Today marks the end of Midterm Work at both ISU and DMACC. Apparently it's been a rough week for students but it was fairly easy-going for me. I made awesome progress on grading as I had to submit midterm grades by today. I've also worked ahead and did prep for upcoming weeks as major assignments are due in November and December for most of my classes.
Jon and I went to Weight Watchers on Wednesday. Not pleased by my weight status but wasn't shocked either. I've been eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted in the past months. I'm happy to be getting back on track but I have to also bump up my physical activity. The snow will be flying soon so I'm sure my motivation to be outside will start to dwindle. I wasn't enthusiastic to be outside in the summer either due to the heat. You just can't win in most Iowa seasons.
I am attending a conference all day Sunday. I'm excited to see some presentations for health as I'm teaching more health classes now a days. We have to leave Ames at 5:30am. I have a feeling I'll do much of the driving to and from Storm Lake too. Sigh. I've needed more professional development for my annual evaluation so this conference should help. We are hosting it at ISU next fall too and I wanted to get a firsthand account of how well the conference functions. I've attended it before and it's been wonderful. I've also attended it in the past and it was poorly organized.
I need to start prepping and cooking more meals at home. I wish I was versatile with my culinary talents. I can make some stuff really well but I'm awful at trying new recipes. Sigh. The crock pot needs more action too.
I guess that's all for now. Sadly I'm rather dull and I don't have anything of great excitement to write about.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
Grateful for the Weekend
Greetings:
Work is somewhat settled so I decided to take some time for myself. I'm sure I'm forgetting to do something major though....that's the fun part. I'm leaving early today too as I've worked over 50 hours already. I'm excited to do things around the house and clean a bit since that is mindless work. We have huge tree limbs and stuff down too...the neighbor is arranging the clean up but I will probably still need to do something for our property. I am attempting to send myself pictures from my phone but the process isn't working. I'm sure you can envision large tree limbs laying in our driveway.
Woohoo!! Quick edit:
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We were supposed to go to Illinois this weekend but that's canceled with Jon still being in Colorado. We were going to a basset hound rescue fundraiser. Maybe next year! It's actually really fun because tons of basset hounds run a muck and participate in a parade. Jon is supposed to be back on Monday or Tuesday next week if the work progresses in Colorado with locating people and pulling out search teams.
Eating well and exercising have been thrown out the window from a high rise building. I've been super stressed lately and it's causing me to be impulsive with food choices and overeat. Sigh. I'm also constantly busy and cannot figure out how to get to the gym. I'm going to have to exercise in the morning or something. I'd like to exercise with Jon but there is no way to do it. I work late Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Wednesday and Fridays work but we try to do Weight Watcher's on Wednesday too.
My DMACC job is going fine...I am able to work ahead and keep up with my tasks. ISU is another story. My class for PE majors is taking so much time. I was told I could easily use materials from the professor that typically teaches it but I wasn't happy with the materials. I'm taking a lot of time to fine tune presentations, homework expectations, etc. The students start teaching our lab kids next week and I want them to do well. My health classes are going OK...I'll have a lot of grading pile up soon. My position for coordinating the grad students is kicking my butt. A lot of little situations keep occurring and the collection of them all takes so much of my day. I'm going to send the students an email outlining my expectations for professionalism as some assume I just handle their issues for them. We had major chaos this week due to a TA needing a substitute. He was told to find some options (which he did) but he never got their phone numbers! When a sub was actually needed for a certain, acute event he couldn't get ahold of the people to teach his 8am class. Who does he call? Jenny. At the buttcrack of dawn when she's still at home and unable to do much to help the situation.
The after school program has also been less than enjoyable. The risk management requirements are such a pain. Any time I submit paperwork or information to them, I feel like I am getting scolded even though I'm doing what I should be. They seem inconvenienced that I'm asking for background checks. I have a couple great employees but a lot of the volunteers and helpers aren't showing great work ethic. I ask for ideas for games and activities and they act like I'm asking for the calculation related to nuclear fission. Back when I started with Swim & Gym in 2004, everyone was anxious to suggest activities and be part of the program. I cannot figure out what I can do to make people more excited and helpful. I feel like a mom during the program that has to boss people around to get the work I want.
