If It Rains, It Pours (good things)

I don’t know if anyone else’s life goes like this, but some weekends I have absolutely nothing planned and other weekends, it is insanely busy! Why can’t it even out so I’d have a couple things each weekend?

Exercise:

I had a short run through Bert Flynn Park with Sarah and Kula this morning. It was lovely and cool in there, but we also noticed the humidity. It was a slow run, but it’s a couple more kilometers towards my yearly goal:)

This afternoon I did an L workout that I missed yesterday. I liked it because it was a band one and I love the short circular bands! I did 3 sets of:

hammer curls with band and weights

Banded chest press and scissor abs

Banded plank walks

Banded iso squat walk

Bench flies

Sit ups

Jump squats

Uppercuts

Lunge jumps

Amazingly I felt strong:)

This evening I managed to fit in 50 plié squats, 100 hamstring curls, and 100 standing crunches.

Socializing:

First thing after my run I met up with my friend Anna and her two boys at a local park. It’s amazing how much the boys have grown and it was great fun to play on the playground and then go on a berry and duckling and gosling search:)

Shopping:

From the park I ran down to meet my co teacher at a local teaching store so we could get the supplies we need for September start up. We’ve learned to buy them now as the store is quiet and has lots of stock; definitely not the case in September!

Liane and I had a quick lunch together, but I quickly had to fly.

Family:

From lunch, I raced over to get my nephew and take him to his lacrosse game. I take any opportunity to spend time with this cool dude. I stayed and watched his game and was really impressed with how much he has improved! He’s also grown on me- 5’7 now!!! I also got to see my sister in law’s brother and his kids as they came out to watch too. It is so neat to see their personalities! The youngest is all muscle and determination, the middle girl is the brains and the ideas, and the oldest boy is so sweet! It made for a lovely afternoon!

I had ice cream with my nephew and sister in law and then headed home.

Knitting:

I have been knitting all afternoon (well after my nap). I’m working on a samosa bordered cardigan for myself. The yarn is recycled from a sweater my grandma had made for my aunt and the pattern comes from one of her original Patons books- Raglans for 2 to 12 in Canadians by Beehive. I’m hoping it will become my go to cardigan!

Movie:

I treated myself to a Hallmark movie tonight. Summer Villa was a very cute movie about a blocked romance writer who goes to France for the summer with her daughter. Of course she ends up in a villa with the hot chef that she had a bad blind date with. The movie has tons of cooking in it so of course I loved it:). I liked that it lacked drama!

Eating:

Not the best food choices today, but at least it’s a better amount of food!

Breakfast: fruit salad parfait with yogurt

Lunch: vegan fruit orchard cookie and tea- the only thing at the cafe I could eat

This was bucaneer tea which I would highly recommend if you ever get the chance to try it- so good!

Snack: vegan salted caramel and chocolate peanut butter ice cream

Dinner: salad with chicken

Advertisements

A Visiting Weekend

Sorry for going off the grid. I made a lightning trip to visit my brother and his family for my niece’s 12th birthday.

Friday after school I picked up teaching resources my SIL had bought and then drive across the city to take the ferry over to the island. I got a lovely evening with the family and in the morning I took my niece shopping for her present. I have started doing a shopping trip with the kids so they will get what they want. I don’t want to be the aunt who gives gifts they laugh at. I love that at 12, my niece still chose to buy playmobile. I really liked the cupcake shop, but she went for the playground and a few figurines.

My niece did indulge me and check out a knitting store with me, but I was very good and bought nothing!

I got to enjoy the family birthday lunch and a look at the open house next door, and then headed up the island for a quick trip to see my parent’s new property and then took the ferry home. It was a very busy 24 hours!

Today:

Exercise:

Since I was going to be home after all, I arranged to run Crystal Falls with Dennis this morning. This is his favourite run, but even he admits it’s not as much fun now. It used to be a single track, technical trail with lots of obstacles, water features, mud, puddles and not well known. Now it has been pedestrianized. It was still nice and cool and fun, but it also doesn’t seem as long!

