Teaching:

I slept extra again today. We got through the day- a Fall Is poem, a patterns smartboard game and drawing our tree in Fall. I definitely didn’t have the patience I usually have. The secretary said I was glassy eyed, the electrician said I was flushed and my kids said I shouldn’t be there. All of this was said without my asking for it!

I stayed late and got a few things done and got my day printed out for tomorrow. I have called a TOC and plan to sleep until I wake up naturally!

Socializing:

I walked Lyndsay’s son home after daycare as she was at a seminar. She bought me dinner at Freshii which was as good as ever! The Buddha Satay bowl with chicken was great, but I am way too full!

I’ve done nothing this evening except read blogs and I am now going to bed!

Have fun!

AJ

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Ho Hum

It was just another day, only enlivened by the fact that the cold finally managed to catch up to me:(

Teaching:

After sleeping for extra time this morning I managed to drag myself out of bed and get to work. I finally finished prepping the primer sight word game; so am very happy to get that off of my desk.

We managed a talking circle about our weekends before we wrote our journals and we even had time for students to share their journals with the class if they wished! I wonder where all this time came from?

We made a graph of early birds and night owls in math as we have been studying about day and night. I have a class full of night owls! We also had a chance to finish our roll a turkey game from Friday.

During my prep I managed two emails and two sets of the sight word game, but that’s it. I’d like to know why my prep time goes so much faster than the rest of the day?!?!

This afternoon we watched a three minute video about why days get shorter and longer as that was one of the questions the class had about Fall. They had a worksheet about drawing things they did during the day and night and they were amazingly quiet!

Finally at the end of the day we took advantage of the continued sunshine and played outside. I had a parent make my day, by bringing me some of the items I had requested in my email. 🎉🎊

Health:

I jetted off after work for a massage. It was fabulous, except I found out that my RMT is only going to work until 3:15 next year. Every year it has gotten earlier and earlier:(. I’m going to call tomorrow and see if I can try an RMT at the place across the street from my house. Now that would be convenient!

Eating:

Yesterday I got my food delivery from 2 Guys With Knives.

I managed to get it all separated out, but I think I am very lucky that I didn’t need as many meals as I normally do. Some of the meals are going to be pretty small!

I don’t know that I would order again as it just seems too much like I already make. Maybe I will just use their online menu to come up with ideas of what to make. I had the chicken, green beans and mushroom risotto for lunch today and it was very yummy, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I can’t wait to try the tiramisu, but that has to wait until tomorrow as I had cookies today. (The staff really loved the s’mores cookies!)

Knitting:

I have finished the strap for my bag and still have yarn left, so I will start on the pocket. I’m going to need to hit Michaels or the fabric store for a piece of lining fabric for this bag! Another thing to add to the list to be done before Friday!

Movie:

As I’ve been working away on the sight word game, I’ve been watching Hallmark’s Autumn in the Vineyard. I really enjoyed this movie about rival vintners. The feud was old, but at least the parents were civil and could work together on things. The only complaint I would have is that it didn’t seem all that “Fallish”.

Well, I’m heading for some extra sleep to try and beat this cold.

Have fun!

AJ

Glad I Went

I thought about staying home today, but for some reason really wanted to spend the day with my students. Thankfully, it was a much better day!

Reading:

I woke up this morning with my duvet in a big pile in the middle of my bed. I’m not sure how I accomplished this while sleeping!

I spent a lovely half hour reading my Bookclub book and actually managed to finish it this evening. The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel was a good read. It was not a difficult read and had an excellent pace. The chapters are short and lead you through the book well. It is an interesting mix of research on related topics and the story of Chris Knight’s time in the Maine woods. I can’t even imagine that life, but it was interesting to read about. The book actually has some very interesting and deep things to say about our modern life and society. I’d recommend it to people who enjoy non fiction or learning about interesting people leading alternative lifestyles.

Teaching:

Today, thankfully went much better, and there were no injuries:)

We accomplished a lot which made me feel better. We finally got our turkey poem read, our Friday journals written ( I now know exactly which little girl pays the most attention), another sheet on patterning done, our math turkey game played, and a robot created with our buddies.

Out of the whole day, doing these robots with our buddies was the most exhausting! Lyndsay and I thought it was a great idea to put our kids together for STEM and read The Wild Robot, but so far it has been very painful. We’re going to persevere though and hope it improves.