On a bright note, I'm liking the bible study program on Sunday nights. It's for couples but I'm obviously going solo with Jon gone. We have a free will donation meal at 5:30. We watch a video in the series after that. Then we go to small group discussions that are purposely organized so your significant other is not with you in the group. I think Jon and I are the only unmarried couple. For some reason it throws people off when I correct them. They'll ask where my husband is and I'll try to humorously state that I haven't found him yet but Jon is in contention for the job.
Alrighty, that's enough for now. I've looked busy for awhile in my office and I'm going to sneak home.
Work is somewhat settled so I decided to take some time for myself. I'm sure I'm forgetting to do something major though....that's the fun part. I'm leaving early today too as I've worked over 50 hours already. I'm excited to do things around the house and clean a bit since that is mindless work. We have huge tree limbs and stuff down too...the neighbor is arranging the clean up but I will probably still need to do something for our property. I am attempting to send myself pictures from my phone but the process isn't working. I'm sure you can envision large tree limbs laying in our driveway.
Woohoo!! Quick edit:
.jpg)
.jpg)
We were supposed to go to Illinois this weekend but that's canceled with Jon still being in Colorado. We were going to a basset hound rescue fundraiser. Maybe next year! It's actually really fun because tons of basset hounds run a muck and participate in a parade. Jon is supposed to be back on Monday or Tuesday next week if the work progresses in Colorado with locating people and pulling out search teams.
Eating well and exercising have been thrown out the window from a high rise building. I've been super stressed lately and it's causing me to be impulsive with food choices and overeat. Sigh. I'm also constantly busy and cannot figure out how to get to the gym. I'm going to have to exercise in the morning or something. I'd like to exercise with Jon but there is no way to do it. I work late Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Wednesday and Fridays work but we try to do Weight Watcher's on Wednesday too.
My DMACC job is going fine...I am able to work ahead and keep up with my tasks. ISU is another story. My class for PE majors is taking so much time. I was told I could easily use materials from the professor that typically teaches it but I wasn't happy with the materials. I'm taking a lot of time to fine tune presentations, homework expectations, etc. The students start teaching our lab kids next week and I want them to do well. My health classes are going OK...I'll have a lot of grading pile up soon. My position for coordinating the grad students is kicking my butt. A lot of little situations keep occurring and the collection of them all takes so much of my day. I'm going to send the students an email outlining my expectations for professionalism as some assume I just handle their issues for them. We had major chaos this week due to a TA needing a substitute. He was told to find some options (which he did) but he never got their phone numbers! When a sub was actually needed for a certain, acute event he couldn't get ahold of the people to teach his 8am class. Who does he call? Jenny. At the buttcrack of dawn when she's still at home and unable to do much to help the situation.
The after school program has also been less than enjoyable. The risk management requirements are such a pain. Any time I submit paperwork or information to them, I feel like I am getting scolded even though I'm doing what I should be. They seem inconvenienced that I'm asking for background checks. I have a couple great employees but a lot of the volunteers and helpers aren't showing great work ethic. I ask for ideas for games and activities and they act like I'm asking for the calculation related to nuclear fission. Back when I started with Swim & Gym in 2004, everyone was anxious to suggest activities and be part of the program. I cannot figure out what I can do to make people more excited and helpful. I feel like a mom during the program that has to boss people around to get the work I want.
On a bright note, I'm liking the bible study program on Sunday nights. It's for couples but I'm obviously going solo with Jon gone. We have a free will donation meal at 5:30. We watch a video in the series after that. Then we go to small group discussions that are purposely organized so your significant other is not with you in the group. I think Jon and I are the only unmarried couple. For some reason it throws people off when I correct them. They'll ask where my husband is and I'll try to humorously state that I haven't found him yet but Jon is in contention for the job.
