Snow Day

Well I got my third snow day in 35 years today. I wanted to go back to sleep this morning, but I was just too excited!

Knitting:

I have spent a lot of today knitting. I finished a second version of the thistle seed beanie for my co-worker Liane. This one is made with yarn from my deep stash and is still quite chunky, but I think it may just slouch for her. I did he decreases but haven’t tied off yet in case she wants it longer.

I have started the sockhead slouch toque for myself in some yarn I picked up in Seattle last summer. I realize I’m going to end up with yet another blue toque, but I think it’s the best option I have. I am a little worried about how big it is looking. I tested gauge and was right on, and I am using a smaller yarn as it’s light fingering instead of fingering, but 144 stitches seems huge!

I just hope I come up with my next project while I’m working on this one!

Reading:

I am still reading Seduce Me With Sapphires by Jane Feather. I have previously read some Jane Feather and really liked it, but this book has been a slog for me!

House:

I made myself get up each hour and do something around the house. My dishes got done, all counters wiped down, kitchen floor washed, bathroom wiped down, bedroom floor swept. It’s not everything I want to get done, but it’s at least a start!

Movie:

Today’s movie was Christmas at Dollywood and it was super cute. I always like Danica McKellar, trough I have to admit that she kisses weird!

Exercise:

With all the snow we’ve been having today, I couldn’t see going for a run. I decided to put on my new snowshoes I got last year, but never got to use, and try them out. The first thing I learned was to make sure you wear waterproof pants when snowshoeing as the snow kickback got me soaked in no time. I loved being out but I did sink into the snow. I don’t know if it was just because the snow was super light and fluffy or if I’m too big for my snowshoes. If you know, please let me know.

I also got a hallmark workout done. I did a minute of high knees between each of these: squats, reverse lunges, crunches, bridges, burpees, dips, reverse crunches, Superman, mountain climbers, pushups, and curtsy lunges.

I really need to sit down and think of some new moves so my body doesn’t get used to these.

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

Trivia Tuesday #32

I can’t believe I’ve gone to trivia 32 times! It so doesn’t seem like I’ve been going that long!

Teaching:

It was a bit of a mixed up day because I was given some extra time by my principal to learn about how to do the report cards, but it all worked out in the end:)

We got through printing the letter a, a math worksheet on place value and an activity on reading vocabulary. I really need to assess my students in place value so I can determine if they need another week on it or not. I’d better add that to my list for tomorrow.

On a side note I was talking to a friend the other day and we came to the realization that the only day we won’t have a list is the day we die!!! I even left a list for my students while I was away from them🤣

They actually managed to earn themselves twenty minutes of centre time this afternoon 🎊

Exercise:

I got myself out the door for a run right after work. It was amazing that a half hour earlier meant I ran into 25 people! I got 4.55km in. Right now I’m just trying to get as many km’s as possible as each km means less to run on Saturday!

Trivia:

It was a theme night on movies. I actually looked some stuff up! Not that it helped me:(

What was Stifler’s name in American Pie?

Steve

What was the name of the father dog in 101 Dalmatians?

Pongo

What was the number of the character in Ben Hur?

41

Which number bachelorette did Lord Farquois take in Shrek?

3

Who was the character name of Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean?

Elizabeth Swan

Who was the King in The King’s Speech?

King George VI

I really didn’t know much:(

Have fun!

AJ

Friday Fun

Thank goodness it was a better day, or at least a little bit!

Exercise:

I dragged my butt out of bed for a workout with L this morning. We had a very fast run followed by three hull repeats. We then had body exercises to do. I definitely hate getting up, but I love how I feel at the end and I definitely like seeing my running pace improve! I guess I’d better keep this up🤣

Teaching:

We had a better morning, then a troubled midday where I had to wait for 7 minutes for my students to finally stop talking and listen. This afternoon it was better, but they learned the natural consequence of my having to wait is that we finished our math this afternoon rather than having centres. Ugh! I guess I should just concentrate on the fact we had no physicality today and leave it at that!

Socializing:

I met up with five other teachers for a lovely wine and treats get together. It was a lot of laughs and a great way to start the weekend. Who you work with definitely makes a big difference in life!

Reading:

I have to admit I have laid on my couch like a slug reading since I came home. I have finished my latest ARC and am starting to see the end of the tunnel where I can go back to reading whatever takes my fancy:)

I finished the fourth Misfit Inn series book, Bring It On Home by Kait Nolan.

