Way Better

I’m still going crazy with report cards and children in full summer mode at work, but two things have happened that have made life so much better!

My parents are visiting!!!!!! I am so happy to see them after a year of only having voices on the other end of the phone! I am collecting as many hugs as possible while they are here!

We went to the pub for dinner tonight which was awesome! It is our first day of the lightened restrictions so it was great to celebrate with dinner with my parents!

I finished the test shawl!!!! This is the one that I have had many problems with, but they have all been ironed out and it is quite gorgeous! I’m not sure I’m allowed to show it yet, but I’ll give share as soon as possible. It feels like it’s been forever since I finished a project!

I got 5.38km in today and hope to do another run in the morning to make up for my missing 2.5km from Sunday. The rolling hills and pouring rain got to us so we turned around early. I’d really like to get to Kathy’s soon so hopefully I’ll be able to get a few extra runs in over the next two weeks.

I also did a weights workout on FitOn though it was so late, I really wasn’t sure it was going to happen!

Well I need sleep as I’m playing chauffeur tomorrow.

Have fun!

AJ

Happy Thanksgiving

It was a good day- mix of out and in.

Exercise:

I am very thankful for my running buddies. I started the day with a gorgeous sunrise 10km run. My running buddy is already starting to speed up and we took 2:40 off our time. This was followed by a nice tea. I am very thankful for this as every day that starts with a run seems to be a good day!

Family:

I am thankful for all of my family and the fact that we all get along. I couldn’t visit my parents this weekend, but I did get to watch my nephew’s football game (in the downpour) and join my brother, SIL and nephew for a wonderful turkey dinner. I love being part of a family!

My nephew #69 got his first touchdown today!

Knitting:

I am thankful that I have a hobby that allows me to be productive and also to create items I can wear. I am finally making progress on my test knit, though I think I am going to have to block this cardigan to within an inch of its life to get it to fit me! I love the pattern though so maybe I’ll just make it again.

Errands:

I am thankful for being organized and able to self-motivate. Even though tomorrow is a day off, I got my usual grocery shopping and meal prep done. I am thankful I enjoy my time in the kitchen as this would be a horrible chore otherwise. I did reward myself with a nap though 🤣

Well I think I’m going to curl up in bed with my book.

Have fun and don’t forget to be thankful!

AJ

Family and Weekend

Does it get any better than seeing family and having a weekend?!?!

Cooking:

I spent Saturday morning cooking and baking. I did a green salad, deviled eggs and “nan cake”. My grandma used to make a cake that we all remember. I have been trying to recreate it. This time I was told that I got the topping pretty close, but I need to find a fluffier white cake. Finding a fluffy gf cake might be tough but I refuse to make cake I can’t eat!

Not much of the salad got eaten so it will become my lunches for the week and meant that I didn’t need to spend today in the kitchen.

Family:

My brother, sister in law and niece and nephew showed up early so we walked over for ice cream. The banana fudge walnut was just as good this time!

We then headed over to my other brother’s for dinner. It was a great night of food and visiting. It’s nice to have a family that gets along. Here is the best picture of the night.

Exercise:

Today I finally got back to exercising. This last week just didn’t go according to plan due to long work days and horrible air quality, but this morning I got out for 10km with Sarah and Dennis. I found my hip starting to hurt again at about 7km and I am wondering if I change my gait when I am running slower with Sarah? I will have to do some experimenting to find out.

I also got a workout in this afternoon. 44 minutes of weights. I did the three sets of 10 with increasing weight. I like doing this, but am tempted to go back to doing NourishMoveLove.

Knitting:

I had gotten really close to finishing my sweater yesterday, but ended up doing the bottom edge this afternoon. I hope this sweater ends up being as useful as I think it will be. The one problem with it, is that this Debbie Bliss Eco Baby Cotton is not colour fast:(

I am now starting on a test knit, but have done three searches and haven’t gotten gauge yet. I will have to go back to trying tomorrow night as right now I’m going to go crawl into bed with my book.

Have fun!

AJ

Trivia Tuesday

Sorry I had a busy day yesterday and just collapsed when I got in.

Exercise:

I started the day with a hot, miserable 8.6km run with Dennis. We were on a well shaded path, but my heart rate was super high and my legs were sore and tired. I’ve decided to blame it on biking the day before🤣

Socializing:

After a coffee, a massage, and some household chores I met up with my friend Emily for some more furniture shopping. We managed to finish off the other side of the street. I did notice that you don’t really know how uncomfortable the couches are until you sit in a really comfortable one. I didn’t buy one, but think I know what store I would go back to now.

There is also an awesome fabric store on this street that my friend wanted to grab some stuff at. I had no needs, but came out with sale fabric for making myself a new tank top. It really drives me crazy how racerback tanks all have super big arm holes right now so you end up having to wear a layer underneath them (totally defeats the keep cool purpose), so o think I’m going to try to make one. I found a pattern online at Sew Much Ado. I hope it turns out! It’s been forever since I sewed clothes rather than quilts or mending.

