Howdy! I have been posting here since January 2005, and this is my second journal. I've recently made a lot of big changes in my life, and it seemed appropriate to start a new journal, too.

I haven't lost all the weight I wanted, and a lot of that has to do with my own lack of motivation and effort. I honestly can't say I gave it my all. Pardon the expression, but I really half-assed it. :laugh: To tell the truth, I was within just a few pounds of my goal weight, but gained some back.

The main problem is that I really hated my life-- or, rather, many facets of it-- for the past year or so. My husband and I lived in an apartment we hated in a town we despised. I really didn't like my job, and I never felt that things were moving in a positive direction. I was very negative, and often, quite stressed. I was disorganized, and just a real mess--- not at all like myself. Looking at my old journal, I thought, "Wow! I sound so crabby!"

We recently moved into a house, an hour away from our old place. It's in a new state. We're closer to our families, we have literally five times the space we had in the apartment, and I start a new job next week. I have been so relaxed and so at peace, knowing that we have made such good strides this past month. My journal title reflects my happiness at these changes.

My new goal is to get down to 125 by Christmas. My new school has an on-site workout facility for staff, I've been told, so I'm excited about that. I also plan to eat better than I have been. I will need lots of support and encouragement, and I look forward to meeting some new Diettalkers, too. Wish me luck!

Welcome Back!!

It's really a good idea to start a new journal to go along with your new found happiness. I look forward to reading your journal. I'm one of the new ones I joined in July and it has really helped me getting inspiration from others journals.

I was in a bad place a few months ago, flunking school crummy place, most of that has changed, and things are so much better, and DT helps me deal with the things that haven't changed for the better.

Keep us posted on you're new job and all the positive things ( and even the not so postive ones). Welcome back again. :)

Hi, NAS! Nice to meet you.

So, my SIL and I went to Amish country yesterday. I ate the best lunch-- pot roast with lots of mashed potatoes and gravy. And the best pie, too. And then, some of the best fudge. Is it any wonder the scale is a little bit up this morning? Today will be better, though. I'm going to stay on track.

Today is my last day of summer. :( Monday starts all sorts of teacher-training sessions, and then the following Wednesday, school starts "for real." I include the frown-face only half seriously. I'm actually pretty excited about starting this job, but I look around my house and it's so NOT in order yet, LOL. We are going to tackle what's left over the weekend, though.

Perhaps I will exercise by walking the dog tonight. She loves having a house now, not just an apartment. The yard is so good for her; she loves to be outside. Still, she does need to be walked once in awhile, and I need to walk too, ha ha. Exercise for us both to maintain girlish figures!

Hi girl! Glad to stop by your new journal. Sounds like life is getting back into order for you, and I'm so glad you are happier. I'm glad that you and hubby took the initiative to make life better! I really hope you are enjoying your new home and I hope you love your new job. Have a great weekend.

Have a great time walking with you puppy! Walking IS good for the girlish figure! Keep up the great work! :)

It's raining here today. We haven't had much rain all summer; we're pretty much in a drought. It's a good thing, except that yesterday it rained a wee little bit, and my husband discovered we have water in our basement! X-( Not a whole lot, but in one corner, it's seeping from where the floor meets the wall. Our home was an estate sale, so there was no disclosure sheet, but we had an inspection. Of course, our inspector didn't catch the fact that our air conditioner was fried, either, and it broke at 8PM the night before we were to move in. $1900 gone, just like that. I got my last paycheck from the old school yesterday, and it will be awhile before I get another one from the new place. I really need some school clothes, but we will see how that all pans out. I may be paying to have my basement fixed!

I ate better yesterday, but the scale is up again. It's so frustrating. I really wanted to be at goal weight when school started. I'll settle for Christmas, though. I'm just going to have to work harder at it.

I went to my new classroom yesterday to organize things a bit. What a workout-- I was moving the kids' desks, plus my big heavy desk, a few tables, and a couple of filing cabines. Granted, everything was empty, but even so! I saw my room in June, but the one I was given yesterday was not the same. I had a room with a window; someone else must have bumped me. I'm new to the school, so I understand I'm pretty low on the English department totem pole, ha ha. Still, I got the room arranged the way that I want it. Now I just have to hang posters and things.

I ate better today. The hubby and I went out to breakfast. YUM! Pancakes and bacon. OK, OK, so not my healthiest meal ever, but the portions were good, and it was a late breakfast, so I didn't have any lunch. My hubby's sister and her husband came over for dinner on their way through our area. They live a few states away, so we don't see them too much. I made grilled chicken, and for dessert, we had strawberries, so a very healthy meal. The scale was down to 130.5 this morning, so I should be right there in the morning, too.

SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW! Ok, so it's just new teacher orientation, but still. I'm not even a new teacher, but anyone new to the district has to be there. I'm actually quite excited about it.

Small dilemma. It's a long story, but I almost didn't get hired by this district. I was supposed to be hired, and then around the same time, the school got sued for not hiring enough minorities, so they gave MY job to a person who was #4 or 5 on their list because they fit a quota. (One of the administrators who interviewed me told me all this because she felt so badly about leading me to believe I would hired in the first place and "thought I deserved an explanation.") Something else opened up, and they hired me, although I'm only a "temporary" teacher for this one year. There's a very good chance I will be hired back the following year, but there's always that chance they won't. The quota-filler has a permanent position. I wish I didn't know all this, though; I will be able to spot this person so easily-- the only other new person in my department, and one that would fill a quota. I want so badly to be unbiased in meeting all my co-workers, so I'm trying really hard not to think about that!

Hey girl. Sorry about the dillema. I don't like to sound rude or anything, but I don't like that some people get jobs only based on race, etc. That is sort of discriminating because YOU'RE being bumped for race... *sigh* I probably sound like a mega rude person. I'm really not! I promise!

But good luck to you on your first day. I bet you're excited. I am hoping that you love it, and that you continue to get hired back. YARG about the AC and the water in the basement!!! My in-laws had that happen to them. I think they just had to seal around the area where the wall meets the floor, and then they built a retaining wall (a very small one) to divert future rain. It seems to have worked so far!

Have a great first day, and congrats on 130.5!! Keep it up. Goal by Christmas is a great plan! :)

Hey y'all! I'm aiming to get to bed very shortly here, as I have an early start tomorrow, but here's the scoop on my day...

My "dilemma" is a non-dilemma, just a real puzzler. They hired four new people in my department, and none of us would fill any kind of a quota. I'm wondering what happened with that whole lawsuit scenario. It's not a big deal, but I'm really confused now. Rikki, I am so with you. People should be hired based on merit and ability. It's entirely wrong to pass someone over because their skin isn't white, but I don't think special consideration should be given, either. I know people come down on both sides of this issue with pretty strong opinions, but my school is very diverse, both with the student body and the staff. I really don't see where there would be a problem in the first place. Just because someone decided to sue does not mean that I should be denied the permanent position I earned.

At any rate, the first day went extremely well. I was a little shy at first; I hate all that "stand up and introduce yourself" stuff. It's so funny; I am good to go in front of students, but in front of other adults, I'm a bumbling idiot when it comes to public speaking. :o I met the other people in my department. I was worried because I feel unprepared for the year to begin, and there's a lot I don't know in terms of school policies and so forth, but I hit it off with another teacher in my department, and we basically wandered the halls until we found a veteran teacher who answered our questions. I'm excited about going back tomorrow, too.

They provided breakfast, but I ate a protein shake at home, figuring "breakfast" would be nothing more than sweet rolls. (I was right.) Lunch was at a banquet hall, paid for by a corporate sponsor (it's a large school district) but it really wasn't very good. It was easy to restrain myself! :laugh:

Anyways, I'm off to bed. Night!

Glad you had a good first day. I think that things are always a little scary when you don't know what's going on. You'll be comfortable in no time. Have a great second day! When do the kiddies come back?

Good for you on eating breakfast beforehand, and being good at lunch. Those free lunches are meals are usually high in cals and fat. You're doing awesome!

How is your puppy liking her new home? Are there good walking or running trails in your neighborhood? Hope so! :) Have a great day!

I am SUCH a dummy! I had gained a little weight and was feeling really awful about it, and then TOM arrived today, right on schedule. With the move and everything, I sort of just forgot, and the weight gain was just PMS.

Today's training session was sooo boring. The only thing that was good was that I met some more new people and am feeling a lot more at ease now. I got my classroom a little more organized, too. I was awful about that last year, but I had to switch classrooms each period. I can stay put all day long now; that should help. Rikki, the kids come back on Wednesday the 24th.

I can't stay awake much longer; my eyelids are getting heavy!

WOO HOO! Turned in our keys to the apartment today. We haven't lived there in almost three weeks, but still, it felt very official to be done with that place altogether.

Short meeting tomorrow afternoon, lots of meetings tomorrow on Tuesday, and students returning on Wednesday. I'm not nervous this year, like I was the past two. Maybe I'm just getting really good at this!

STILL not unpacked entirely. I'm getting there...

That's great that you are totally finished with the apartment. I bet that feels AWESOME! :) Good luck with you meetings and such. I agree that you are a great teacher. It's cool you're not nevous. Maybe you have your dream job, and this is going to be the best year yet! Sure hope so!

Good luck with the rest of unpacking. I bet you're enjoying making your new house your home.

For real, I think I must be manic. OK, so not really. I probably shouldn't joke, as that is a really serious mental health issue affecting some people, but I have been having CRAZY mood swings.