Alrighty, that's enough for now. I've looked busy for awhile in my office and I'm going to sneak home.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Time for an Update
Greetings!
It's a new semester, stress levels are elevated again, and like clockwork my blog was put on the back burner. I'm on my lunch break and decided that I'll use the computer for personal reasons for the next hour and take a break from several tasks.
I guess I'll tattle on myself to start with....the weight loss and exercise are not going well. I can tell I've gained weight back due to how some clothing is fitting. I should be more upset but I'm still in "excuse mode" due our busy schedules, exhaustion levels, etc. I've been so impulsive lately with food choices. If something starts to sound good when I'm at work or on my way home, that means we typically end up eating out at a restaurant. I wanted to be working on my running program by now too. My treadmill still looks rather lonely and unused. I keep telling myself that we'll get our schedules set and a routine will develop but things are still hectic and our weeks vary. I keep thinking about the fact that I'm working too much. I've cut out a lot of Red Cross hours but I also need to work less for DMACC. It's impossible for me to say no to the money though. DMACC pays remarkably well and it's helping us live more comfortably and my debt is being whittled down more quickly. I keep thinking about this phrase...
"Do I live to work or do I work to live?"
On a positive note, Gavin is playing football this fall and he's doing very well. I was impressed that he was eager to be on B team as he realized that he'd have more playing time if he wasn't on A team. I like it too because he plays after A team and it will be easier for me to leave work and arrive at his games on time. I'll have pictures in the future.
The semester has started off decently. I'm teaching a new class that helps introduce our PE teachers to the methods of teaching elementary PE. We worked with kids for the first time yesterday. Some were very enthusiastic and willing to help. Some looked like they were in the seventh level of hell and wanted nothing to do with it. I can tell it's not my favorite class to teach already. The set-up for the class is screwy and it's hard to present information, do activities in the gym to help the students practice teaching, and have time to work with our lab students. The other two health classes are usual courses and my DMACC classes are the same too.
Jon and I have decided to take a bible study class on Sunday nights at a different church. It's a program called ALPHA. We did an intro to the class on this past Sunday. It does look interesting and we plan to continue. The only turn off was the enthusiasm of some of the hosts and they were WAY too excited. You could tell they were worried about people not returning the following week. It kind of reminded me of the personalities at Weight Watchers. I'm often tempted to tell people to back the hell off and give me space.
I'll live some more life this week and try to have an update again in a more timely manner. I'm not proud of taking a month off but what can I say? At least I'm back on the horse again.
It's a new semester, stress levels are elevated again, and like clockwork my blog was put on the back burner. I'm on my lunch break and decided that I'll use the computer for personal reasons for the next hour and take a break from several tasks.
I guess I'll tattle on myself to start with....the weight loss and exercise are not going well. I can tell I've gained weight back due to how some clothing is fitting. I should be more upset but I'm still in "excuse mode" due our busy schedules, exhaustion levels, etc. I've been so impulsive lately with food choices. If something starts to sound good when I'm at work or on my way home, that means we typically end up eating out at a restaurant. I wanted to be working on my running program by now too. My treadmill still looks rather lonely and unused. I keep telling myself that we'll get our schedules set and a routine will develop but things are still hectic and our weeks vary. I keep thinking about the fact that I'm working too much. I've cut out a lot of Red Cross hours but I also need to work less for DMACC. It's impossible for me to say no to the money though. DMACC pays remarkably well and it's helping us live more comfortably and my debt is being whittled down more quickly. I keep thinking about this phrase...
"Do I live to work or do I work to live?"
On a positive note, Gavin is playing football this fall and he's doing very well. I was impressed that he was eager to be on B team as he realized that he'd have more playing time if he wasn't on A team. I like it too because he plays after A team and it will be easier for me to leave work and arrive at his games on time. I'll have pictures in the future.