This book is the final in the series and was a lovely conclusion. It’s the story of Maggie and Porter that we have all been waiting for and it was well worth the wait!

The characters are very complex and interesting. I love the strong female character. She isn’t slowing down for anyone, at least until she comes back to Porter.

The trope of unrequited love on the male side is one of my favourites and it didn’t disappoint in this book!

The book is also full of swoony moments!Thanks the author for a free ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Well, have fun!

AJ

Thank Goodness for Friends

I am truly thankful today for the friends who fill my life. I’m a super family- oriented person so it’s always tough for me not to be with my family at a holiday (it doesn’t seem to bother any of them though 🤣), so I was really happy to have a couple of events with friends today to keep me busy and not alone.

Exercise:

This morning the group run started from a coffee shop right by my place so it gave me a few extra minutes. Yesterday I had felt like doing a second run and was all energetic and feeling svelte, but today, I felt blah and lifeless. Maybe it had to do with dreaming that one of my students pushed my down the stairs, or maybe it was just one of those days. Dennis, of course, kept me going and didn’t let me turn around and go home. I did end up getting 5.34km in and just squeaked under the 7min/km average so it can’t be called a bad run, but it definitely wasn’t fabulous. Maybe I should have just ran twice yesterday and skipped today.

The group was hilarious at coffee so it was a great way to start my day off. It’s nice to hang out with people you know well and who don’t take themselves seriously or allow you to take yourself seriously!

Since I have eaten a turkey meal today, I decided that I had better do a bit more tonight. I got 3 sets of 12 of the following done:

Squats

Dips

Front kicks

Side kicks

Calf raises

High knees

Crunches

Reverse crunches

Banded side steps

Pushups

It probably didn’t work off the meal, but it made me feel better🤣

Knitting:

I woke up to an email from the designer of the toque test knit I’m working on, saying that she had the wrong needle size in the pattern. I found myself once again frogging the toque and starting over. I have made it to row 50 of the body and I’m not pulling this out again! In fact, I’m hoping to finish it tomorrow.

Cooking:

I spent some of the day making my contributions for the dinner tonight. I had bought one of each vegetable to roast and it still turned out to be a huge amount of veggies. I also did the dressing, which thankfully my dad called and walked me through. It turned out a lot drier than his ever did so I will need to watch him make it so I can see what I did wrong.

We ended up with an awesome dinner of turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberries and roast vegetables. We still had enough food for about six people though. I will have my turkey sandwich tomorrow and then I’ve actually gotten four lunches out of the leftovers too!

Brenda and I managed to eat in ten minutes, but at least neither of us spent all day cooking for those ten minutes. We knitted while watching the James Bond movie, Skyfall. I still think that Sean Connery was the best James Bond, but feel free to argue with me.🤣

Well I think that’s all I’ve done today so I’ll go back to my podcasts and knitting now.

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday #25

Remind me not to wear four inch heels to work! I think it was the walk to and from and demonstrating relays in them that did me in!

Exercise:

Not a thing! I flaked out this morning and then when I got home I had sore feet so I guess today became my rest day.

Teaching:

Today was better than yesterday. I had another meeting, but hopefully that’s the last one for a while!

We only had ten minutes of math before we went to gym for our relay races, and after lunch we tackled a class book about what we are most thankful for.

Trivia:

After a bit of couch time and a massage, it was time for trivia.

What we knew:

Where are the next Olympics in 2020?

Tokyo

Where does cashmere yarn come from?

Goat

Who said “you’re a wizard” in Harry Potter?

Rubeus Hagrid’s

What was the first name of the Martian in Bugs Bunny?

Marvin

What is the official language of the Bahamas?

English

What did Captain Cook name Australia?

Botany Bay

Where was Anne of GreenGables set?

Prince Edward Island

Put these cities in order from North to South.

Port Alberni, Bellingham, Victoria

What was Bruce Springsteen’s back up band?

The E Street Band

What was John Cleese’s comedy group?

Monty Python

Which defense man played the most games?

Chris Chelios

Where is the Greenwich meridian?

London

What is the name of the funny bone?

Humerus

What is the name of a company’s private server?

Intranet

Eating:

Not a bad day.

Oatmeal, grapes, slice of pizza, slice of vegan cheese, salmon and veggies

Ok that’s it for me.

Have fun!