One minute, I'm on cloud nine, all excited about our new house and my new job and all the great things that are going on. The next minute, I'm freaking out... I'm not unpacked yet! The house is a mess! The dishes aren't done! School starts soon and I'm not ready!

So, school begins the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is just meetings, but Wednesday I see the kiddies. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors--- I'm pumped. Way better than teaching the little ones!

I bought two new pairs of jeans yesterday, and I'm thrilled. They fit so well, I feel like I've lost five pounds. That's the best feeling ever!

That's great about the jeans! Awesome! :)

I'm sure you'll work everything out with the new job/house/unpacking thing. I hear ya. I need to know if we are even moving by Friday so I can drop my classes and get a full refund. I have no idea where I'm going to be in the next few weeks!!!! YIKES! :help: There was also a manufacturing problem with my original BC, so the pharmacy switched me, and I feel so grumpy and moody this month. It sucks. I hope the problem is fixed, cause I was never this moody on the last one!!!! :tongue:

Anyway, hope your first day goes super! And keep up the fantastic work! :)

I have really been MIA the last few days here. Whew! School has begun, and I'm into the second week already. I'm exhausted!!

It's easier than my old school in some ways, and harder in others. I stay in the same room all day, my lunch break is twice as long, and I have lots of fellow teachers to bounce ideas from. This administration is very strict, and it really cuts down on a multitude of discipline issues.

It's also tougher, though. The main thing is that my old students had me for two years, and they liked me. They knew I was strict, but they also knew I was fun and cared about them. These new kids are seeing the strict side, no doubt, but haven't yet seen the fun side, so they're not as involved in my lessons or in class discussions. Mostly they stare at me, and it's really unnerving. I know I'm a good teacher, and that all these things take time, but it's weird to start from scratch.

The house is still not organized. Yuck! I'm really trying to get it to a point where I can deal with it, but it's time-consuming, and school has really taken center-stage. I did get some rooms tackled this weekend, though, and I finally got my dishwasher installed. Woo hoo! My plan for tonight is to get the kitchen cleaned; that would be an enormous help.

Well, it's time to peel off these work clothes and get some cleaning duds on.

Hello and welcome back!

Being manic and moody makes mueno and mindful sense (sorry, had to follow the m thing I had going)... you have moved AND started a new job.. both are big stressors in life.

Alchohol helps.. *cough* But seriously, you look like you are dealing with it well!

Congrats on a good start to a new school year. :)

Corinna

Hope the kitchen cleaning went well. Looks like I have to START packing UP my house and get ready to move...

Wow, that sounds like it can be pretty unnerving. But dont' worry. It's only the second week. I'm sure you're an awesome teacher, and that it just takes time. At least you have a long weekend coming up.

Have a great day! :D

Thanks for the visits, Corrina and Rikki. I've been MIA again here. I haven't been feeling well. I'm tired and sore, and my stomach has been hurting. I really haven't been taking very good care of myself, I suppose, but I've been pretty busy.

School is going well, though. I've had to be the strict school marm these past couple of weeks, which is really not my personality. Some of the kids-- girls especially-- have major attitude, and it's really grating on me. The quickest way to piss me off is to be disrespectful. I'm not much older than the kids (six years' difference between myself and my seniors), but I'm still an adult, I'm still the teacher, and I don't hesitate to tell the kids that my job is not to take crap from a punk high school student. I treat them with respect, even the obnoxious ones, and I expect the same from them. I'm sure they think I'm a real you-know-what; I keep telling them that I can have as much attitude as they do, the difference being that I can actually back mine up. I've given a few detentions, though, and that always seems to calm things. :)

Corrina, funny you should mention alcohol. I'm not a big drinker, but a few of us teachers decided tomorrow felt like a good time to go grab a beer after school ended, just to relax. Ahhh....

Alrighty, off to bed.

High schoolers really are punks, aren't they? Hubby and I were running yesterday, and a big SUV full of 'em drove by and started screaming at us. Scared the crap out of me. It's crazy how quickly you mature after HS. I even told my dad I was sorry I acted like I knew everything and that my parents were worthless. He was so surprised!!

Anyway, I know you're not a B****y "school marm" ( :laugh: ) Hope things start to look up! And I'm glad you're not MIA anymore!

Have a great one.

Hey teach! Just wanted to pop in and say hi real quick. I hope things are going well for you.

Miss ya! :hug:

Hello, all....

It's been more than two months and I've not logged on at all. I was doing so well, logging in every day since January. Whoops!

I'm fine, alive and kicking, and there has been no catastrophic reason for my long absence. Starting at the new school, I've been very busy, and in the new house, I've had a lot to do, but everything is going well. My weight is not significantly less than it was two months ago, but I'm feeling good. Basically, it came down to me feeling way more motivated by my new job and new responsibilities than by DT, and when I got busy, I let DT go.

I'm going to try to check in now, though. :)

Toonmom, you were AWOL for quite some time as well! How are you?

Rikki, I am about to go back and read your journal. I see on your profile you're in Iowa! I have lots to catch up with. 8-|

Hey girl! Miss ya! HOpe all is well, and that the tornados did NOT hit you. Thinking of you...

Have a great weekend.

YIKES! I haven't logged in for a really long time...

Rikki, there weren't any tornadoes here. Those were way south-- hours from here. Even as Hoosiers, we're closer to Chicago than anything. The alarms go off once in a blue moon, but I've never actually experienced a tornado.

So it's 2006! Looking back on 2005....

My husband and I celebrated our second anniversary a week ago. (Four days before the start of the new year.)

I quit my old job, which I really didn't like, and got a new one I like much better.

When our lease expired on our apartment, we bought a house in a different state. We love it here, and have remodeled two bedrooms, the laundry room, and the living/dining room. (Still to come--- kitchen, basement, hallway floors.)

I spent a good portion of 2005 unhappy and probably a little depressed. I hated my job, the town where we lived, and I had a negative attitude. Moving and starting a new job was the best medicine; I'm so much happier now.

I lost almost ten pounds, and gained some (most?) of it back. We're currently looking into various health clubs in our area, and tossing around the idea of a treadmill for our house.

I've been insanely busy, and starting eating really crappy food. I don't even want to admit how much frozen pizza I ate this past year. Moving was a nightmare, although it was the right choice, and starting a new job was really crazy. Then, I took on this whole mentality of, "Oh, I'm happy now, and I don't need to be skinny!" Well, I am happy now, but I want to be healthy. I have a very tiny frame, and could stand to lose about ten pounds from it.

In 2006, I want to get into better shape, and I plan to log into DT a whole lot more often! Happy New Year, everyone!

Hi Teacher,
Sure have missed ya around here. Glad you are much happier. Makes for a better 2006!

I like your quote at the bottom about no more tickers. I am considering getting rid of mine too. It is somewhat depressing. I never get to change mine! (the last change was in the wrong direction, which was way depressing.)

Close to Chicago, eh? We are about 4 hours from Chicago.

Hope you find a great health club that you love. That's one of the best things about the city we moved to! Now, I can't wait till OUR lease is up, and we can look at houses!! :D

Happy 2006! :party:

So I've been feeling a little dumpy lately. I was sleeping in late, bumming around in my pajamas and basically doing a whole lot of nothing. Hubby and I are both home. He usually works looong hours, and I'm used to doing my own thing 80% of the time. It got to be a little irritating, all that togetherness. I know that sounds incredibly selfish, but he agreed. So, I did a couple of things just for me:

-Cleaned the office. It was embarassingly messy, and I was horrible about just making piles of old mail and papers and whatnot. I never filed anything. Even though we have two filing cabinets and oodles of shelves, I was a mess. I took two days over New Year's weekend to clean and organize. I treated myself to some nice plastic bins, and we took down the filthy drapes from the old owners. I bought some mini blinds and a new valance from Target--- I didn't spend a ton, but it was enough to help. Hubby is thrilled that I finally organized things. I never had a problem, but he was always worried that I would lose bills in the mess and forget to pay them.

-As part of the organization, my husband and I looked at our finances. We realized that we can pay off our two credit cards, as well as the financing we took out on our carpet and the furniture we bought when we moved in. We weren't carrying high balances, really, but I hate debt. It makes me feel sick to my stomach. What a relief to know that within the next two months, I won't have that anymore. Whew! Then, in the spring, we can buy a new computer, which we desperately need. This one is mine from college, and it's dying a slow, painful death.

-It's winter, and I have been feeling really yucky--- ugly and hideous, to be exact. My skin has been wreaking havoc on me, so I finally broke down and called the dermatologist. I used to take prescription medicine for my skin, but I stopped three or four years ago, and apparently I still need it. I couldn't get an appt. until the end of the month, but I'm pleased that I finally did something about it.

-One of my work friends lives less than 10 minutes away, and we both need to get back into the gym routine, so we decided that we should join together, to keep us more accountable. Even better-- our insurance company will cut us a discount at the 24-hour place here. Next week we plan to pursue that.

-Grocery shopping! Normally I hate it, but I'm off this week, and it turns out that morning shopping on a weekday isn't too terrible. I made a menu for the week, wrote out my list, and off I went. Having food on hand to make meals keeps me from ordering pizza for dinner.

Rikki, you mentioned in one of your journal posts that your house was spotless. I'm jealous-- I think I will clean today. The Christmas decorations are still out, so maybe I will take those down tonight.