The semester has started off decently. I'm teaching a new class that helps introduce our PE teachers to the methods of teaching elementary PE. We worked with kids for the first time yesterday. Some were very enthusiastic and willing to help. Some looked like they were in the seventh level of hell and wanted nothing to do with it. I can tell it's not my favorite class to teach already. The set-up for the class is screwy and it's hard to present information, do activities in the gym to help the students practice teaching, and have time to work with our lab students. The other two health classes are usual courses and my DMACC classes are the same too.
Jon and I have decided to take a bible study class on Sunday nights at a different church. It's a program called ALPHA. We did an intro to the class on this past Sunday. It does look interesting and we plan to continue. The only turn off was the enthusiasm of some of the hosts and they were WAY too excited. You could tell they were worried about people not returning the following week. It kind of reminded me of the personalities at Weight Watchers. I'm often tempted to tell people to back the hell off and give me space.
I'll live some more life this week and try to have an update again in a more timely manner. I'm not proud of taking a month off but what can I say? At least I'm back on the horse again.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Still Alive, Still Kick'n
Greetings:
It's been quite some time since I've stared at my blog. A lot of wonderful things have taken place and luckily I only have two biggies that have been less than positive. First of all, my ISU class ended, my DMACC class ended, and the summer program ended. Of those three, I was most grateful for the children's program conclusion. I always have a ton of energy and enthusiasm for that part of my job in May and most of June. By July it's stressful and I start to "check out". It's not the most professional thing to admit but I do really start to count down the days. The staff and employees involved with the program this summer were great so it was awesome to not deal with personnel problems. Even the children were well behaved for the most part, we only had a few issues with the participants. I still need to write a thank-you to the staff and a separate one for my program assistant.
I'm working on preparations for the fall semesters. I teach three classes for ISU and they all take place on MWF. My only obligation on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be occasional visits to student teachers and Swim & Gym in the afternoons. I'm filling-in for a professor for one of the courses. I've never taught the course before but she was willing to let me use her materials since I'm a substitute. I'm also fairly prepared for the graduate student orientation too. Coordinating the event in the past years has made prep pretty easy. I make notes on what didn't work well or what should be included. It's easy to create an agenda in June and it falls together rather easily.
We were fortunate to take a vacation to South Dakota the last week of July. I had never been that far west therefore Gavin had not ventured that direction either. Jon had been to the state and its attractions before but it had been years. We had places to visit and hotel reservations made but didn't have a strict plan. We took off on a Saturday and planned to drive 4.5-5 hours to the northwest to stay in Sioux Falls, SD. I made a reservation and a Ramada with an indoor swimming facility. Most of it was geared toward young kids but they did have a pool, water basketball area, water slide, and decent hot tubs. I wanted to swim on this trip so that was accomplished the first night. We stopped at the falls the next day before we left to head west. They were pretty. We were able to have a picnic near by (great money saver).
We headed toward Rapid City the next day. The first stop along the way was the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. The art on the building was pretty cool and was neat to see the history behind the public attraction.
We went onward toward Wall, SD to visit the Wall Drug Store as the roadways are plastered with advertisements for the tourist trap. Jon got his free class of ice water. I got my $0.05 cup of coffee and we both had a freshly made donut. I bought some taffy and fudge. It was a healthy stop but a cool place to see.
We pressed on and made our way to Rapid City so we could find our next hotel and find a place to eat. The amount of open space in South Dakota is amazing. It blows Iowa out of the water. The restaurant we visited used to be the city's fire house so it was a pretty neat setting. We used the pool again and braced ourselves for the next day.
We went to Wind Cave National Park the next morning. We took the long way through the Black Hills and drove through a part of Custer State Park too. We didn't see a ton of wildlife but the open terrain was beautiful. We took a tour of the cave that was about 1/2 a mile in length. We tried to visit another local cave but the tours were sold out for the day when we arrived. We drove by Hill City and found a Flintstone campground that Jon remembered from his childhood. We also drove by the site for Crazy Horse. They aren't working on the sculpture so we weren't about to pay a fee to get closer to it. You could see it very well from the highway. We went to Mount Rushmore later in the evening so we could see the night ceremony for the site. A park ranger speaks to the crowd about the national part and a movie is shown about the presidents. They also turn the spotlights on the monument. At the very end they have all current military personnel and retired come down to the stage to retire the flag for the night. It was really cool to see so much patrioism (spelling)?