Family:

I had to stop in and grab my parents’ mail for them so I took the opportunity to print the tank pattern on their printer and visit my aunt and uncle.

I do worry about being an asymptomatic carrier of Covid now when I visit with people, even outside. I don’t want to make anyone sick!

Trivia:

I finally did make it to trivia. There were only three of us and we finished the night in third so I think we did pretty good. Here are some of the questions. Usually I write them down, but now I can’t find them so there will be way less than we actually knew.

Where the did the male characters on Big Bang Theory work?

Cal Tech Univeristy

Spell Gandhi’s first name.

Mahatma

Which planet is sixth from the sun?

Saturn

What show is about advertising company in the 1960s?

Mad Men

What was the first Nancy Drew book called?

The Secret of the Old Clock

Well I had better get going on my day. Have fun!

AJ

It Keeps Getting Shorter:(

The nice thing about visiting my parents is that I get to do what I would do at home, but with company. Plus having someone else around forces me to be the better version of me.

Exercise:

I did 5.65km this morning, and yes it was more hills. I think I managed to figure out a route for tomorrow which should only have one massive hill, but several smaller ones. I really don’t like how the first hill comes at 0.5km – I’m not even warmed up then!

I did ten minutes of yoga when I got home to try and stretch out my poor legs. I really can’t wait for my massage next week.

I also did a BeFitDavis abs workout this afternoon- plank, Russian twists, leg drop to reverse crunch and crunches. I added on the pushups so another part of me would get exercised too.

Shopping:

My mom and I went to a different grocery store today and I found five different types of my soya cheese. This cheese is good when I’m having cheese and crackers as it holds it’s shape like regular cheese. I always love looking around grocery stores when I’m in a new place, though the two I’ve been in on this trip make me happy I live where I do.

Crafting:

I spent some time on both my cross stitch and my knitting. I’m not sure there’s visible progress yet, but I know I did stuff!

Reading:

Still working on Beach Read. I don’t know why this book is going so slow, but I am over halfway so hopefully will be done soon.

Family:

This afternoon my mom found out that her specialist appointment is on the phone so she doesn’t need to go home. That means she isn’t going and I contacted my brother to see if I could get a ride with them. I can, but it means I’m going home on Saturday:(. Even with how quiet the trip has been, I will miss having my parents for company:(

Well I’m going back to the book.

Have fun!

AJ

Back to Quiet?

My last brother and his family left today so we may just get back to quiet relaxation.

Exercise:

Once again I managed to get out for a run right away this morning. It was literally fifteen minutes from awaking to out the door. I ran out of town as I went the opposite way, so I did a few laps around the local field and then went back how I had yesterday.

I also got a BeFitDavis workout in. It is one I had skipped before because it had lots of jumping in it and I have someone living below me, but not here. It was 45 seconds each of squat jacks, scissor jacks, single knee drives, high knees, and pop jacks. I managed to get through all of them twice before my parents arrived back home.

Family:

My brother, SIL and nephew stopped in this morning. We bonded while shelling crab. 🤣🤪. I always love seeing them so it was a nice visit before they left for the other parent’s place.

Stitching:

I sat down in the sunshine this afternoon with the plan to knit for one hour and stitch for one hour. Unfortunately, I brought everything for knitting but the one page of the pattern that I am on. I will have to look it up tomorrow I guess. I ended up doing about an hour of stitching which was quite lovely:)

Reading:

I am still working on Beach Read by Emily Henry. Scrabble is definitely slowing down my reading.

I am so tired that I think I might be off to bed already🤣

Have fun!

AJ

Wildlife

It was a zoo out there!

Teaching:

I turned off my alarm so I got a little extra sleep today and after a quick roar around the grocery store, I sat down to my computer.

Today I checked all the work that had been submitted, responded to emails, listened to children read, entered my PR cards and found the list of approved resources. It was nice to get through everything on the list for a change.

Family:

This afternoon I grabbed my nephew and I did my work in the car while he hung out at the skate park. We then enjoyed an ice cream. Even he admits the newest ice cream place I found is the best!

Exercise:

At lunch I did 6.77km with my friend Sarah. We saw one deer on the first part of the trail, had a run in with a bear cub who was stubborn and just wouldn’t go away and then saw a doe and her two fawns on the way back. It was like a National Geographic episode out there! We did get back in one piece and it was nice to get a bit of mileage in.

This evening I did another hallmark workout. I did a minute of jogging between: squats, burpees, deadlifts, bicep curls, front raises, crunches, reverse crunches, bent over rows, pushups, plié squats, lateral raises, pullovers, tricep kickbacks and hip raises.

We will see if this contributes to my feeling healthier.

Right now all I want is to close my eyes so I think I will take myself off to bed.

Have fun!

AJ

Just One Email

My day was pretty good, minus one email.