AJ

A High and a Low

Exercise:

The only movement I did today was some foam rolling and stretching after my Epsom salts bath. I am trying really hard to be a responsible body owner and listen to what my body is telling me. However, it has been absolutely gorgeous here all day- that perfect crisp, fall day- and all I can think is, why today of all days can’t I run??? You can bet it will be pouring the next time I run.😖

Teaching:

We had music this morning so didn’t get anything else done other than calendar. We got a dot-to-dot to 29 done and it seemed like only one of my children had real difficulty. This afternoon we started talking about rights and responsibilities. I think it’s going to take us a week to do the booklet I thought would take two days🤣

I got through testing one child on his sight words and amazingly he knew all the words to grade two, except for six. That’s a nice start, but I think he’s my top student so we’ll see what happens with the rest.

The best part of the day was that there were no problems at recess or lunch and at the end of the day outdoor playtime I got two girls playing together who usually just wander around by themselves. It felt so great to hear them laughing and giggling as they ran down the hill and did “meditation”. It was the best teacher moment I’ve had yet this year❤️❤️ Now I remember why I do this job!!!

Blog Hop:

New friends are always tough for me as I am very shy. People who meet me at work never believe this, but I put on a teacher persona in the morning just as much as I put on clothes. I definitely have the tendency to have a few good friends over a lot of friends, but once I’m friends with you, you’re stuck with me!🤣🤣

Thanks Teacher Turned Mommy for hosting this fun blog Hop:)

Knitting:

I was home early after doing a few puttery things around my classroom and spent the evening listening to podcasts and knitting on a Fall cowl for my HPKCHC class. It is blocking right now as it has a tendency to roll and hopefully I’ll be able to show it off tomorrow.

I’m down three more skeins, unfortunately I’m still +93 for the year:(

Well I’m off to bed in the hopes of being able to run tomorrow morning.

Have fun!

AJ

The Last Weekend

Well it’s my last day off for summer 2019 and it’s been a very different weekend. I am house and dog sitting for my brother so have been coming and going and without all my “stuff” all weekend.

Exercise:

I ran on Saturday morning with Sarah and did a loop of coquitlam River. It was nice to have company for a change and the 4.5km was bonus for the month. I ended up with 104.9km for the month so I’m happy about that. It gives me about a 10km buffer for the last four months.

I also ran Sunday but in a different way. My friend Brenda is just getting back to running after finding out her orthotics were made wrong. How frustrating to hear four years of pain we’re due to human error. Sunday was her first day of a run walk program so Dennis and I did loops around her to make sure we were there to run her one minute with her. It was great to have Brenda back and I still got 4.2km In so I was happy!

Unfortunately there has been no other exercise as Mr. Banks likes to “help” if I try to do any in the house. I guess the weight workout gets back on track starting tomorrow.

Family/ Shopping:

I have been spending as much time as possible with my mom and am really excited that she can’t leave after her appt tomorrow and actually has to stay until Saturday! I will have to make sure I see her each day while I can!

Saturday we only had a short time so I stopped by the big Signature Liquor Store to pick up some wine. If you like a sweet wine- try out the Naked Grape Blue it Purple. I love it and never lose my wine at parties because of the colour. It seems to only be a summer thing though so I wanted to make sure I had a bottle of each for the next parties I go to.

I also managed to get my back to school hair cut on Saturday. Nobody will ever be able to tell, but yearly hair cut✅

On Sunday we spent a lot of time back to school shopping. I’m just like a kid and like to get something new to wear when I go back to school. We managed to find quite a few nice things:)

Reading:

Haven’t done much this weekend as there always seems to be a nose between me and the book.

Knitting:

I unpicked to row 59 and redid row 60 with no problem, but my brother’s house was too dark to start row 61 as I couldn’t see if the pattern was lining up.

I tried to start a project for my Harry Potter group on Ravelry, but quickly determined that I hated the yarn, so it will be going in the donation bin when I get home.

Movies:

I have watched a lot of movies- one thing you can do when you have a puppy on you.

Falling Inn Love- a Netflix original was a very sweet and funny romantic comedy. I really liked the banter between the two main characters- their timing was great! The supporting cast of quirky townsfolk where good too. Of course, the whole house DIY concept of the movie totally appealed to me.

For Love and Honor- a Hallmark movie was a sweet, but really unbelievable movie. As a teacher, I spent the whole movie wondering which planet they were on as kids don’t accommodate change that easily. I kept waiting for the pain in the butt kid to show up.