We also visited a drive-thru zoo before Rushmore. It's called Bear Country USA. Some animals cooperated and walked around or moved as we drove through. Some weren't visible or were napping. I was shocked by how much it cost but I suppose it's not cheap to run the place, buy food for the animals, etc.
The negative aspects that I'll mention are the dieting and exericse. I'm not eating very well and I'm eating out too often. Not being as active as I should be either. Two things I can easily start to fix though. I'm making a salad for supper tonight so that should help keep us home to eat. I'll save my brainstorming for another blog entry. Still pondering ideas and plans.
It's been quite some time since I've stared at my blog. A lot of wonderful things have taken place and luckily I only have two biggies that have been less than positive. First of all, my ISU class ended, my DMACC class ended, and the summer program ended. Of those three, I was most grateful for the children's program conclusion. I always have a ton of energy and enthusiasm for that part of my job in May and most of June. By July it's stressful and I start to "check out". It's not the most professional thing to admit but I do really start to count down the days. The staff and employees involved with the program this summer were great so it was awesome to not deal with personnel problems. Even the children were well behaved for the most part, we only had a few issues with the participants. I still need to write a thank-you to the staff and a separate one for my program assistant.
I'm working on preparations for the fall semesters. I teach three classes for ISU and they all take place on MWF. My only obligation on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be occasional visits to student teachers and Swim & Gym in the afternoons. I'm filling-in for a professor for one of the courses. I've never taught the course before but she was willing to let me use her materials since I'm a substitute. I'm also fairly prepared for the graduate student orientation too. Coordinating the event in the past years has made prep pretty easy. I make notes on what didn't work well or what should be included. It's easy to create an agenda in June and it falls together rather easily.
We were fortunate to take a vacation to South Dakota the last week of July. I had never been that far west therefore Gavin had not ventured that direction either. Jon had been to the state and its attractions before but it had been years. We had places to visit and hotel reservations made but didn't have a strict plan. We took off on a Saturday and planned to drive 4.5-5 hours to the northwest to stay in Sioux Falls, SD. I made a reservation and a Ramada with an indoor swimming facility. Most of it was geared toward young kids but they did have a pool, water basketball area, water slide, and decent hot tubs. I wanted to swim on this trip so that was accomplished the first night. We stopped at the falls the next day before we left to head west. They were pretty. We were able to have a picnic near by (great money saver).
We went onward toward Wall, SD to visit the Wall Drug Store as the roadways are plastered with advertisements for the tourist trap. Jon got his free class of ice water. I got my $0.05 cup of coffee and we both had a freshly made donut. I bought some taffy and fudge. It was a healthy stop but a cool place to see.
We pressed on and made our way to Rapid City so we could find our next hotel and find a place to eat. The amount of open space in South Dakota is amazing. It blows Iowa out of the water. The restaurant we visited used to be the city's fire house so it was a pretty neat setting. We used the pool again and braced ourselves for the next day.
We went to Wind Cave National Park the next morning. We took the long way through the Black Hills and drove through a part of Custer State Park too. We didn't see a ton of wildlife but the open terrain was beautiful. We took a tour of the cave that was about 1/2 a mile in length. We tried to visit another local cave but the tours were sold out for the day when we arrived. We drove by Hill City and found a Flintstone campground that Jon remembered from his childhood. We also drove by the site for Crazy Horse. They aren't working on the sculpture so we weren't about to pay a fee to get closer to it. You could see it very well from the highway. We went to Mount Rushmore later in the evening so we could see the night ceremony for the site. A park ranger speaks to the crowd about the national part and a movie is shown about the presidents. They also turn the spotlights on the monument. At the very end they have all current military personnel and retired come down to the stage to retire the flag for the night. It was really cool to see so much patrioism (spelling)?