Rikki-- have you been to Chicago yet? It's so fun at Christmastime. We live about 45 minutes away, so sometimes we take the train there. We're really bad, though, about doing all the things there. Every year for field trips since I was about six, it was the zoo, the museums, the art institute, the aquarium, the planetarium, etc. We tend to take it for granted, but as a tourist, it must be really cool!

Ha! My house WAS clean! Now I am trying to stay on top of it. I try to go through each day's mail and shred all the junk we get, read the letters, and throw away the envelopes. I just got all the Christmas stuff taken down and put in their bins. Now I need to haul them out to the garage (SO COLD! Don't want to do it!)

It's easy to keep the house clean when I'm unemployed. I did some temping agency stuff today, though, so hopefully I won't be unemployed for much longer!

I have sadly never been to Chicago! We just moved here about 3 months ago, and haven't really done any travelling or sightseeing. I am terrified of driving through traffic! I missed the I-80 exit through Des Moines one time coming home, and freaked out the whole time going through downtown Des Moines. But I survived! Without denting any cars! :laugh: We will have to go sometime. Seems like a fun city to visit.

Have a great day! And fun making dinner! I find it's easy to make something good when you have it too! (Novel idea!) It's just too tempting to throw in a DiGorno, isn't it? :laugh:

Hi teacher, glad you are back at it and posting again, you will get those 10 pounds off!!! And then look out summer!!!

Just thought that I wuold mention a site flylady.net, it is pretty cool, lots of great ideas and thought about keeping our homes. You don't have to buy anything, just start working at some of the suggestions she gives. There are several of us here at diettalk that use her concepts. I am trying to get better at it myself.

Well, take care, and good job on paying off those debts. Now you can save for the computer and not need to charge it too!!! Whoohoo!!!

Dum-da-dum-dum.... four full days left (not counting today) until school starts. Oh, the humanity!

I had a productive day. I got up fairly early this morning and went to have my hair cut. I didn't eat before I left, and by the time I was leaving the salon, it was past 10:30, and I was starting to get a headache. I wasn't very good with my breakfast-- I had coffee and an enormous muffin. Dunkin' Donuts is my weakness, though, and I had a good 35-minute drive home. I was hungry! :(

After I got home and showered, I picked up my work friend Chrissy. We ate lunch-- I had a turkey sandwich, a bowl of soup, and a handful of potato chips-- and then we were off to school to organize our classrooms; we both had Christmas decorations to dismantle, and I got a small microwave for my classroom. That way, I can have healthier meals and still avoid the long microwave line at lunch.

I planned dinner ahead, thanks to yesterday's grocery shopping. I had a pot roast cooking in the Crockpot. MMM.... It was really, really good.

My meals weren't terribly healthy, but I didn't snack at all today, and that's always been my major weakness.

My problem with eating is this: When I eat less or cut out certain foods, I don't see very many results. That really doesn't motivate me to eat the right way. I'm lucky, I suppose, to at least be a picky eater. I hate anything greasy and I really don't like fast food. I can't remember the last time I ate at a McDonald's. I also hate most sauces-- I don't like mayonnaise, heavy dressings, or any of those special sauces that come with chicken sandwiches, for example. It's not hard for me to cut those things out because I don't like them anyways. I do, however, have a terrible sweet tooth, and if there is ice cream in the freezer, look out!

Good news, though-- a few months ago we "inherited" an eliptical machine from a family member who no longer wanted it. I haven't used it yet, but I plan to. AND-- this is the best part-- my in-laws never know what to give me for Christmas, so this year I got some small things and one of those $100 gift card-credit card things that are good all over. I think I might buy a smallish TV and put it in the basement near the elliptical machine. Watching TV while I work out would be way better. We do have an extra DVD player, too, and I keep seeing infomercials for "Yoga Booty Ballet," this dance-aerobics thing. I might try that. Has anyone else? It looked sort of fun.

Rikki-- You have to come to Chicago some time, even for just a few days! You can probably take Amtrak here, and then use public transportation to get around. I know I'm probably biased, but there really are a lot of fun things to do here. Truth be told, though, I won't drive downtown, either. People are CRAZY drivers in the city, and parking isn't cheap, so we usually take the train.

Crazy/Nancy- Thanks for the tip about the Flylady. I think I mentioned it in your journal, but I have actually investigated that. Letting things pile up too long is definitely my problem. Oh, and buying the computer outright without charging would be a definite plus!

Well, last night I packed up the Christmas decorations, and cleaned both the living room and the kitchen. Tonight, my plan is to do my bedroom and both bathrooms. Wish me luck!

As much as I love Christmas, it's amazing how uncluttered and big the apartment seems after I take everything down! Our apartment is on the smallish side, so we had to put the tree in the kitchen! :laugh:

There are a lot of foods/sauces I don't like either. Mayo is one example. I don't like many dressings either. I usually just ask for it on the side, and dip my fork in to get a little flavor on my salads. (I am not a big salad eater, as I don't really like it dry, and I don't like many dressings). Sadly, I can remember the last time I ate at McDs, but that was 2 weeks ago on our way out of town for Christmas! So at least I am doing better about not eating there 3 times a week!

Wow, the eliptical! Sounds like an awesome "inheritance"! I think a TV is a good idea for the basement so that you can watch while you work out. Oh, I wish we had a treadmill, cause I would just love to walk or something while I'm watching TV. I wouldn't even have to set it at a super high MPH, but if you did it for an hour, you'd burn some good cals!

Have a great day! :)

Thursday.... haven't done a thing! I got up, drove to my dentist appointment and then had lunch with the hubby. When we got home, we played in the basement with the dog, chasing her around and playing catch with her ball. She's so playful now that she's a little older, and I haven't laughed so hard in a long, long time. Then I indluged in long, two-and-a-half hour nap. Ahhh...

I haven't done any snacking today. I had a cup of yogurt for breakfast and a glass of milk. For lunch, I had Mexican food, but it wasn't bad at all-- grilled chicken, lettuce, fresh salsa, and a little cheese. OK, so I had a handful of chips, but that's not too terrible. I am also making dinner tonight, so that will help keep me from eating too much, like I do at restaurants. I feel a little "snacky" right now, but I'm going to have a nice big glass of milk and then cook dinner.

I'm going out for drinks tonight with some girls from work. Miller Lite isn't TOO terrible, I guess... it will be good to see the girls, though. We don't get to interact much at work, aside from lunch, since we're all in our respective classrooms most of the time. We're all around the same age (between 24 and 28), and I genuinely like them as people, not just co-workers. I have one very close friend from my high school years, but she and her hubby live in Michigan, and all of my good college friends live at least two hours away. I don't have any real girlfriends nearby, so I really enjoy getting together with these ladies.

Rikki-Ditto on the Christmas decorations! We painted our living room right around Thanksgiving, then put up Christmas stuff, but never re-hung any of our pictures. With the tree and all the knick-knacks packed away in the basement, it's amazing how bare my living room looks. Oh, and don't get too excited about the elliptical. I'm glad to have it, but it's a few years old and certainly isn't a super deluxe one like the gym would have. I'll take it, though!

I have been avoiding the scale, but this morning I stepped on. I was curious. I'm a glutton for punishment, and when I caught a glimpse in the mirror, I realized that I totally look four months pregnant. I carry most of my weight in my belly, although my face looks rounder and more bloated than I'd like.
So, I weighed myself.

I weigh the absolute most I ever have!

What a wake-up call! I'm really upset, but I'm glad that I'm joining a gym next week or so. I'm also glad I'm joining with a buddy, because that might actually keep me accountable.

Sorry to hear about the scale woes! I know the gym will be a good investment for you. I really like having a gym buddy (my hubby) He won't let me quit when I'm tired, and while I grump about it at the gym, I'm thankful for it later!

Hope things start being sunny again, and the scale starts to go back down. Face it, with your determination, I have no doubt that you'll be seeing the skinny you again.

Have a great week! :)

School starts up again tomorrow. Tonight, I need to grade some papers and get ready for tomorrow. I should have some lesson plans-- that might help! :laugh: I've been grading these research papers my students wrote. Each one takes about an hour to grade, because I need to check all their sources for plagiarism. I gave two zeroes yesterday as I was grading because they were so bad and just so jumbled. The two students in question really put very little effort in, so I don't feel too bad, although they're nice kids.

My hubby and I moved our TV into the basement. It's finished, albeit really hideously (red carpeting!) but having our family room in the basement will keep our living room upstairs much neater. We also installed a TV in the kitchen, and it looks really nice. The hubby is very handy, so that helps out. He has had a couple of weeks vacation from work, so he's been able to do some good projects around the house. I also cleaned our bedroom today and did a little laundry.

I want to go to bed in four hours, and before then, I'd like to:
-grade two more research papers and jot down some lesson plans for Monday
-paint my nails (thanks to cleaning and working on home improvements, they're gross)
-clean both bathrooms
-find something to wear to work tomorrow
-take a shower

It's manageable... if I get off this darned computer! :)

Rikki- Yes, the scale sucks. I'm not going to weigh myself until next Saturday. I started TOM today, so I'm hoping some of that weight was water. Chrissy (my work buddy) and I made plans to go scope out the gym on Tuesday after school is over. We actually need to sign up online (we get a discount through our health insurance, as opposed to signing up through the club directly) so maybe by the end of the week, I could be working out again!!

I don't envy you for having to check for plagerism! Oi!

Yay for working out! Hope you like the gym you decide on!