I also got in a short walk this afternoon to finish off my Squad Easy mission.

Shopping:

After a leisurely cup of tea, I did do my shopping. It really gets to me that two little bags of groceries cost me $50! I’m thinking I should try a few different grocery stores out and see if any are cheaper.

Cooking:

I did get a second batch of strawberry-rhubarb jam made today. I used a different recipe from Pinterest and am happier as it is not as sweet. However, to use this recipe, I feel like you need to know how to can.

I still have rhubarb left and so am thinking of trying rhubarb oat crisp ice cream as it is a flavour at a local gourmet ice cream shop. I’m going to have to do some research first though.

I also made a fruit salad for my breakfasts this week and am just thinking I should go cook up some different proteins to go in my salads this week.

Reading:

After a lovely nap, I finished up the book I had been reading on the ferries. Bride of New France tells the journey of Laure who comes from an orphanage in France to the new world. She is sent to marry and have children to strengthen France’s control in Canada. It was an interesting read and definitely drew me in, though I do wish it had ended happier. I suppose that just means it’s realistic🤣

Movie:

In order to get over the book, I have been watching Summer in the Vineyard while casting on my new cardigan. So far, it’s been cute, but it definitely won’t be a favourite as it relies on lack of communication for its drama and that is a pet peeve of mine!

Eating:

Amazingly, I was good on my trip and so have been trying to keep it going.

Breakfast- coconut chips on my way to the run

Lunch- shrimp ring

Snack- mini scone, grapes

Dinner- tilapia mixed with everything but the bagel seasoning and a little mayo spread on cucumber slices

Well I’d better go get that protein cooked.

Have fun!

AJ

I Got to Run With Someone!

It was a really nice day, despite the rain!

Shopping:

I slept late and spent the morning doing a tour of fifteen different garage sales with Liane, my co-teacher. We do this twice a year for the city wide garage sales and it’s a lot of fun finding treasures. This time wasn’t quite as much fun as usual because it poured rain and was super cold the whole time. I did find a few things, but the best were three knitting the books! The lady was very surprised to learn I knit, but we ended up having a good conversation. The books are:

Rowan Knitting Magazine Volume 31

50 Baby Bootees to Knit

Debbie Bliss Cotton Knits For All Seasons

I’ll be starting a pattern from the last book tomorrow for my friend’s son.

I did finally call a halt as I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.

Family:

I was just walking up the stairs to my place when I got a text from my mom saying she was coming up the stairs at the other end of the building. What great timing! She had brought me a rotisserie chicken to exchange for the chicken wings🤣 so not necessary!

I did finally get to give her her gift which means I can show you what I did. Keep in mind, none of my gifts ever end up looking great🤣

I had to use a plastic canister so she can easily move it from boat to trailer and back again, but hopefully she’ll enjoy it for the next year:)

While my mom went to get a card for my aunt, I dragged her over to the running store so she could tell me whether the Buff hat I’ve been eyeing looked okay or not. I have a difficult time finding a hat that doesn’t look too big! I did end up buying it and it looks similar to this one but without the dark section. I like that it will go with all my running jackets:)

Exercise:

I dragged myself out for a run this afternoon. It was tough to go out as it was gray and dreary and I was still cold from this morning. Of course, once I was out there it turned warm and sunny (which I wasn’t dressed for)! I commented on this to a woman when I was about halfway through my run, and I ended up completing my run with her! 😀 Turns our she is a local girl like me who did the garage sales this morning and is a teacher at the middle school that my school feeds into. So cool! The run went really fast with someone to talk to. Now I just have to decide if it’s stalkerish to email her at work on Monday to give her my phone number to text if she’s ever wanting company on a run again???