We also visited a drive-thru zoo before Rushmore. It's called Bear Country USA. Some animals cooperated and walked around or moved as we drove through. Some weren't visible or were napping. I was shocked by how much it cost but I suppose it's not cheap to run the place, buy food for the animals, etc.
The negative aspects that I'll mention are the dieting and exericse. I'm not eating very well and I'm eating out too often. Not being as active as I should be either. Two things I can easily start to fix though. I'm making a salad for supper tonight so that should help keep us home to eat. I'll save my brainstorming for another blog entry. Still pondering ideas and plans.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
And the weightloss restarts...
Greetings!
Stepped on the scale at Weight Watchers last night and have lost 5.4 pounds! I knew I had lost weight but was slightly concerned as I'm still overeating at night but I've really curbed it. I'm eating wholesome stuff at night at least but it still adds up to extra calories. I've basically lost half of what I've gained since January. I'm sure next week's loss won't be so substantial but only losing 1-1.5 lbs is the way to go.
I'm actually excited for a doctor's appointment on Monday. I'm getting my hearing checked. It's much overdue. I've needed it to be checked for years. Gavin's voice is lowering and I have noticed I'm having a hard time hearing him most days too. Blah. Jon hates how often he has to repeat himself. Hopefully Monday resolves these issues or puts me on the right path for resolving them.
The class I teach at ISU starts on Monday. I'm excited in the sense it's a cool class and the class size is small. I'm not excited as it's going to force me to be more organized in the morning and I'll have to wake up earlier. It's been nice sleeping in and lollygagging in the mornings. I won't have to get up at the crack of dawn but I do need to be on the road by 8:30am. I'll be doing more laundry too as I'll have to be somewhat dressy in the morning and dressed comfortably in the afternoons. Thursdays will be a treat as I need to be dressy in the morning, causal in the afternoon, and dressy in the evening for my DMACC class. Wee!! Thank God I enjoy doing laundry.
Jon is off enjoying himself this weekend in Chicago so Gavin and I have the house to ourselves. I will work a little bit to prepare further for the ISU class but I'm also going to visit Lane Bryant and use my Real Woman dollars earned from an online order. I need to order some more nice tops and maybe some black capris for work. I only want to visit one Lane Bryant in Des Moines but I'll go to more than one if I can't find my sizes.
I'm starting the preliminary planning for our vacation in August. I'm trying to pinpoint the starting date as we want to chunk up the driving. It's like 9 hours to get to west South Dakota. A hotel on the east side of South Dakota has an indoor water park so I'm going to have us stay on the first day of travel so we can do some swimming and relax poolside. We may actually camp in some areas along the way too. The main attractions will be Mount Rushmore and Bear Country. Apparently there is a Corn Palace place too that we might visit even though it's all about tourism.
Well that's enough for now, I should probably work a little bit before the kid's program starts. I need to place our t-shirt order today. I'm not very creative. Same shirts as last year with the date changed.
Stepped on the scale at Weight Watchers last night and have lost 5.4 pounds! I knew I had lost weight but was slightly concerned as I'm still overeating at night but I've really curbed it. I'm eating wholesome stuff at night at least but it still adds up to extra calories. I've basically lost half of what I've gained since January. I'm sure next week's loss won't be so substantial but only losing 1-1.5 lbs is the way to go.
I'm actually excited for a doctor's appointment on Monday. I'm getting my hearing checked. It's much overdue. I've needed it to be checked for years. Gavin's voice is lowering and I have noticed I'm having a hard time hearing him most days too. Blah. Jon hates how often he has to repeat himself. Hopefully Monday resolves these issues or puts me on the right path for resolving them.