Teaching:

It was my remote teaching day so after a quick run to the grocery store I sat down and checked and commented on the children’s work online. Then I found two appropriate books about the Coronavirus for kids and checked out the virtual field trips we will take next week.

It was a productive day though I didn’t really feel settled. I find it difficult to switch back and forth between being at home working and being in the classroom. I just never can get into a routine.

Family:

I took the opportunity of being home to spend my lunch hour with Gus. I grabbed him a bubble tea and a quick visit to a local park. I so love being with that kid! He then helped me vet virtual field trips. Figure the best way to know if a kid is interested is to get a kid to pick them.

I was having a pretty good day until I checked my email to find out that my principal has moved the report card deadline up to June 12th and the program we have to use will be offline for maintenance all weekend. I feel like lately it’s just a game of how can we make life difficult for teachers. My colleagues and I think that a requirement for being in charge and making decisions is a lack of common sense. I guess I know what I’m doing this weekend. This provided a lot of anger to fuel my run!

Exercise:

I got most of a kickboxing class down that I followed off YouTube. I really do love kickboxing as I feel so strong, though I did unfortunately notice a lack of stomach muscles. I guess those Hallmark workouts were doing something as I definitely had a harder time with the sit-ups today than I have been.

This evening I met Sarah for a run around a local river. It’s a slow run for me, but I’ve come to realize that that’s okay as it lets me go faster the other days. I added another 3.94km to my trek to South Dakota. We did notice that it was super humid!

Knitting:

I wasn’t allowed a Hallmark movie today as I wasn’t in the school so I spent the evening knitting and reading. I have finished a toque. The pattern is A Little Lonely Cable by Joji Locatelli and it is free on Ravelry. The yarn is just scrap yarn I had laying around. I am hoping to have a toque in every colour for next winter, so this will take care of the light blue one. Please ignore the error!

I was thinking of Compassionknit and realized I hadn’t shown any knitting lately. So this is for you:)

Well that’s it for me.

Have fun!

AJ

SAL Update

Stitching:

This year I am determined and it at least sits on my coffee table now. This is where I was at three weeks ago.

And this is where I am now:

I hope you can see the change in the curtain this time. I have made myself sit and do an hour of stitching each day after I finish my work day. I do find the curtain tough because the colours are so similar to the colour of the Aida cloth! It makes it very difficult to find the holes!

Be sure to check out everyone else’s progress! Welcome back to Helen who is returning g to the SAL. There are some amazing projects! If you’re interested in joining, just click on Avis’ link. HelenJennyAvisClaireGunCaroleSueConstanzeChristinaKathyMargaretCindyHeidiJackieSunnyHayleyMeganDeborah Mary MargaretRenéeCarmelaJocelynSharonDaisyAnneCathieLauraSherrie

My weekend:

I had an awesome weekend with my mom. I glued myself to her side for the weekend, well except for my 10.75km run in the rain this morning with Dennis.

We didn’t do anything super exciting as we’re both still not going around in public a lot. We watched several Hallmark movies and did a puzzle. The puzzle was a lot more difficult than we were expecting! A very low key weekend, but it was awesome to have company!

Have fun!

AJ

Stretching Our Skills with Sally

Baking (Stretching My Skills with Sally):

Last year I tried a few of Sally’s Baking Challenge items and quite enjoyed the challenge of trying new things. Most of the people in my life asked why I was doing this, thankfully there are people like Abbey! I was talking with Abbey of Three Cats and a Girl and we decided to both try these challenges and then link up to talk about our results, so please check out her attempts too. I was really interested in doing this because I knew she would be doing the recipes as called for while I would need to convert them to gluten free and dairy free. I should say that I change as little as possible and just sub in gf and df ingredients to see if the recipe will still work.

For May the challenge was mini fruit galettes. I have been trying to only bake when I have somewhere to take the results and thankfully earlier this month I had an outdoor social that was the perfect event.

The recipe was a simple crust recipe that I subbed Bob’s redmill All Purpose Gluten Free flour and Earth Balance Vegan Butter. The fruit, sugar and cornstarch filling was fine as called for. I found the recipe very quick to put together.

The one thing I found was that my filling leaked and burned which I peeled it off, but didn’t like the little remainder it left.

It is so cool that when Kathy read about Abbey’s and my challenge she decided to join us so make sure you go read about her mini fruit galettes too:) She posted them last Saturday and they look amazing!

Thanks Abbey and Kathy for taking on this challenge with me:)

Knitting:

First thing this morning I got a couple of pattern repeats done on my current toque. I only have three repeats left so I will hopefully be done this week!

Family:

It was a great day as I spent it with my mom. We didn’t do anything exciting. I made my duvet cover smaller by sewing up two of the sides. I am much happier with it now. We also started the puzzle we had bought for Christmas. It is much more difficult than we thought it would be! We also watched some Hallmark movies. I would like to think these easy, quiet days are good for my mom as she has done nothing but work for the past year!

Well I have a run in the morning!

Have fun!

AJ