Knitting:

After dropping off some hangers a lady bought from me, I have spent the afternoon knitting and reading. I finally finished my socks and am completely happy with them. They actually haven’t left my feet yet. I used the Rose City Rollers pattern again, but the XL in the littles edition and it fits perfectly. I love this pattern for a quick, easy sock. I keep telling myself I should do a different sock, but these ones are just so perfect…

The yarn was a sock yarn from Michael’s years ago and it doesn’t have the tag attached anymore so I’m not sure what it is.

Reading:

I finished reading The Bride Test by Helen Hoang this evening. I had loved her book The Kiss Quotient and was pleasantly surprised when this book turned out to be the sequel and featured a lot of the same characters. This second book may have been even better! I read it in a day and couldn’t put it down! The characters are great! The autistic male lead is very realistic and portrayed well. The female lead is a strong character who has had a tough road in life, but isn’t afraid of a little hard work to improve her circumstances. The plot does not lag at all and has a really good pace! I highly recommend this book for people who enjoy chick lit!

Eating:

Not as perfect as I had planned:(

Breakfast: chai and a mini scone

Lunch: chicken leg and a cookie

Snack: multigrain corn chips

Dinner: orange pepper and hummus, 10 cucumber slices with fake cheese, banana chips

I really need to do my eating earlier in the day!

Well, I think that’s it for me today!

Have fun!

AJ

Flexibility

It’s a good thing I’m a flexible person!! My day at work never seems to go according to plan!

Teaching:

My special helper was pulled for reading support first thing this morning, so Calendar was delayed, journals went out the window and we worked on finishing up stuff from last week.

At lunch I had a meeting where nothing was decided and I got to hear people complain about how track attack was going. Too bad no one had the guts to tell me these things to my face when I was planning track attack!

Track attack this afternoon seemed to go fine, but then, what do I know. When I’m with children I’m focused on them, not on what else is happening. Hopefully it was smooth everywhere else!

After doing a few laps for jog-a-long after school (yes I just walked today), I sat down to organize the drivers for Como Lake relays. It is a local race that I am taking 25 students to. I guess there was some drama last week as two other teachers sat down to do the drivers, decided there weren’t enough drivers, sent hinge another set of forms, and of course today I found we have too many drivers. I’m glad I won’t be there Wednesday afternoon when parents grumble because they’ve taken time off and only have to take their own child.

It is days like this that I would like to just teach in my classroom and nothing else!

Family:

My mom stopped by this evening to help me with a few things before they leave town in the morning. I don’t think she considered these to-do items when she prayed for a petite daughter. We got my chair moved, the lightbulbs replaced in the kitchen, my storage locker checked, and my bike repositioned in the back of my truck. It’s a pain that being so short none of these items are easy. We also figured out my SodaStream and it was user error.

Knitting:

I have spent the evening knitting like crazy and have finally finished the stockinette body of the April Tank. Tomorrow I have to learn how to do German short rows😳

Movie:

Once again, Hallmark kept me company as I was knitting. I watched Matchmaker Santa which was cute and extremely unrealistic, even for a Christmas movie! I also watched Autumn Dreams which was quite cute!

Well I need sleep in the hopes of one day getting rid of this cold so I can run again!

Have fun!

AJ

Half Alive

Well I went back to work today though all I really wanted to do was sleep!

Teaching:

We had to do a lot of catch up as my TOC spent a lot of time singing with my class. Singing is great, but I really wish she had done what I had left first!!! My students were great though and we got through a lot!

Of course, first thing this morning I got the news I was getting a new international student today! It definitely made for a busy start and I’m nowhere near having everything ready for her:(

After school, I got home as quickly as I could so I could get a nap in. Totally necessary by that point!

Family:

I’ve had my nephew Gus tonight. We met up with my parents for dinner at Red Robin. I split a guacamole bacon burger with my mom, and it was okay. It was nice to see my parents finally since I was quarantined until this point

Gus and I continued on to play a couple of games of bowling. We were way better when we had them put the bumpers up🤣. I’m not sure bowling is ever going to be our game.