The class I teach at ISU starts on Monday. I'm excited in the sense it's a cool class and the class size is small. I'm not excited as it's going to force me to be more organized in the morning and I'll have to wake up earlier. It's been nice sleeping in and lollygagging in the mornings. I won't have to get up at the crack of dawn but I do need to be on the road by 8:30am. I'll be doing more laundry too as I'll have to be somewhat dressy in the morning and dressed comfortably in the afternoons. Thursdays will be a treat as I need to be dressy in the morning, causal in the afternoon, and dressy in the evening for my DMACC class. Wee!! Thank God I enjoy doing laundry.
Jon is off enjoying himself this weekend in Chicago so Gavin and I have the house to ourselves. I will work a little bit to prepare further for the ISU class but I'm also going to visit Lane Bryant and use my Real Woman dollars earned from an online order. I need to order some more nice tops and maybe some black capris for work. I only want to visit one Lane Bryant in Des Moines but I'll go to more than one if I can't find my sizes.
I'm starting the preliminary planning for our vacation in August. I'm trying to pinpoint the starting date as we want to chunk up the driving. It's like 9 hours to get to west South Dakota. A hotel on the east side of South Dakota has an indoor water park so I'm going to have us stay on the first day of travel so we can do some swimming and relax poolside. We may actually camp in some areas along the way too. The main attractions will be Mount Rushmore and Bear Country. Apparently there is a Corn Palace place too that we might visit even though it's all about tourism.
Well that's enough for now, I should probably work a little bit before the kid's program starts. I need to place our t-shirt order today. I'm not very creative. Same shirts as last year with the date changed.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Hello Again....Weight Watchers
Greetings! After a reminder about blogging, I figured I'd write this and do some work afterwards. I should probably switch that order but nah. I decided to be more visual and proclaim my love for salmon. It's amazing I was so afraid to try that wonderful fish for years. I've been eating it a lot lately and I really enjoy it. Even took the plunge and bought some from Schwan's this week. Here's hoping I can successfully bake it and enjoy it at home as it's not always the cheapest meals at local restaurants.
Jon and I jumped back on that horse called "Weight Watchers" this past week. I've gained weight since the winter due to my apathy towards weight loss. I'm pleased that I haven't gained an immense amount and it will be somewhat easy to drop what I've gained and keep working toward my major goals. The start of the ISU summer camp has really boosted my activity levels. I'm on my feet a lot and it's allowing me to reach my activity goals most days. I set foot in the gym again this past week too. Using the elliptical wasn't as pleasant as I remembered but I completed a 45 minute workout.
My evening DMACC class started at the end of May. It's primarily online (which is what I need to work on after this blog). We meet only once a week on Thursdays. It's been interesting as the students aren't very peppy and excited about the content. Most sit there like they are attending a funeral. It doesn't help my motivation for class prep but luckily the class will be done at the end of July.
The ISU summer camp started off very well this week. The week prior to the start of the week sucked. S-U-C-K-E-D. The Office of Risk Management really, REALLY needs to get their act together. I can sympathize they are short staffed but the hell they put me through before June 3 was ridiculous. Essentially the were very much behind with running the background checks for those employed by the program. I was told I couldn't start the program on June 3. They didn't realize the kids were to start attending on June 3. (Which is confusing as I have to fill out paperwork through their office to get permission to even offer the program...they initially gave me permission to start on June 3.) Anyway...my boss stepped up and ripped them a new one and things were worked out. It was an awkward situation as I don't want to burn bridges with the folks at Risk Management but what they did was soooo unprofessional. Grr. I honestly would love running the youth programs if I didn't have to deal with the politics and the ever-changing rules. I can appreciate there needs to be rules and regulations but the fact they are constantly changing or updating is frustrating. The patterns of communication need much improvement.
I was happy to spend today at home for the most part. We've decided to abandon Wal-Mart and try to use other stores more often for our needs. The ability to get the food/items we need at Wal-Mart has sucked lately, not to mention the courtesy of the employees. Gavin and I hit up Target today and it was a much better experience. I was able to transplant some of my indoor plants. I should have transplanted them years ago. Both are in the original pots/dirt I received them in years ago. I also bought a couple more tomato plants as several perished in my garden. I put them in pots though and plan to grow them on the deck. I added another cucumber plant too as my seeds didn't germinate. I also replanted some onions as I wasn't impressed by how many were appearing.