Hope your first day back went well! :)

Arrgh! X-( I feel absolutely enormous. It's almost like I can actually feel the extra weight that I'm lugging around. I've been really self-conscious about my weight now that I know exactly what the scale says. I might as well wear one of those sandwich boards and have it read, "Blubber Here!"

I have started a food log. I just need to count calories, although it's SO HARD to tell how many calories are in a homemade meal. I use those web sites, but it's still a guessing game. After school is my worst time for eating-- here's today so far:

6 AM
slice of angel food cake (yeah, I know, I know)
1 cup dry Cinnamon Life cereal

11:15

I made a frozen Lean Cuisine pizza, but the cheese fell off when the box slipped on the way out of the microwave. Fewer calories, right? :laugh:
2:30

6 oz. yogurt cup
one Tootsie Roll pop

4:00

About 4 ounces of coffee-- I didn't drink it all

5:00

six Brach's gummy "fruit slices"
5:15

slice of angel food cake


I'm a pig. Seriously.

I did, however, go to the grocery store, and bought some healthy snacks. I've been trying to have small snacks at school on my planning period, which is at 1:45. I think, though, that my snacks are TOO small, and when I get home around 4:00, I'm hungry again, and I want to just chow down on junk food.

Tonight I'm making meatballs (made with extra lean sirloin) and probably some potatoes. Probably fruit, too. I also bought enough healthy things for lunch for the rest of this week and most of next week, too.

And I'm not weighing myself until Saturday. I hope to have lost a few pounds since last Saturday. The bummer is that I am SO swamped with work that the gym is pushed off until next week. This is the end of the semester, so it's just nuts. I have a lot of grading to do, and I hope I get accomplish more tonight than I did last night. Yesterday, I planned to eat dinner and then grade some research papers, but I fell asleep around 8:30 because I was so exhausted from school that day and I was already in bed anyways. :o

Hopefully tomorrow I tame the snack beast. We shall see, anyways.

Not a lot of time here, so just the broad strokes:

I cooked most of this week, and ate a healthy lunch every day. One night I didn't feel like cooking, so we had Subway, but it was good. Not too unhealthy-- I don't do oil or mayo.

Last night we went out to dinner, as is our Friday night custom, and I had a club sandwich. No mayo. I didn't eat all my fries, though, and my hubby begged me to get something at Dairy Queen with him, but I resisted.

I weighed myself this morning... last week I weighed more than I ever had. I'm down three pounds this morning. I want to lose about 15 total, so that is pretty good. I'm happy with that. I'll weigh again next Saturday.

I have papers to grade allllll daaaay loooong.... yuck. Right now, though, I gotta run to an appointment to have the eyebrows waxed. Adios!

Hi Teacher!

Yeah, I'm in the same boat as you with the weight thing. I think scales lie....seriously. The gym is a great thing for me. I get out of work at 3 and am at the gym by 3:20 and workout for about an hour or so. It's so nice. I wish our school had a work-out facility on site. That'd be nice. I have a pile of papers to grade too...especially over the lovely three day weekend. FUN!

Thanks for the visit, Mel.

Yeah... the on-site gym. 8-| I remember posting that earlier this year. It's open to staff and students. I really don't want to go there and sweat it out with kids in my class or my colleagues. I prefer to sweat in anonymity! A friend of mine from work is going to join a local gym with me.

I hear you about grading over the long weekend. All day today was spent grading term papers. X-( I have failed about half the class, I think. The school is changing, and the students are not all prepared to write a decent paper. Some of them got lazy and plagiarized. Monday I am actually going to go in and work in my classroom for about half the day. Is it June yet??

I bought an exercise ball. It came with a DVD. I want to try it out tomorrow night. I'm way excited about it!!! Anyways... bedtime calls. ZZZZZ....

Is it June yet?? :laugh: You crack me up!

Great job on the home cooking this week. I think that it really helps to not eat out (or eat processed food) much. I need to get myself a crock pot as you have been talking about them on other journals, and it would be nice to have a good homecooked meal, that I didn't have to spend hours cooking!

It sucks that some kids think life is handed to them on a silver platter. Too bad you had to fail so many kids on their term papers. I think it would suck being a teacher! I don't know if I could handle grading so much, and having to give people Fs. But then again, they probably deserve it! Plagerism! Yikes! :O

Have a great rest of the weekend. Hope you don't have to spend most of it working!

Sunday.... we woke up early to drive out to visit my hubby's sister, who lives two states away. We spent about two hours getting there, and planned to be back home around 4:00 this afternoon. When we got back home, I was walking downstairs -- our family room is in the basement-- and I slipped and fell down half a flight of stairs. My elbows-- both of them-- broke my fall, and then I smacked the small of my back against the next step. OUCH!!! I'm OK, but I'm going to have some nasty bruises.

It's Sunday, so I allowed myself a small treat. I think I can manage to cut out junk if I know I can have a treat once a week. I am also keeping a food diary, and that seems to be working. I'm paying a lot more attention to what goes into my body, and I do feel better lately.

Rikki-- Yeah, plagiarism is a big no-no. I feel bad because most of them didn't decide to just cheat; they put off the assignment until the last minute and in their haste, either A) screwed things up horribly or B) forgot to cite information. Either way, it's an F. It's half their quarter grade. My problem is that I really like most of my students, and it's hard for me to have to give an F, even when they deserve it. As for the crockpot--- you have to get one! It is the best invention ever. You can make a meal the night before, and throw the stoneware part in the heating element when you leave for work. Not only is dinner done when you arrive home, but the house always smells good, too. I bought a new cookbook over break with crockpot recipes; I need to try some out pretty soon.

Alrighty... I need to do one more paper and then it's time for Grey's Anatomy. I'm really digging that show... it's good, like ER used to be.

Hey teach!

Sorry about your fall on the stairs--I hope you're not too bruised and battered today. I'm the queen of clumsy so I can relate to bumps and bruises. I haven't fallen in quite a while though....don't worry, I'm not going for a surgical career.:laugh:

I just put the taco soup together in the crockpot for tomorrow. I forgot to get ground beef at the grocery store, since I usually don't buy it, so I'm going to try it out with chicken. I'm already excited, and I have a long clinical day tomorrow so it will be SO nice to come home at 8:00 and have dinner waiting!

How's the food log working for you? I find that counting all my calories and logging everything I've eaten has made a huge difference for me. I can't believe how many things I would just eat in an average day without even thinking about it!! Hope you're enjoying the long weekend, and YUCK on going back to school tomorrow--for the both of us. The semester will be over soon enough....

Amanda

Martin Luther King day. No school-- although, I was there for a good eight hours today. So much for a day off! I got a lot done, though. I made some answer keys, graded a bunch of stuff, and organized, organized, organized. I feel ready and refreshed for tomorrow. Chrissy, my work pal, was there, too. We went to this new restaurant for lunch. I had a turkey wrap. It was pretty good, but I had potato wedges with it. The portions were pretty generous, and I ate more than I probably should have. Tsk tsk... I got home kinda late, so I made hubby a sandwich, and I had a Lean Cuisine pizza. I love those things, probably more than "real" pizza.

No exercise yet. My elbows are KILLING me. They hurt so badly! My goal for tomorrow is to grocery shop and to do the exercise ball. It says it's good for the torso. That is my weakest area. My thighs have gained a little, and a little on my arms, but I'm definitely shaped like a big round apple -- I carry all my weight in the middle.

I packed my lunch for tomorrow. I love packing my lunch now. It really keeps me on track, as far as eating right. I used to eat cafeteria food. I did the salad bar, and had my own fat-free dressing in the teachers' lounge fridge, but then I found a hair in my salad.... gross. X-( I bring my lunch now. I packed half a turkey sandwich on whole wheat, a cup of light applesauce, a few mini rice cakes, and sugar-free pudding. Oh, and I threw in some green pepper slices. I am not too good about eating a lot of fruit or veggies, but I am trying! I also pack a snack, which keeps me from raiding the candy machine. Usually, I pack some yogurt or a granola bar. I'm running low on the healthy stuff, though, so tomorrow I definitely need to hit the grocery store.

Amanda-- Yes, keeping a food log has helped. It's amazing how much things add up when you nibble here and there. Writing it all down has made me a lot more concious of what I'm putting in my mouth. The urge to lie on paper has hit me. I don't always want to admit how much of something I ate, which is a big red flag that I ate too much. I'm sadistic in the sense that I highlight all the bad things I ate-- junk that's full of calories and has no nutritional value. I've found myself now thinking about having to write down what I ate, and that helps me to avoid picking at food I don't really need.

Hey, let me know how that soup turns out with chicken. I made it over the weekend, but I used beef, the 95% lean stuff. I think I may cook some chicken breasts and shred them for the soup next time.

I want to be in bed in less than 20 minutes, so I need to iron a pair of pants for tomorrow, wash my face, and hit the sack. Au revoir!

Eek! Sorry about the tumble down the stairs! I hope you are feeling better. That sure is scary!

Yeah, so much for a day off! :laugh: Glad you got some good organizing in, though.

Your lunches sound very healthy and low cal! Keep up the great work! You'll probably see some good success in no time! Have a great evening! :)

It's Wednesday, and this week is awesome. Thanks to final exams, we have several half-days in a row, and I can come home early both tomorrow and Friday. :) It's a good thing. The house isn't too messy, but it's not too clean, and my friend Chrissy from work will be over on Friday. We live in neighboring towns, and as the newbies, hubby and I have not been to this restaurant everyone raves about. She and her husband are going to double-date with us, and then we'll come here for dessert and probably play some board games. We don't have very many "couple" friends, so it should be a lot of fun. I need to clean tonight, though!