Finally we stopped for ice cream at Matteo’s and came home to veg. He is playing on his phone and I found a Hallmark movie:)

Movie:

The Sweetest Heart is about a bakery owner who wants to expand, but just as her business has the opportunity to grow, her old flame returns to town. This movie has two very cute men in it and makes me want to bake!!!

I’m back to enjoying the couch with this cutie!

Friend Time

It was a lovely day and a better than expected evening.

Exercise:

Once again, I really didn’t want to run this morning, but I also really want to get caught up on my goal! I did finally get 4.25km done again after sleeping in for almost an hour. That is unfortunately the only exercise I got today:(

Socializing:

I hopped in the car and headed downtown to spend the day window shopping with one of my oldest friends. It was a lot of fun and I managed to buy nothing:)🤣

Eating:

We tried a new restaurant for lunch. It has been open on West 4th for about 8 months and is called Gobble. It has a great clean, fresh atmosphere! I really like the concept of build your own bowl. You choose a protein, two bases and a sauce and they put it together for you. They had lots of options of protein, including vegan and some interesting sounding bases and sauces. My friend got a lentil and a potato base with pork and then Smokey honey mustard sauce. It looked great and she said it tasted good too. I thought the bowl might be too much food for me so I went with a vegan, gluten free savory tart. It was very yummy!!! It was great because the woman made the tarts herself so she could tell me exactly what was in them:) I need to make some of these!

I will definitely have to go back as the woman said they are going to start having vegan, gluten free strawberry cheesecake next week!

We also stopped at a new coffee shop called Their There later in the afternoon. I had a chai latte that was kind of powdery and my friend had an ice mocha and a cronut. She said the ice mocha wasn’t great, but the cronut was delicious. I’ll have to take her word for it:)

Family:

Throughout the day we had visited a few different bakeries as I was looking for a lemon meringue pie for my dad for his birthday. I can’t believe no one had a lemon meringue pie! I finally ended up with silly bars for him. I did stop on my way home and deliver the dolly bars and a hug. He was off for fish and chips with my aunt and uncle.

Home:

This evening I had to attend my Strata AGM. It wasn’t as horrible as I expected, but my least favourite resolution won. I think I live with a lot of short-sighted people!!!

I had to giggle to myself how quickly I can make a judgement about a person. When we were electing the new council a woman nominated herself and I immediately thought – “nope, she’d be a pain to have on council”. When she later spoke, it really did cement my initial judgement. I just hope others felt the same!!!

Knitting:

While I was at the meeting all I really wanted to be doing was knitting. I am more than halfway through the yoke of my sweater and am determined to finish it tonight!!!

I must go and knit!

Have fun!

AJ

Busy Again

It was another busy day, but in a different way.

Exercise:

My sister in law managed to take me along as a buddy to her training clinic this morning. I couldn’t believe it when they talked for an hour!! The nutritionist was interesting and definitely highlighted that I haven’t been eating enough fruits and veggies, but an hour of talking was just too much!

We ended up running over to a local park that had a 400m path around it. We had to do 200m slow and 200m push ten times. I had never done it this way where you don’t have a walk break in between. I ended up staying with a woman who was upset that she was at the back. I was just out for a run so was happy enough to keep her company. We ended up doing 5.7km.

I also walked down to the local grocery store for a few odds and ends my brother’s family needed.

Blogging:

I spent a lot of today taking advantage of my brother’s WiFi and catching up on reading blogs.

Eating:

My niece had bought dairy free daiya cheese so she could make taco salad for me. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I avoid daiya cheese. The salad though, was wonderful! My sister in law had also made a pavlova that we had as dessert with our lunch. It was very nice!

Travel:

I started the trip home much later than I had planned to, and it seemed a very long trip!

Baking:

I am meeting up with some friends tomorrow for ProD and though both of them said to not bother bringing anything, I just can’t do that! This evening I have made carrot cake muffins and savory vegetable scones. I’ll have to tell you tomorrow how they are though.

I think I’m off to bed as I’d like to get a run in tomorrow morning before work.

Have fun!

AJ

Wow Busy!