Movie:

After school I got a few more items off my to-do list while I watched Hallmark’s Pumpkin Pie Wars. It was a super cute movie, though I may be biased because it is based around two bakeries and a pumpkin pie contest. I thought the feud was a little overdone, but it didn’t ruin the movie for me:)

Health:

I did finally get a massage this evening and it was lovely. I booked the next one with her, only to find out they are moving to the next city over. It would only be about a fifteen minute drive, but my whole goal was to get in somewhere I could walk to. I guess I’ll go to her until they move and then make a decision.

knitting:

I spent a little time this evening knitting on the purple bag. It’s not for me and is super boring so I have to admit I’m not very motivated.

Well, I’m off to bed as I’m thinking of running a very far distance in the morning!

Have fun!

AJ

One Thing After Another

I know that everything that happened today was minor and they were all first world problems, but it just felt like it was never ending!

Teaching:

I slept for an extra half hour again today and was still super tired. I must be fighting something. The question then is, do I take a day off to rest and hopefully get rid of whatever I’m fighting or do I just wait until I’m super sick and take the day then?

I was trying to get the planning done for the week this morning, by myself as my co-teacher is still away and it kept going sideways. A new teacher came to complain about not being able to do holidays in her classroom, yet again!!! I checked with the TOC for my friend just to find out that it’s only me that is far behind on things:( I finally got the planning finished while my students were doing their Fall mini books this morning.

After recess the TOC did a bit of photocopying, but that was it, so I ended up doing all the rest of the prep for the two classes for next week.

We tackled increasing patterns today and while the children could do them with people and on the board they had trouble with the worksheet. I think it came more from not reading the instructions. While I had a lineup across the classroom of children needing help, an EA comes to ask me a simple, unrelated question. I was a little testy and said that if she wasn’t there to help, this was not the time! It seems as though “instructional time” doesn’t mean much to some of the people in my building!😖 Then I had to talk to the EA who was in my room to help that she could help more than just that one kid as I don’t want him to become dependent on her help as I rarely have help!

Lunch was the highlight of my day as I used my Beezy Wrap.

It worked awesome at keeping my sandwich together, way better than the usual ziploc bag, it was super cute and I just shook off the crumbs and it’s ready to use again!!! I’m loving this stuff and may just order more! It is a company out of Nova Scotia.

After lunch I had a prep and the secretary was on the photocopier for the whole time, so I didn’t get a job done that I can only do on Thursday afternoons:(

We tackled our pasta patterns art in the afternoon. It was going fine until one kid dumped white glue all over my brand new black shoes I bought on Friday!! He’d better learn quick to respect a woman’s shoes!!!🤣. Then half of our glue wasn’t working so we borrowed from next door and one of the bottles wasn’t returned! Ugh I’ve never not been able to return what I borrowed and this upset me!

Socializing:

Thankfully school finally finished and I met up with a friend for tea at the local Starbucks! It was lovely to visit and tell her all my woes and hear hers. I felt much better afterwards:)

I also got a visit in with my co-teacher this evening. She is still off and is definitely not herself yet:(. It’s tough to be without her, but I want her healthy first! It was great to see her again though!

Exercise:

I had athletic yoga tonight with my friend C. It was definitely a workout and I tried to push myself so we will see if my abs are sore tomorrow morning!

The one good note was that I am really enjoying having a super clean house right now! I have to remember this feeling so that it will motivate me to clean more often. Ha, like cleaning will ever win over knitting, reading, baking, cooking, or running!!!!

On that note, I’m off to sleep:)

Have fun!

AJ

Teacher Injury

My job is a dangerous thing🤣

Teaching:

Our day didn’t go to plan as usual, but I’d like to know when teaching ever does. We did a lesson on listening this morning with this super cute book, Howard B Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. He is just the cutest rabbit ever!

We were supposed to have an assembly today, but that was cancelled for some mysterious reason. It worked in my favourite though as we got another lesson on patterning done. I was worried about my students after Friday, but today seemed to go much better! One more concept of increasing patterns to go and we are done!

We were putting our sheets into our duo-tangs and I was helping the children learn how to 3 hole punch paper, when one kid pressed down really hard before I got my hand out of the way. My thumb is now black and blue and has a lovely indent in it. It better bounce back to normal quickly!

This afternoon we tackled why we have day and night. It seemed to go well, though I would like to find a video that explains why days get longer and shorter as I’m not sure I’m going to explain that very clearly!

The view at work. I love the colorful trees!

Health:

I hurried out of work today to get to a massage appointment with a new RMT.

But she had double booked herself:(. This was not a good first impression! I will give her a second try as a teacher at my school speaks highly of her, but I don’t know…

House:

I wanted to go for a run, but decided I should be responsible and finish up my cleaning. I did, but I’m feeling very guilty for the no exercise today:(

knitting:

Tonight was knit night which was a good thing as all I felt like doing was eating! It wasn’t the most productive night for me but I did get my afghan listed in my projects on ravelry and have identified the yarn I will use for my scarf to wear with t Shirts, and I started on a bag to use up some purple wool. It will be a great project as it will get rid of old stash and uses one of my new knitting books:)

Well, that’s it for me tonight.