I've been keeping calories pretty low, I think, and I'm feeling skinnier. I don't know if I lost any more than the initial three pounds from the first week, but I don't really want to check the scale and ruin my good "feeling skinny" buzz. Last night I made chicken enchiladas. I always thought of them as A) difficult and B) fattening, but they were fairly easy, and the only real fattening part was the cheese on top, which I used sparingly. I have two leftover, and since hubby is at a sporting event with work people, I'm on my own tonight, and I'll eat those.

Random event from yesterday, but it was a good one. During passing period, us teachers are supposed to monitor the halls and make sure kids aren't doing anything too heinous. There's a group of four or five of us that chat in between classes. My friend JT has his classroom across the hall from mine, and three of the girls from his class were standing outside his room, pointing at me and whispering. I figured I had ink on my face or my fly was down or something, and I was giving them kind of a funny look until one of the girls finally said, "We're just saying you're so pretty... especially for a teacher!" It made me laugh. JT gave me a lot of grief because last week some of his hormone-crazed freshmen boys were asking about me ("is she married?"), so he was kidding me about being irresistable to boys and girls alike. :o The kids are so funny about that kind of stuff. I figure I'm average on the "good looks" scale, but they think of teachers as old ladies with gray hair and ugly shoes, so compared to that, anyone under 40 starts looking pretty good.

Speaking of school, I got some unsettling news on the job front. I'm technically filling in a spot for someone's leave of absence, but that person was not supposed to be returning. (Long story.) Anyway, the rumor mill is that he IS returning, but that the administration plans to find a spot for me. The principal told me he was 95% sure I'd be back next year, but until I sign a contract, I'm going to freak out. I really love it there, but I can't be in limbo for this long. I may need to break down and job hunt, as much as I hate doing so.

Anyhoo... it's getting late, and I need to heat up some dinner and start cleaning.

Are your elbows feeling any better? I hope so!!

I'm excited to hear about this new crockpot recipe, since I've decided that's my favorite way to cook. Sorry about the work-limbo thing. That's got to be kind of stressful. The kids will be mad if they lose their HOT teacher!!

Have a great time this weekend with your double date!!

Amanda

Howdy! One more day until the weekend! :D

I cheated. I said I'd only weigh myself once a week, on Saturday morning, to keep me from obsessing, but I was feeling really good and weighed myself this morning. I lost another pound since Saturday, but I think I messed it up at lunch today. We have half-days because of final exams, and a bunch of us went to Olive Garden. I had so much to eat-- I love their bread sticks. I could never ever do Atkins and give up bread. I definitely didn't pay any attention to portion sizes, either. Bad, bad, bad! We're eating lunch out tomorrow and then trying a new restaurant for dinner (my double date). I think I'll try to do a salad tomorrow for lunch.

Tonight is a major cleaning night. I feel like the house is just icky all over. I hate that feeling when it's winter and everything's been closed up and stuffy. We have our friends coming tomorrow, so it's a perfect time. Our kitchen floor is old and kinda scratched up, so I may actually scrub it by hand. I love our dog, but she makes the house so filthy. She sheds quite a bit, and tracks dirt everywhere. I did do quite a lot of cleaning last night, but I have a lot left to do yet. My new year's resolution was to be more organized, and so far I've been doing better, but I still have room for improvement.

I should get to cleaning. I have a lot to do, and it burns calories!! :laugh:

MMMM!! I love the Olive Garden. Can't pass up on their bread!! Sounds like you are busy and active with cleaning. A great way to exercise and feel like you finished something, too. Well done!

I could never do Atkins either.

Man, it sucks that when you get a job, you have less time to clean. Our apartment always looks like a cyclone hit it. My hamper is barfing clothes. I need to get off my butt and do some cleaning, but I haven't posted here in 2 days, and feel this is more therapudic! :laugh:

How did final exams go for the kids?

Hope you have a great weekend. Double dates sound like fun! Yay!

Thanks for the visits!

SBraun-- Yes, Olive Garden is one of my many weaknesses when it comes to food. I just really, really enjoy eating, and their breadsticks don't really help me with the willpower.

Rikki-- Tell me about it! I don't know how people can have full-time jobs and clean houses all at once. I can't wait until June. I am considerably neater in the summertime simply because I have loads more time, and that was even taking into consideration the fact that we moved last summer (and the summer before!) and moving makes it nearly impossible to stay organized. We cleaned our house pretty good because we had friends over, so now I just need to keep it that way.

It's Saturday, but I'm not weighing today. This week, I ate at restaurants way too much-- four times between Wednesday and Friday. Nuts! I'm going to eat better today and then weigh tomorrow morning. I'm going to give myself a day to recuperate from the restaurant food. I'm feeling better, too, so I may try the exercise ball tonight. I made an appointment for the chiropractor next week as well, which I think will help tremendously.

We had our double-date last night. It was really a lot of fun! I always worry that my hubby will feel left out. Sometimes a group of us gets together, and we all went to the same college, except for my hubby. We all get along really well, but I think he feels left out when the subject of our alma mater arises. Last night, my work buddy Chrissy and her husband met us at an Italian restaurant near our house. The food was soooooo good! I had soup, half of my entree (penne pasta with meat sauce), bread -- of course--- and tiramisu (split with the hubby). Then we came back here and hung out and played some board games. It was really a nice evening. We don't have a lot of couple friends. The ones we have live a couple of hours away, all in opposite directions, of course, and then there's family. We married young- I was barely 22-- so a bunch of my friends and his are still single, although we have been to a lot of weddings lately.

Today we're going furniture shopping. I love furniture shopping, so I'm thrilled, but I need to get off the computer if I'm ever going to get dressed!

Sounds like date night was a huge success! Furniture shopping sounds like a fun plan for today also--what are you looking for? Your body will rebound from the restaurant madness if you give it a couple of days. My problem is water retention when I get out and about--everything from a restaurant is so loaded with sodium!! Hope you're enjoying the weekend.

Amanda

Couldn't bring myself to weigh today. I've been really good today, so maybe I'll do a mid-week weigh. Last week was nice, with all the half days, and eating lunch out like normal workin' folks was a treat, but I feel like I over-indulged. I'm actually looking forward to getting back to my routine of Lean Cuisines and turkey sandwiches. It's easier to stay on track that way. I feel like I'm making progress, but I still feel fat a lot of the time. Had a little fight with the hubby last night. I guess I've been weird lately about letting him be in the room while I change or touch my stomach when we hug, and he thinks I'm being ridiculous and that I'm shutting him out. We're cool now, but man, this sucks sometimes.

I've been really bad about not exercising. My elbows are feeling better, but now my back and shoulders are bothering me. We'll see what the chiropractor says this week. I think that once I get into an exercise routine, I'll see some more changes. Dieting for me really needs to be a two-fold effort: healthy eating habits and exercise. I've been doing it halfway, considering that exercise lately has been nil.

It's Sunday, but I went to work this morning anyways. Grrrr. New semester starts tomorrow, and I'll have a handful of new students in each class, so I wanted to be organized and ready to go on day one. Oh, and one of the mothers of my plagiarizers (not a word, but oh well) left me a voice mail. She wants to discuss his grade. Luckily, the parents all sign a form stating that they understand the requirements and the punishment for plagiarism, so I don't have too much to worry about.

Amanda- We were looking for a kitchen table. I think we found something we like, but it's more like an island/breakfast bar thing. We need to go back with some color samples, but I think we're going to order it. It's more expensive than what I had anticipated spending, but I really do like it, and it should last a long, long time.

Anyways, I have dinner to make and some papers to grade. Auf wiedersehn!

Back to the grind tomorrow huh? That sucks but I suppose it's about time to start counting down the days until glorious summer. I've never actually had a free summer before, with no work or summer school, so I really can't wait!! May 23rd for me...how about you?

Sorry about the fight with hubby--it sucks when our body image problems end up causing bigger problems. I've been there before in relationships, and it's at least good you guys are talking about it. You'll get there!! Routine is always good for me, so maybe since school is starting back up full swing that will help?

Breakfast nook/kitchen table sounds cool. I love furniture shopping as well, and you always end up spending more than you originally thought it seems. Can't wait to hear how the recipe comes out. Have a good day at class tomorrow, and don't back down on the plagiarism thing!! That rule never changes, no matter how long you go to school, so the kid might as well learn it now and learn it well. He's lucky he's learning the lesson now before he gets into higher education and it has higher implications than a zero on the paper. Have a good day tomorrow!!

Amanda

Grrr... I'm crabby today. X-(

School was OK, but one of my classes was just out of control. I got three new students, and I have a few clowns who want to impress them and show how tough they are by just doing whatever they feel like. I had to come down on them to make it clear that I'm in charge, and I had one little b**** get incredibly snotty with me. Um, yeah, my job description does not include taking garbage from snotty little 16-year-olds, and I told her as much (privately, of course). She'll be pleasantly surprised tomorrow to find that everyone has new seats, and she'll be isolated in a desk away from others, not to mention the Saturday school she'll be getting for her attitude with me. I looked up her grades, and she's taking bio and French for the second time, since she failed last year, and she's not doing a whole lot better now. She's actually pulling a B in my class, which she needs to buffer the bad grades, so she had better not act up again. I can be a very nice teacher (ask my seniors, who show up on time, do their work, and act semi-human) or a very evil one, and it all depends on the kids. The one thing working in my favor is that the entire class will have extra work tomorrow for the stunts she and her little buddies pulled, so there are a number of people who are very angry with her. She may not care what I think, but she won't like her peers being upset with her.

