Ever have one of those days where things just go your way?? I had one today. Lots of things went right, and lots of those things were due to some hard work I've put in. That feeling of accomplishment is just so awesome. I thought I'd celebrate them with you! First, I finished my lesson plans for next week. My goal every week is to complete the plans on Thursday so that I can use my time on Friday to go over them and make sure I have what I need. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn't. Today it actually happened, and it happened very smoothly! It's such a good feeling to go into a Friday knowing that my lessons are planned for the following week. I'm the junior homeroom teacher, which means that the planning for prom and the junior/senior banquet falls mostly on me. I gathered the other teachers who are on the faculty committee and we had a fantastic meeting. We hammered out a bunch of the big items, so now we can hand a lot of it over to the student committee and let them make decisions on most of the details (with guidance, of course). It felt really good to get those things down on paper, so they can stop swirling around in my head! This is the biggest thing that happened today... I received the nicest, sweetest card ever from my sister Beezneez (the one who's getting married) in the mail today. She's so good to send random cards that are just hilarious. She writes little notes of encouragement to me, and they always seem to arrive exactly when I need them most. Well, this one was just like her others, just explaining some of the things that she appreciated about me. I got all teary-eyed, and then actually bawled out loud when I got to the end because she asked me to be her matron of honor! It was just so incredibly sweet. I totally have the fierce love-loyalty-pride-protection thing going because she's my little sister, and I'm just so honored that she would ask me to stand next to her. I'm going to be the BEST matron of honor, EVER, just for HER because she totally deserves it. (Love you, Beez!) Last, but definitely not least, I had my Weight Watchers meeting tonight. After last week's gain (that I still believe was mostly due to the jeans and sweatshirt combo), I worked really hard all week, cooking well, riding my stationary bike, and paying attention to what I was eating. I made sure to wear the clothes I usually wear (jogging pants and a t-shirt), and... drum roll, please... I lost 5.2 pounds!!! I know that 5.2 pounds is totally unrealistic for a one-week loss, but that just confirms my thoughts that the clothes last week were definitely a part of the gain. Still, I know I lost some actual weight this week! Yay! Now, it's to bed and (hopefully) to an early sleep. This first full week back is wearing me out... :)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Today was a GREAT day
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Small successes
(I know I said I wouldn't turn this into a "weight loss blog", but I really feel the need to get this written down so that I can refer to it later.... I'm hoping it will be something that will inspire me the next time I have a rough day.)
My Weight Watchers meeting went well this evening. It was about putting together an action plan to achieve a goal. It was also about recognizing certain things, like the fact that the past cannot be changed. I can't change the choices I've made that got me where I am today. I can't even really predict the future. I CAN, however, make a good choice right now.
Furious at a weight gain of 4.4 pounds that showed up on the scale, I came home and hopped on the stationary bike. I did 20 minutes, and for the last 10 minutes, I lifted my weights for my arms. I was suprised that I was coordinated enough to do both at the same time, but it kept me from the continual "Am I done yet???" question. I had to concentrate on counting my reps on my arms! I really do think that part of the weight "gain" was the fact that I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt tonight. I usually wear lightweight jogging pants and a t-shirt, but all of my jogging pants were either in the washer or in the process of being dried. The nice lady who wrote down my weight advised me that jeans really do weigh about two pounds. *sigh* So, my small successes today are: riding the bike, lifting the weights, NOT eating the chocolate cupcake that was placed squarely in front of me at lunch today, and not beating myself up too badly about what the scale read. I also didn't just say "to heck with it". I didn't come home and comfort myself with food. Instead, I used my irritation to drive me further toward my goal. That's what I really want to remember about tonight.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
What is this "resolution" of which you speak?
I'm still on Weight Watchers, and am down a total of 16.4 pounds since August. That includes a few slip-ups (namely, the hedonistic Thanksgiving Week that shall no longer be mentioned), as well as some half-hearted attempts at exercising.
I don't really believe in New Year's Resolutions. However, my sister's boyfriend, Dr. Soon-To-Be, FINALLY popped the question a few weeks ago. Yay!!! We're really excited for them. He's a wonderful, Christian young man who has an amazing talent for putting up with Beezneez's antics. They're a fantastic couple, and I pray for a very fulfilling marriage for them. Back to the point... I have until May 17th to do my very best to look good in this bridesmaid's dress (the chocolate brown one on the right). I think it's a gorgeous choice, and not at all the taffeta nightmare that it could have been. I also have a complete and total understanding that I will never look like that heroin-addicted waif that has been so artfully airbrushed into that impossible shape. Therefore, my goal is very simple -- I will do my dead-level best to lose forty pounds over the next five months. We brought home an exercise bike from my grandparents' place after Thanksgiving, and one of the steps to my goal is to ride it for twenty minutes, three times a week, for the next two weeks. I'll step it up a little after that. I've also purchased two-pound hand weights because, in case you missed it, that dress is sleeveless. Beezneez has graciously offered to choose some wraps for us to wear, so my arms won't be completely exposed. I've already started with the arm workouts. I missed today, though. Oops. I don't plan to turn this into a weight-loss blog, but it is something that is important to me. I'm feeling good from my one-pound weight loss over the week of Christmas (can you believe THAT?!? Luck, I tell you.). All of that to say that I don't really have a New Year's Resolution, except to keep doing what I've been doing, and do it a little better.