Have fun!

AJ

A Change of Plans

My day changed slightly, but I think it was for the better:)

Teaching:

My alarm went off this morning and I slept solidly for another half hour. That means I got ten hours of sleep last night, but I obviously needed it as this was the first morning I’ve gotten up without a sore throat in a long time!

Our day was okay, though we had to change items around as our special helper was out of the room first thing. The children did great with their journal and I taught about exclamation marks which they all used today, whether they needed them or not🤣

We also had science this afternoon where the children looked at different signs of Fall with a magnifying glass and drew what they saw. It was a highlight for some which I was happy about as I think I looked pretty odd walking up the hill this morning collecting and carrying those signs of Fall.

After school I was slated to go to an I service workshop, but I had mixed up who it was speaking and decided that while it would be great, I just didn’t need to add another item to my list. I stayed at school until 6:15 and got a few jobs done that I’ve been hoping to. It felt pretty good:)

I swear this is a job I could work at 24-7,365 and never be done!

Movie:

As I was working, I listened to/watched a new Hallmark movie called The Sweetest Heart. I enjoyed this movie, perhaps because it was based around a bakery. It had a cute guy and a semi-realistic plot:)

Exercise:

I made myself exercise as soon as I walked in the door. It was a short, but cardio intense workout. I had to do one minute of skipping and between each minute I had to do plank jacks or burpees counting backwards from 20 by 2s- so 20 burpees, 18 plank jacks, 16 burpees, etc. I was definitely breathing hard by the end!

Household:

I then made myself unload and load my dishwasher and mop my floors before I got to sit down. The house is getting there- just the bathroom and vacuuming left to do:)

I did get home to a nice picture of my dad using the blanket:)

I hear he is trying to claim it as his own and not let my mom use it. I’ve sent the message that he is welcome at my next lesson in sharing!🤣

Well, that’s it for the day! I’m off to read more of my Bookclub book.

Have fun!

AJ

Full Speed Ahead

Today just felt busy, though I had less happening than yesterday.

Knitting:

I started the day with three rows of my next afghan pattern and am back working on it now. I’m hoping to get this afghan done, though I’m thinking I might need one more ball of yarn as it is only my height so far, and I come from a tall family! We shall see though as I don’t want any leftover!

Teaching:

It was a pretty typical day. We had our Friday journals where I was surprised the children named the turkey activities as their favorites before the science activities.

We had some math and it showed me the children are good at making patterns, but not at continuing them so we’ll have to do more on that next week. It was unfortunately a very rushed math class:(

We had gym where I finally figured out how to hook up my phone to the sound system so we could listen to music. It was so cute to see them dancing away to the music during our games.

Finally this afternoon we had buddies and started our STEM project surrounding the book, The Rusty Robot. It was a little crazy as the older children didn’t know as much about measuring as we thought, but everyone survived:)

Exercise:

After work I hit up the gym with L for a workout. Boy did it seem tough today, but all I kept thinking was that it would make me a faster runner!

It was bike and treadmill cardio intervals alternating with a ladder workout. We did DB power squats, DB power jacks, v sits, push-ups and squat with press. I don’t even want to think about how many reps I did of each move in the end, not about how sore I will be tomorrow! I really wish I could run as fast outside as I do on the treadmill!

Reading:

I have two books on the go right now and am making good progress, but Bookclub is next weekend so I decided I’d better get the book. My mom kept me company as I drove a town over to get the book from their library. I restrained myself so well and only got seven other books too🤪

This morning I had mentioned to my mom that I needed new Barbie clothes for my Barbie centre. If you want something done- tell your mom:)

She hit the jackpot and I am going to have some very happy little girls on Tuesday afternoon!

Well I need to get back to knitting or this afghan will never get done!

Have fun!

AJ

She’s Back

My co teacher is back after having been off sick for two weeks and boy was it ever nice!!!

Knitting:

I started the day getting three rows done on the afghan pattern and managed to finish that one up later this evening. I am on my second to last call of yarn, so we’ll see if I’m going to have enough or have to go buy more. It seems unbelievable that I am so close to being done this big project too:)

I’m starting to daydream about what I will make next.

Teaching:

The day went pretty well! We finished our seasons mini book and the children all practiced reading it. I changed math to a 100 chart picture of a turkey. It was very interesting to see who knew the numbers well and who didn’t and got frustrated.

This afternoon I was the one frustrated as we tried to cram too large a project in the afternoon space. It got done and turned out well, but I just felt that I was always after the children to hurry and worried about running out of time. That’s what I’m trying to avoid this year!