I also went to the chiropractor. I have six pinched nerves in my neck alone, plus a few in my back. I had x-rays today, and they'll run some more tests tomorrow. I should know more by the end of the week. The doctor told me my neck was "really whacked," so that's never good. We'll see.

I had been keeping a food journal, but today and yesterday I didn't really even do it. I ate fairly well, I think, but I've been crabby. X-( Don't much feel like doing anything, and hubby and I took a two-hour nap after dinner.

Amanda-- Yeah. Body image sucks right now. I'm just in a funk, but I've been pretty good about keeping the eating habits in check. I haven't weighed myself, so hopefully I will see some progress when I do. That will make me feel better-- like I'm accomplishing something.

Hi, We just started our 3rd quarter, too. Hope the discussion went ok with the student's parent. I do not envy you that. I have had too many difficult parents to work with the last couple of years.

Hope you enjoy your Friday and enjoy the weekend.

Oh YUCK! Sorry little miss attitude was giving you crap. Gosh. I really hate kids. And to think! I want to be a mom someday! :laugh: :hug:

Hope today was better.

Howdy howdy!

Susan-- I never got a hold of the mom. I called her a couple of times at the number she left, I left voice mails, and she has not called me again. Her son plagiarized on a major paper and got a "thanks-for-trying" pity 10%, but he still passed the quarter. Barely. I think, though, that she probably figured as long as he passed, she's OK. Isn't that sad?? Happy Friday to you too!

What grade do you teach?

Rikki-- Miss Snotty Pants was even worse the day after, but today she was better. Apparently, her mother was not impressed with her antics and she's grounded, on top of Saturday detention. She was a little humbled, and a little embarassed about having everyone mad at her for the extra assignment. I used to be against group punishment, but in some cases, it's very effective.

Your kids won't act like hellbeasts, either, Rikki. Most of the really bad kids have parents who suffer from "Not My Angel" syndrome. :laugh:

In other news, I will be going to the chiropractor 2-3 times a week for the next month or so. My back and neck are worse than I thought, but I'm glad to have it taken care of, finally.

Weight loss.... the scale hasn't really moved, but I look thinner. My stomach looks smaller. You know that flab that hangs over the pants? I have way less of that. Why aren't the numbers moving?? I'm not exercising yet (thanks to the back/neck issue) so it's not a muscle vs. fat thing. The only thing I can think of.... and this is not for the faint of heart... is that I go to the bathroom a whole lot more. I don't mean peeing a lot, but the other kind. It's not like I'm sick or anything, but it's like 2 or even 3 times a day now. Is that totally bizarre?? It's like once I eat, within a few hours, it's all totally out of my system. I have been stumped by this, so I'm wondering about it, but I can't believe I just shared that. :o Sorry if I grossed anyone out with my poop talk.

Anyhoo, I should get going. I have some laundry to do tonight. Have a happy Friday, everyone!

I'm glad you got the little snotty one under control--you're a brave woman to teach kids that age! I would go nuts, absolutely bonkers, and you seem to handle it really well. What are your recourses for discipline? In my school there wasn't much they could do aside from detention, and that never made much of a difference to anyone. I suppose it only works if your parents CARE if you're going to detention or not!

Thanks for the recipe--I'm really excited to try it out as soon as I get to the grocery store this week and out of the 7th circle of hell (exams). Have a good one!!

Amanda

Glad to read you did not have to handle a confrontation from the parent. And also glad to read the new girl in your class has shaped up. I know what you mean by being" as nice or mean as need be." Some kids really ruin it for the rest. I had a YEAR like that last year. This year is much better, although I have a couple sets of parents who are being VERY difficult. And yes, it is the "not my angel" syndrome. Listened to a phychologist talk Friday who reminded us that we "could not make them do what they don't want to do." Just wish some parents would. Oh well, need to get off that soap box. I teach 5th grade. And yes, they can be something else there, too.

Am sure the pounds will start dropping. Those plateaus can be killers. Iknow as I have gotten older, I just cannot lose weight like I once could. It is coming off by "tweezer size" on me! Keep up the great effort. Hope this week is a great one.

Blah. I'm getting to that time of month when all I want to do is pig out on junk. :help: I weighed myself this weekend, and I dropped another 2 pounds. I'm down a total of 5.5 pounds in three weeks, through diet alone-- no exercise yet. Sunday I had pizza for lunch and then ice cream in the evening. Sunday is my "treat day," when I reward myself for eating well during the week. It keeps me sane because I know I have Sunday to look forward to.

I had a really low-cal lunch today, and then ate a bag of M&Ms. I guess I broke about even. My goal for the rest of the week is to eat a whole lot better. I'm going to get into the habit of the protein shakes again. I had one for breakfast this morning.

Still seeing the chiropractor. I probably won't be able to really exercise for another couple of weeks. If it would warm up just a little, I'd like to walk the dog with my hubby in the evenings.

I'm going to visit a girlfriend this weekend, so I'll be out of town. I usually eat well when I'm with her, because she's a teeny tiny little thing and she eats healthy most of the time.


Susan-- Fifth grade?? Yikes. I don't even like my sophomores. I prefer the juniors and seniors. It takes a special kind of person to teach the wee ones.

I don't know if I'm in a plateau so much as I just can't lose weight all that easily. I will get there. It just doesn't go very quickly. Those commercials -- lose 35 pounds in as little as 8 weeks!!-- make it tempting, but I know better. There's a plastic surgeon around here that advertises his boob job and liposuction expertise on the radio -- in his heavily accented voice-- and this morning, it was: Finally! A weight loss method that doesn't require surgery! I was thinking, "Ummmm.... diet and exercise??"

Amanda-- That recipe is pretty good, but I was a dope. I made it late at night so I could throw in the crockpot first thing in the morning, and I left out a couple of ingredients. :laugh: Oh well. I'm sure you'll have better luck than I did.

As far as recourse with kids' misbehavior, it really depends. We have detentions, the Saturday school thing (8-12 on Saturdays... ouch) and they do suspend kids who really act like jerks. The thing is, some administrators are more lenient than others. Today, another girl got smart with me and I threw her out of class. She was arguing about something stupid and was really being disruptive, and it's an almost-daily occurrence. She got sent home for the day, and she will probably not be back until Thursday. On the other hand, several weeks ago, I had a student scream at me that I'm stupid -- he had a total meltdown in the middle of class-- and they gave him a little chat in the office. It was a different administrator, and she felt bad for him because he had a fight with his girlfriend that morning. I never know what will happen to the kid, and sometimes it's not worth putting a kid in the dean's office. I don't like to do it often, because it seems like if you do it only rarely, they really take it seriously when you do need to remove a kid from your room.

It probably sounds like I teach at some awful school or something. I don't. 90% of my kids are really great, lots of fun, and enjoyable to teach. It is the same few in each class that insist on causing problems, and they're usually worse at the start of each semester. It should start to settle down now. Finally! I can see, though, why so many teachers leave the profession. Over half leave within the first five years. I hope to get pregnant sometime in the next two or three years and stay at home at that point. I'm not ready for kids yet, but sometimes I really look forward to that point in time. I see why so many teachers burn out!

Well, I'd better get to bed soon. First, I need to visit some journals, and then it's sleepy time. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

Gah. Wish I could help! I am there too. Just had some chips and salsa. Not the world's best snack! :o I guess it's best that I didn't drink a pitcher or margaritas too!!! D'oh!

Ah...sleep. Yeah. Too much laundry to do right now! :laugh: Oh that reminds me. I better get to it! :whip:

And CONGRATS on the 5.5 lbs! :1stprize:

Way to go on the 5.5 lbs!!! :dn

I can relate to your snacking today, as I had a total diet meltdown over the last few days. Tomorrow morning it's back in the saddle for me, so I'm catching up on journals tonight!! I'm glad to hear there are some disciplinary options available to you, even if it's hard to tell what outcome you'll get! I think it's the same in every school--a few disruptive kids causing problems and the majority of the school's population just trying to get along.

I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow (finally), as well as cleaning the apartment and doing laundry now that exams are over. Can't wait to try out the recipe, and I'm going to make the taco soup again with beef this time!

Have a great day!

Amanda

Blah again. :help: I am eating everything in sight. I'm trying to keep it reasonable, and I'm still ahead of where I was a couple of months ago, but I'm not doing so great with the dieting. I really, really want to be thin again, but I have these crazy urges to eat things that are soooo not good for me. I am PMS-ing, so hopefully in a few days things will relax.

Still seeing the chiropractor. I am going to be getting some more intensive therapy than originally planned, because further tests have revealed I have some pretty messed up problems in the neck and lower back. I am glad to finally be getting it in control, though, and I should start to feel some relief fairly soon. I want to start working out, too.