Monday, August 27, 2007
It's finally smoothing out...
We're starting to get back in the routine. Life is always hectic during the beginning of the school year for our family. I work 10+ hour days, and poor Knight and Jet have to basically fend for themselves.
We did have an enjoyable weekend, though. We had free tickets to Schlitterbahn, so we went on Saturday, along with my sis-in-law and her family. It was SOOOO fun. Jet has never been much of a water kid, but I really think that swim lessons this summer helped. The water park has a TON of litte-kid areas, with a million different things squirting water into an area where the water is less than a foot deep. He warmed up to it pretty quickly.
In other news, I've lost 7.6 pounds in three weeks on Weight Watchers. The system really works for me. I'm a scientist at heart, so the point-counting, data-gathering-and-tracking, and form-filling tickles me to no end. I love to look back over the weeks and see my progress in charts and graphs. :-P Plus, it's online, and I have ONE meeting, ONE block of thirty minutes every week that is ALL ABOUT ME, and doing something I'm happy to be doing. Knight is so supportive and keeps Jet without one single complaint so that I can go to the meetings.
School is going well... I've sufficiently scared the new crop of 8th graders. They don't so much as blink without say-so in my class, which is exactly how I want them for the first few weeks. Soon, we'll loosen up and they'll learn how to read me.
That's all for now! As usual, I'll try to update more frequently!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Can you tell that school started?
I started going back to work a little on August 1st, and we officially started inservice this past Wednesday. It's par for the course for the rest of my life to suffer for this period of about three weeks... family, blog, house... you name it. Several years ago, I finally realized that this is just how it is and I stopped feeling guilty about it.
However, I do have some great news to share. First, I joined Weight Watchers last week. My second meeting was last night and I'd lost three pounds! Yay! This all came about because my Granny usually likes to take me shopping for clothes when we're together. Now, usually, I don't mind one tiny little bit. This time, though, I wasn't ready to buy more clothes in my current size.
I'd been looking at joining WW for a couple of months. (I don't make fast decisions in areas like this. I want to be sure it's what I'm really ready to do before I make the financial and time commitment.) So, I told Granny about it and she offered to pay for my first three-month package. It's been really easy for the first week, even with the new chef at school providing lunch. Of course, I'm a data-driven, form-filling person, so the points system really works for me. Knight has been riding my coat tails a little... we figured out how many points he needs, and he's been paying more attention to how he eats. So, thank you, Granny!
Also, I have a cute Jet story (of course). He went back to his playschool on August 1st. I had not slept well the night before, which is rare for me. I had woken up a few times, and, well... everything is so much scarier and more emotional in the dark when you're exhausted, you know? I kept asking God for peace about our decision for me to go back to teaching this year. I was actually worried more about me missing Jet than about his health and safety and well-being at his playschool.
When we walked in the door, all of his friends were jumping up and down and ecstatic!! to see him after the summer. The whole class lined up to hug him. I had tears in my eyes as I watched him embrace each of his friends. There is nothing sweeter than the joyful emotions of three-year-olds, because they don't hold anything back.
After the hugs were done, he and three of his little boy friends stood in a circle and started talking. The conversation immediately turned to who was wearing big-boy-underwears and who wasn't, and, more importantly, what was on those big-boy-underwears. I caught Jet just before he pulled down his shorts to show off his baseball underwears.
I got back in my car and thanked the Lord for showing me what my Mommy-Heart so desprately needed -- that my son his happy and well-loved at school!
One more story before I head to work!! Jet was doing very well with potty-training, but he's had a tough time at school. It seems like he forgets until it's too late and then has an accident on the way to the potty. Last Friday, Mrs. P (the playschool director, who is good friends with my mom and who we know from church) was cleaning him up and had this conversation...
J, pointing: That's my pee-nit.
Mrs. P., seriously: Yes, it is. I heard you had an operation this summer?
J: Yes. The dop-ter fixed it.
Mrs. P: Oh, yes, that's good.
J: How's it look!?!?
Mrs. P, sputtering a little: Oh, um, it looks just fine.
J: Thank you.