The directed drawing turkeys did turn out super cute, even though I did the steps in the wrong order. And yes I did say this was one time they didn’t have to colour realistically:)

Baking:

I got home to beautiful sunshine and just felt like baking. I have a super easy granola bar recipe that turns out great no matter what you put in it, so I whipped up some of those:)

The recipe comes from Lunch Box: Creative Recipes for Everyday Lunches which I have had forever.

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar ( I use less)

1 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp flour ( I used millet)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1.5 cups oats

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup dried fruit

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped nuts or seeds

This time I used oats, raisins, craisins, dried blueberries and chopped pecans. I have done all different mix-ins though and it’s always turned out great!

Exercise:

This evening I went back to athletic yoga with my friend Corianne. It was still a great workout, but I did like that there seemed to be a bit more stretching in it this time:)

Well I’m off to sleep so I can survive Friday tomorrow:)

Have fun!

AJ

Tired Today

I was just tired today!

Knitting:

I got two rows of my next pattern done before school and about four after school. I will have to spend more time tomorrow night, though I now have until Monday to get it done:)

Teaching:

Our day was better today! We spent most of the morning getting our photos taken. It was definitely the longest it has ever taken so I hope the pictures turn out well! I had to assure my mom that I changed it up from my blue top and black sweater this year! I wore a pink top and grey sweater🤣🤣🤣

Math and science went well and I can confidently say that my students seem to be understanding patterns and seasonal changes😀. We’ll move onto more complicated growing and decreasing patterns next week to keep their interest.

Exercise:

Today I had to run home at lunch to get my workout clothes for boot camp as I had forgotten them. It did help me get my Squad Runner mileage in though:). It was a tough workout today as almost every station worked upper and lower body and abs at the same time! We did:

Weighted lunges off the bench

Weighted 1/2 gets ups

Weighted power jacks

Weighted cross country skiers

Shoulder press to get up

Bench sit up to burpee

V sit with press

Bench tap downs

I was definitely sweating doing the cross country skier while holding a medicine ball over my head! I need to be nicer to L so maybe she’ll take it easier on me!

Shopping:

I grabbed my mom after work tonight to hit up Costco. I had an interesting list- laundry soap and pillows. I got both but also new jammies. I don’t think there was any food in our cart!

Family:

I obviously have the best parents ever as they brought me home treats! I got vegan cheese, more of the okanagon rawsome crackers

Yarn

And a new water pitcher!

It was like Christmas!!!

Well I’m off to sleep early as I’ve been tired today.

Have fun!

AJ

Need To Learn

Every day I seem to find something else I need to learn to do!

Knitting:

My day started with a couple of rows on my afghan pattern. I got the pattern finished and a new one started late this evening. I now have until Saturday at least to get it done:)

Teaching:

The children were a little off this morning, but then again, so was I. My student services time was cancelled due to meetings. This happened way too often last year so this year, I’ve decided to ask questions. I sent an email, but got the usual spun answer😖. Our two student services teachers “work closely together” meaning they both go to every meeting. Unfortunately that means our students get half the service they should get. Ugh I wonder if these two teachers truly don’t get it or if they pretend to not get it as they know it’s wrong? All I know is that it’s incredibly frustrating! I’ve decided that this year I will keep track and call them on it when my service is cancelled.

Otherwise, the cutest thing was when my students surprised me after lunch by being absolutely silent and ready to do planners. I surprised them back by taking them outside to play before we did planners. For all the hugs I got you’d think I’d sprung them from jail🤣

Shopping:

I have added shopping to my mom list as it became clear on my way to work that I need to do some! I couldn’t figure out why my feet were getting wet, until I got to work and inspected my boots.

I don’t think these are doing the job anymore!

Exercise:

I had a ten kilometer run to do for Squad Runner and it was a beautiful day so I got out. It was colder than I expected so I ended up doing just over 4km and calling it a day. Just means I’ll have to do more tomorrow!

Reading:

I finished the book After All (Ever After in Sapphire Falls). I have enjoyed many Erin Nicholas books and this one didn’t disappoint.

This book tells of party girl Peyton and small town cop Scott. They have been circling each other for a while, but want the opposite thing from each other right now.

I really enjoyed this book. Normally I avoid books that have a lot of thinking and self-talk in them as I prefer a faster plot line, but this book was excellent. The characters are super realistic and complex and aren’t stereotypical.

The plot goes fast and is very satisfying. I would definitely recommend this book for a light, fun read:)

Well I have to get to sleep as it’s photo day tomorrow and I don’t want bags under my eyes!

Have fun!

AJ