The other interesting event today was the consumption of duck eggs. My program assistant raises ducks and has been selling the eggs to some of the faculty. She asked if I wanted to try them so I got a complementary dozen. I made omelettes this morning. The egg whites are very clear and the yokes are much bigger. In general the eggs are bigger in size. They taste like chicken eggs. I don't think I'll go out of my way to buy them regularly but they weren't as scary as I anticipated.
Hopefully I can blog next week and report a weight loss after I weigh-in at Weight Watchers. Need to get back on track!! A couple of women that started at the same time as Jon and I were awarded recently. One of them has lost 75 lbs already! She lost more than 1 lb a week obviously and it does make me kick myself for not staying on track.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Just Another Blog Entry
I don't really have anything earth shattering to discuss but it's a low key night so I thought I'd write my Grandma a letter and create another entry for the blog. I thought it would be an easy going week but I've been quite busy at work with summer camp tasks and CPR training. The custodians decided that my floor needed to be waxed this week too so I spent a lot of time clearing out things that were moveable. It was inconvenient but also nice because it forced me to clean and toss a lot of stuff in my office. I am working from home tomorrow as I won't be able to set foot in my office. My boss at DMACC changed the textbook for my summer class so I need to review my upcoming presentations and make sure they fit the chapters. I'm still a little puzzled as to why the book was changed without talking with the instructor.
The Midwest is obviously reeling from the crazy weather in the past days. Iowa is lucky to not have been hit as hard as Oklahoma. I usually love stormy weather but even I will admit the weather on Sunday was a little scary. I think our garden will bounce back minus a few plants that will need to be replaced. It's Murphy's Law that things get crazy when Jon leaves the state and isn't here to help with his Emergency Management crew.
I have been able to read for pleasure. I started with some books that LeAnn let me borrow. I read "The Weird Sisters" when I was traveling to and from Michigan. It was OK but I wasn't in love with the story line. I read "Sarah's Key" next and really liked the story. It is associated with World War II and the Holocust and those topics trip my trigger. I am reading "The Paris Wife" next. I may try to read "The Girl with the Draggon Tattoo" after that. I have a hankering to read some Stephen King too so I'll have to work that in.
I'm planning to attend Weight Watchers tomorrow as I've not officially weighed-in forever. Well it seems like forever. I have no clue what I weigh right now. Sigh.
Here are some things I need to change to get back on track:
Ok, time to create a letter for my Grandma!
The Midwest is obviously reeling from the crazy weather in the past days. Iowa is lucky to not have been hit as hard as Oklahoma. I usually love stormy weather but even I will admit the weather on Sunday was a little scary. I think our garden will bounce back minus a few plants that will need to be replaced. It's Murphy's Law that things get crazy when Jon leaves the state and isn't here to help with his Emergency Management crew.
I have been able to read for pleasure. I started with some books that LeAnn let me borrow. I read "The Weird Sisters" when I was traveling to and from Michigan. It was OK but I wasn't in love with the story line. I read "Sarah's Key" next and really liked the story. It is associated with World War II and the Holocust and those topics trip my trigger. I am reading "The Paris Wife" next. I may try to read "The Girl with the Draggon Tattoo" after that. I have a hankering to read some Stephen King too so I'll have to work that in.
I'm planning to attend Weight Watchers tomorrow as I've not officially weighed-in forever. Well it seems like forever. I have no clue what I weigh right now. Sigh.
Here are some things I need to change to get back on track:
- drinking less soda as I'm being too indulgent
- eating breakfast regularly as well as eating a nutrient dense lunch
- controlling how much I eat night with supper and late night snacking
- including purposeful exercise/physical activity at least three days a week
Ok, time to create a letter for my Grandma!
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