My skin has been oh-so-icky lately, so I finally got in to see the dermatologist yesterday. I am going to be on a couple of different prescriptions, so I'm excited. Aside from the time I was on the pill, I've never been happy with my complexion, so I am hopeful that my skin will clear up soon. I had a daytime appointment, so I played hooky from work. I got a lot of housework done, and I did spend some time planning for school and grading papers. I needed a day off, so it was fabulous. The sub they hired for me was nuts (even the other teachers think so) and gave the kids some crazy directions, so things were a little messed up upon my return, but otherwise it was a better day. Little Miss Snotty Pants #2 was suspended for her antics on Monday, so today she was quite cooperative. :)

Feeling icky and fat and just kinda sore today, but they did some major adjustments yesterday on my neck, so I suppose it's to be expected. Hubby is coming home on the early side, so maybe I can talk him into dinner out. We have a gift card from Christmas, so it would be a FREE dinner out, too.

Rikki- Funny you mention chips and salsa. I have some in the fridge that is eyeing me. Salsa is pretty good for you, but the chips are definitely not. I buy the Baked Tostitos. They taste like lightly salted cardboard, but if you scoop the salsa right on there, they're OK. My hubby is a "dipper"-- he just dips the corner of the chips in and gets a teeny bit of salsa juice on there (why bother?!)-- so he won't eat them, but I'm a "scooper" and I'll sacrifice a little taste for the difference in calories.

Amanda-- I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who falls off the diet wagon now and then. I have this totally ridiculous system of going either 100% or not at all, and my biggest downfall is thinking, "Well, I ate crappy last night and today, so I may as well forget dieting altogether." It's dumb, I know.

Glad your exams are over, but probably not as glad as you are! :laugh: You must have liked the taco soup if you're making it again. So good.... mmmm. I hope the other soup turns out well for you, too. I'll peruse my crockpot recipes and see what other healthy things I can send along. I bought a new crockpot cookbook after Christmas, but haven't done much experimenting yet.

Just dropping in to say hi. I am having a terrible time also, with munching or just not tracking things. Have snitched at school, too. I am usually good there. I feel so bloated and fat tonigt. I need to get moving and get on that treadmill.

Glad to read you neck is feeling better. I think we teachers get that from grading papers (looking down). I know mine bothers me more once school begins every year. Good luck with Thur. and Fri.

Well, it seems like the February blahs have made their way through the nation and beyond...you're certainly not alone in feeling all around crappy and unmotivated! I'm the same way when I fall of the healthy wagon--I think that since I've already screwed up I might as well REALLY muck it up right. Bad attitude, but it seems to be the way I go. I'm back on the wagon now but still quite blah and disgruntled all around, so we'll see. PMSing doesn't help one bit, so I'm sure that has something to do with your general feeling of ickyness!

I'm making the pasta fagioli on Tuesday, since I have to be out of town all day at my preceptor's office (where I follow him around and he never lets me see patients) and I always get home late and STARVING so it's the perfect crockpot day--can't wait!

Hang in there until TOM leaves the area, and hopefully the scale will reward you with a downward "whoosh"!!

Amanda

Once again, I've fallen for one of your recipes. I smelled it from across the room when I entered my apartment tonight after a very long day...it was love at first smell. The pasta fagioli rocks, I'm pumped about leftovers tomorrow, I think you should get a prize at the annual Crockpot Ownership Enthusiast conference (COE for those of us in the know). Hope your week is treating you well. Hang in there!

Amanda

MIA for a few days here. I was out of town visiting a college friend, and then I had a couple of really busy days at work. I'm back on track though.

Eating has been only so-so lately. I ate pizza, in one form or another, three days in a row. :o (Although, DiGiorno makes a whole-wheat-crust pizza now that isn't too terrible at all. I like it better than regular pizza, and it's healthier.) TOM is on its way, and I'm eating like there's no tomorrow. TOM is actually late, so my body is playing some funky tricks on me.

I'm feeling better but still can't exercise yet. X-( Honestly, though, I have the winter blahs in the worst way and don't know if I'd even do it if I could. Isn't that pathetic?

Sue-- Yes-- my neck bothers me from grading papers. It sounds so stupid, and I felt ridiculous telling the chiro. that ("well, there were about thirty of these term papers...") but it's so true. I hope your week is going well. Any fun classroom activities planned for Valentine's Day?

Amanda-- Glad you enjoyed it. I am going to convert one of my recipes to a crockpot recipe this weekend. If it works, I will send that one along too. I wanted to make the taco soup today, but my husband unpacked an entire case of beer bottles in the fridge. That's, oh, at least a three month supply! I need to clear it out, because I mix everything together at night, stick it in the fridge, and then put it in the heating element in the AM.

I have a doc appt again, and then I have some errands. Have a great rest of Wednesday, all!

Hey, where do I get those recipes?!!! :) I love crock pot recipes. So nice to have food waiting after working all day. Sorry to read you have the winter blues. February can be a gruling month! I did get out for a walk today in our fields. I kept telling myself it won't be long until there are signs of spring. I am anxious for warm weather and GREEN.

Almost the weekend!!! YES!!

Sorry you're feeling poopy! Late TOM always sucks, and the winter blues don't help matters either! Hormones and the Mother Nature shouldn't be allowed to gang up on us! Truly though--February sucks, and ya just got to get through it and on to St. Patrick's Day, where things start looking up. My board exams end on St. Patty's Day so I'm even more pumped than usual. Hope today is treating you well, and if I don't get back around have a great weekend!!

Amanda

Busy couple of days there. Whew!

My hubby and I exchange V-Day cards, but that is all we EVER do. We just have an agreement not to really do anything, and we're cool with that. All day the kids at work were asking about my plans (they love to ask personal questions!) and I kepy saying we don't do anything. My husband sent me flowers at work! He's so cute. I totally didn't expect it, and then when he got home from work, he had a card and Grey's Anatomy on DVD for me, even though it literally JUST came out. :D

TOM is late. I'm not really on time normally, but even for me.... I'm kinda in a panic here. I keep thinking about the past six weeks or so, and thinking, "Well, there was that one time..." I have a test but can't bring myself to take it. Right now I'm just better in denial. Plus, I keep thinking about the few times I had a beer with my dinner, and then the work girls went out for margaritas, and I had an X-ray at the doctor's office about a month ago.... 8-| Don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm 15 and had some wild romp while the parents were out of town, so it would be a happy thing, but we've only been married a couple of years and had a lot of plans for the house, travel, etc. before we wanted to start having kids. I wanted to work a couple of more years, but then I feel like I should just be grateful, because my SIL and a couple we're friends with are both having trouble getting pregnant. I've given myself until Saturday, and then I'll take the test.

Anyways... sorry to be so personal. It's been weighing on my mind a lot lately, though. Hopefully it will work itself out.

Hey--it's YOUR journal sister--you can be as personal as you want to be. I think it's understandable to have some mixed feelings about a late TOM, irregardless of your situation at the time. On the one hand, you don't want to get too worked up until you know something but on the other hand you can't get it out of your head!!! I had this issue last month but everything worked out eventually.

That's so sweet that the hubby surprised you with flowers and the DVD! Very thoughtful--that's impressive. I hope this week calms down for you--it's only 2 more days until you have a break for the weekend!!

Amanda

We don't do much for Vday either. How nice to get the flowers as a surprise. Bet the kids at school thought it was way cool!! Hope your "test" gives you happy results. Take care.

Hey lady! I hope that Saturday brings good news. Well, either way it'll be good, right? I am in the same boat. I don't want to be pregnant and have kids yet, but if it happened, at least I'm in a loving and committed marriage, and I think we'd both be happy. We'd deal. It's just not in the plans yet. Let us know how that test goes! I'll be thinking of you!

How sweet of your hubby to send flowers! Mine sent me some too, but they are already dying. That makes me kinda mad, espeically when he spent so much money on them. Grrr to flower shops! Raking in the dough on V-day! I think not doing anything is a good idea. We should celebrate...March 12 or something like that. Instead of V-day! Just some random day for the heck of it. Anyway...

Hope all's well. Thinking about you! :) :hug:

Hello, and thanks for the visits.

Amanda-- I'm glad to hear that it worked out for you alright. I have been really stressed lately, so that is one possible explanation. I am so not liking my body right now, if it's just playing games with me, well, that won't be helping anything.

Sue-- Yes, the kids at school thought it was hilarious that I got flowers. I didn't get them until late in the day (they were sent via overnight mail, not from a florist) when all my classes were done (hallelujah for last-hour plan!) but the following day, they all noticed the pretty bouquet on my desk. They ask a lot of personal questions, I've noticed, and I just don't really remember being that interested in my teachers' lives. They don't usually get too weird, but they ask when my birthday is, what I bought my hubby for Christmas, where I went to school, if I have any siblings, things like that. I think, though, that because a lot of them have such crappy home lives and many shuffle from relative to relative, school is more of a focal point for them. Kinda sad, in a way.

Rikki-- I know what you mean-- we would just deal with it. It sucks because we bought this house with the idea that even though it's really outdated, it's got tons of potential, and the plan was to do lots of work on it prior to any babies. We could pay the bills on hubby's salary, but without mine, we probably wouldn't be able to get new flooring, remodel the basement, replace my kitchen counters, etc. I don't see myself working beyond this school year if the test is positive. I come home exhausted right now, and I usually poop out around 9:00. I don't feel like I could be a good teacher AND a good mom, and if one of those has to go, well, there's really no choice. With teaching, working part-time is almost unheard of. Daycare is so expensive that it's almost pointless to work-- my salary, minus daycare, wouldn't amount to much. Besides, I don't know if I'd be able to leave my own baby all day to be with other people's children. When hubby gets home tonight, I'm going to do the test so I can figure out what the heck to do.