I can’t believe how much my family does in a day!

Exercise:

My sister in law and I ran down to my nephew’s soccer game. It’s great to get out, but it always reminds me of how slow I really am. We also ran back and stopped at the top for squats, dips, pushups and calf raises. It was more exercise than I expected to get!

Reading:

I finished my current book through small reading times throughout the day! The Alice Network by Kate Quinn was amazing!!! This story takes place in two different time periods -1915 and 1947 and follows Eve, Charlie and Finn on their adventure. They are looking for people who made a big impact on their life.

I don’t love scary books, but this book, even with a few graphic moments just had me addicted! I couldn’t stop reading actually finished the 500 page novel in less than a week!

You should pick this book up!!

Socializing:

We went over and had drinks with one couple while the children were scootering.

We then came home as my brother had another couple coming for dinner. I ate way too much of the amazing meal my sister in law made!

The kids were so cute as they were marching around the house dressed up as different people. It was great to see kids engaged in creative play rather than screens!

I was happy when the couple went home about 9:30 as I was exhausted! This seemed like a much busier day than I’m used to!

Yipppeee Weekend!

It wasn’t a bad day, but definitely was busy!

Teaching:

I left early for work as I had a parent meeting this morning. It does drive me nuts when parents don’t inform me of big things! There is a big difference between how I deal with a little boy who is willfully not doing his work and how I deal with a little boy who is going through major issues at home. I couldn’t believe mom thought that a parental major illness wouldn’t affect her child?!?!😫

Friday journals went way better! I came up with the idea to turn them into a top ten list! I found a David Letterman video that was okay for children and then we went to it! I actually had reluctant writers asking if they could work on it during quiet time???🎊🎉

We handled gym, played math games and had buddies and outside playtime. All in all, a pretty good day!

The TOC next door very kindly gave me a ride down the hill when I realized I had to take my computer and two big books home with me!

Family:

I quickly ate a bagel and avocado (no judgment please on this being my second avocado of the day 🤪) and headed out the door for the ferry.

I just made the ferry by the skin of my teeth which is good as the next two after this were also already full! I amazingly had quite a quiet ferry ride- must remember where I sat so I can try to get this again!

My poor brother though had to deal with the traffic involved in picking me up. Maybe for that reason alone I should stick to driving on!

The evening with my family has been awesome! Lots of snuggles and giggles:)

I’m off to bed now as morning will come quickly!

Have fun!

AJ

Not As Planned

At the start of the week, my days looked crazy busy, but it has been turning out less so.

Teaching:

Today went well and I realized it may be because I had a disruptive boy move during the break. It’s amazing the influence one child can have on a class!

We started our Reading Power program with making connections. We delved further into place value and we played dodgeball in gym. Lol when I write it down, it seems so little. Of course, that’s without the five reading tests I did today and reading with four other kids.

Exercise:

After work it was the first day back to boot camp. I think L took it easy on us today. We had to do: squat jumps/ slider hamstring curls, reverse lunge with shoulder press, 1/2 get ups, plank/speed skaters, bench reverse lunge with a hop, bear crawl/ jumping jacks, banded lat pull downs/ banded hip raises with a weight, pulsing squat/bird dog.

I haven’t decided if I’m going to use the planks and squats I did in that workout to count for today’s or whether I will do more.

Family:

I went over to visit my nephew today and he seems like himself. I was glad to be able to spend some time with him and give him some hugs! Banks also got lots of belly scratches and hugs!

Reading:

I finally finished Strike Out by Cheryl Douglas. It was only five days, but it felt like I was reading this book forever! I just found it really unrealistic so can’t bring myself to recommend it.

Cooking:

I saw a video on Facebook for maki g your own vegan cheese and started to make it, only to come to the part where you need agar. Of course I don’t have any so it’s been put into the fridge. If I don’t find agar I may just make pasta to go with it!

Well I don’t quite know what I’m going to do with myself now, but maybe some knitting.

Have fun!

AJ