Season For Love- a super cute movie about a BBQ festival. All the bbqing made me so hungry! It was a cute movie with no overblown drama which I appreciated.

The One and Only was a Hallmark movie about a woman who is on a reality dating show and falls for her ranch host rather than her husband candidate. It was cute but didn’t seem to have much character development. I know that she was supposed to have much better chemistry with one than the other, but it was really hard to tell.

Well I’m off to spend one last day with my mom.

Have fun!

AJ

A Survey

I saw this list on a The Dancing Runner and liked it, so I thought I’d give it a try, since I’m stuck at work. I was halfway down the hall when a parent finally showed up an hour and fifteen minutes late:(

1. First thing you wash in the shower? My hair

2. What color is your favorite hoodie?  black

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? No

4. Do you plan outfits?Sometimes as I lay in bed in the morning

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? Annoyed

6. What’s the closest thing to you that’s red? A reuseable bag

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having? That I was all powerful and could make people follow rules

8. Did you meet anybody new today? A lot of parents who I don’t remember meeting before

9. What are you craving right now? To get my feet out of these shoes!

10. Do you floss? Yes

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? fried with vinegar and salt

12. Are you emotional? I feel, but I don’t cry

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000? Oh yeah, I’m a teacher

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? I bite everything that goes in my mouth LOL

15. Do you like your hair? It’s easy, but I don’t like how fine it is so I can’t do anything fancy with it.

16. Do you like yourself? Yup

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Sure I’ll take food anytime

18. What are you listening to right now? One of my students doing his student-led conference

19. Were your parents strict? They had high expectations and we had a lot of responsibilities, but we also had a lot of freedom.

20. Would you go sky diving? I’d say no, but my friends can talk me into things I never thought I’d do!

21. Do you like cottage cheese? Yes, but I haven’t had it in a lot of years because I can’t find a non-dairy version.

22. Have you ever met a celebrity? I once was on a plane with the entire Vancouver Canucks team.

23. Do you rent movies often? Nope, though I watch movies often

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you’re in? Nope not a thing in my classroom – just don’t tell my mom!

25. How many countries have you visited? 3

26. Have you made a prank phone call? No

27. Ever been on a train? Yes, I traveled from Boston to Maine on a train and loved it. I also got a train ride for my high school graduation present.

28. Brown or white eggs? Whatever is on sale

29. Do you have a cell phone? Yes

30. Do you use chap stick? I use EOS exclusively now as I know it’s gluten free.

31. Do you own a gun? No

32. Can you use chop sticks? Oh yeah:)

33. Who are you going to be with tonight? I’m hoping I get out of work quick enough to meet up with my running buddy Sarah.

34. Are you too forgiving? I lose my temper, but forget about it quickly.

35. Ever been in love? Who knows

36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow? Working

37. Ever have cream puffs?Yes I made some for my dad for his birthday one year and so made some gluten free, dairy free ones too.

38. Last time you cried? Reading a book

39. What was the last question you asked? Oh gosh, I’m a teacher – I ask a million questions a day!

40. Favorite time of the year? Fall – perfect temperature and such pretty colours

41. Do you have any tattoos?Nope

42. Are you sarcastic? Continuously

43. Ever walked into a wall? I ran into a wall in junior high

44. Favorite color? Teal

45. Have you ever slapped someone? Pretend to, but have never actually made contact

46. Is your hair curly? Nope, stick straight

47. What was the last CD you bought? Can’t remember!

I’m All Owchie

This is what one of our Little grade one EAL boys came along and said when we were out running. It was just so cute!

I had a weird start yesterday where my eye once again felt like it had something in it and I literally couldn’t stay awake. I actually fell asleep at my desk and one of my colleagues woke me up. Don’t have a clue what that was about, but I did come home last night and go straight to sleep!

Teaching:

We started a new warm-up in writer’s workshop to practice fluent writing. We put a topic on the board and the students have to write as much as they can about it in two minutes. It went well as did the beginning of their story writing:)

We changed desks and we started learning about Canada in the afternoon. The students were super excited to find out where we got to. Since we’re still in BC we did an overview of the province and today we’ll learn about Abbotsford.

Knitting:

I had a lovely massage and then spent a bit of time on my April Tank.

Socializing:

Tuesday has turned into trivia night at the pub. There were three of us last night, but I really wasn’t much help:(. It was still fun though!

Have fun!

AJ