I titled this entry funk because I'm in a huge funk lately. It's like I've had PMS the last three weeks, and I hate it. I haven't weighed myself. I'm sure it's not pretty. I have been eating like crap because I've been feeling like crap, and it's not an excuse, but I've been doing it.

I have a four-day weekend from school, which is good. I've started to notice that I have almost zero patience for kids lately. They're getting lazy because it's just that time of year, and I'm just not in the mood for it. Yesterday, for example, this boy walked into my class, and we were going to be taking a test. Now, he does almost nothing, sleeps all the time, and literally every day, he has to borrow a pen or pencil from someone. (I don't loan writing utensils. My theory is that my kids are 16 and up; they are big people and can remember to bring a writing utensil or else, too bad.) This is how crabby I've been... a little re-enactment of yesterday.

Him: Uhhh.... I don't uh, have a pen.
Me: And?
Him: Well... I can't write down my test answers.
Me: Everyone else has been working for at least five minutes. You just now realized you have no writing utensil?
Him: Uh.... I was wondering if....
Me: You can borrow one of mine? No. You know that.This is daily occurence. You need one of your own.
Him: Can I borrow from someone else?
Me: Well, a test is in progress, and you can't talk during a test. You're going to have to figure something out.

Forty minutes later, I'm collecting the tests. He fell asleep (I let them snooze after they've finished; it keeps them quiet until everyone is done) and when I woke him, he handed me a blank test because he had nothing to write with. He said it like I should have felt bad, and my answer was, "Well, I guess next time you'll remember, won't you? Or, you can re-take this class next year because you couldn't bring a pen this year."

See?? Crabby. I just get so mad that these kids drive, have jobs, and some have kids! They wouldn't dare leave the house without their $100 shoes or their cell phones, so they can both afford and remember something to write with. The school library even SELLS them. Grrrr...

Anyways, I'm just venting now. I'm going to eat lunch and then clean some house. Happy weekend, all!

I can sure identify with your episode!! LOL I have PT conferences this next week. I am having a hard time coming up with a + comment on a couple of them. It gets frustrating this time of year when you deal with the same old, same old. Some just seem to not grow at all. But I was working with some early fall and winter scores and did actually see growth in many of my students. Made me feel a little better. Not the most determined group this year. I will be SO glad to have conferences over with. I teach in a poverty school so there are lots of issues.

Well, I will be thinking of you this weekend. Best wishes!

Only one line on the test. WHEW!!! :laugh:

Sue-- I think that's exactly what the problem is--- same old, same old. Some kids are the same babies they were at the beginning of the year. I also teach in a school with a high percentage of kids living in low-income households. What bothers me, though, is that I feel like a lot of them have really misplaced priorities. The parents will raise a stink if you ask the kids to buy a $1 binder for class. The kids are on free-and-reduced lunch and get all kinds of concessions in that way, but they walk in wearing new shoes and clothes all the time and will tell me, "I really need to be on the honor roll so my mom will buy me a car." WHAT?! I shouldn't characterize ALL my students that way; it's primarily my remedial classes. Still. GRRRR....

Oh, and I saw your post a few days ago about the recipes. I'll PM you later this weekend, but my hubby is on his way home with dinner, so I need to jet.

Enjoy the weekend-- you get President's Day, I hope!

Wowza. I can't believe that kid in school! I wonder what his parents will say... "Oh, OUR boy would never do a thing like that. It's not HIS fault. It's not OUR fault. It must be YOURS!" Grrr. Sometimes I think parents just enable their kids to be horrible.

I'm so happy you "passed" the test! :laugh: Yay! You can relax now! :)

Yay for one line!!!

...so my mom will buy me a car???? WTH??? There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that my mom was going to drop funds on a new car for me, and I was a straight A student! Insanity, I tell you. No wonder everyone seems to have no concept of the good ol' dollar. You should be up for your sainthood here pretty soon for putting up with crap all day. Aren't you happy for the long weekend? We don't get any days off...grrr....

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

Amanda

Sainthood?? Probably not. That would go to the kindergarten and primary grade teachers. Those people are in a class of their own. At least I can tell my students they're lazy; you have to be a lot more gentle with the wee ones. It's not all bad. Hey, I'm going to prom this year (as a chaperone, obviously). I've just been in a funk and have therefore been whiny. This is the part of the year that really stinks. Once it gets warmer and more "fun" school things start happening, it really does improve.

And WHEW on the one line. I'm still a bit worried though--- if I'm not preggers, why am I soooo late?

Did some shopping at Target today. Retail therapy is the best! I really love Target; it's a big joke in my family that I know all the employees there by name. I was shopping for a new garbage can for my kitchen, but I really have two choices-- a tiny flimsy plastic one, or an $80 stainless steel one that doesn't match my kitchen. I need to hit Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I think.

Yes, you have to be very careful what you say to some of these students. I am having a terrible time this year with a boy who basically just breathes in my room. I have to check at times to see if he even does that. He comes EVERY day unprepared to learn. Never has work done, no jacket for outside, loses this and that. Then his mom jumped me about my TONE with him. Gee, my sweetness was not coming through every day regarding this boy's lack of responsibility. So far this quarter (3 wks) he has 27 late assignments. GRRRR!

No we don't get Pres. day. This week we only have three, though. We have PT conf. Tue. night. Have collab. Thur. a.m. and conferences Thurs. afternoon and evening. Will be a long week in the end with the two evenings. I am usually beat. But we get Fri. off!! :)

I tell my kids they're lazy. I have particularly noticed this among my sophomores. But I hate when parents blame the teachers for every damn thing. It's like, your child has responsibilities too. Not just the teacher. I'm sorry about that! I am glad you went and got some "Retail therapy." I loved that! I am planning to do that in the near future. I want to buy a nice little spring dress prior to our anniversary in May. That will be fun!

I'm in a totally blah mood. Four days off school, and I really, really don't want to go back tomorrow. I'm tired of being totally focused on school and lesson plans and so forth. I am counting down until June, for sure! I really do enjoy teaching, but we have no more days off until spring break in mid-April. After that, the rest of the year flies, but this is the longest stretch.

TOM is still late. The pregnancy test was negative, and I haven't had any other symptoms (no morning sickness or anything) but I don't know what gives. I'm not a 28-day girl, but using that measure, it's two weeks overdue. For my normal body schedule, it's about a week late. I've been feeling like I'm spreading myself too thin lately, so maybe that's the problem. Hubby wants me to take another test to be sure.

Susan-- 27 late assignments? Yikes! Mom has more to worry about than your tone, I would surmise. Again, it's the "not my angel" syndrome.

Mel-- I really don't care for sophomores, either. Freshmen are scared, so they're OK, but a lot of my sophomores have this attitude that since they're not the youngest class, they're hot stuff. Luckily, juniors and seniors mature enough to get over themselves. I think my juniors are my favorite class--- they don't think they're super hot stuff, but they're not yet suffering senioritis, either.

Anniversary-- fun! Are you going anywhere special? We had a winter wedding, so it's always cold, but this next year, I may try to plan a little 3-day cruise or something to a warmer locale (we're in the midwest... right now it's about 5 degrees outside). I am totally a summer person, and I really hate cold weather. As long as the sun is shining, I'm good, but these gray, blah days really kill me.

Well, first night of PT conf. went OK. Had two no shows. One is rescheduled for Thur. afternoon. Interesting conf. with the mom of son with 27 lates. She just did not want to hear it. She was that way last fall. Isn't that the way it goes? I have one conf. I am a bit concerned about Thurs. night. But I am just going to avoid being sucked in to their negativity. Will stick with the positive and just move on.

Major cleaning planned on my day off Friday. Otherwise, yes, we don't have time off either. Do you get a week in the spring? We usually only get a couple of days. This is a good time to take a personal day. Take care and enjoy the end of the week.

Hey Teach!

Hope school is treating you well this week! You sound like me--counting down until the summer. I've never had a free summer before, without a full time job and summer school. I used to dread the summers because I was even busier because the courses moved so much faster in summer school, but this one is ALL MINE.

Enough about me--I am a little concerned about this late TOM. Stress can exacerbate the problem, and when I was late last month I'm quite sure that was a big part of it, so it could be all the school stress and this test that is causing you to be late, but it could also be ovarian cyst or uterine fibroids or endometriosis. If it doesn't show up in a week I'd go see the GYN, or if it shows up but then is off again next month I'd go have it checked out. Could be nothing, but I would want to know.

You've got me fired up about retail therapy now. Maybe over spring break I will have to enjoy some retail therapy of my own.

Hang in there, and it will be the weekend before you know it!

Amanda

Wow, has it really been that long since I've posted? 8-| Sorry!

TOM arrived last week, so I'm good. I haven't been to a girlie doc in over two years (yes, bad, bad, bad, I know) so I probably should. I just really don't do so well with that and I put it off for as long as I absolutely can.

Not to go into all the gory details, but last month was a really stressful one. The hubby and I were having some arguments about all the same things over and over again, all of which are really stupid, and even though we're good now, it was still stressful. My dad got some bad health news, so I've been upset about that, and work has been just really overwhelming lately. I fell off the diet wagon a bit, too. OK... more than a bit. :o I plan to get back on, though. It's March now and I want to have a skinny summer. No more hiding under thick sweaters!

Amanda-- Any big plans for your big summer?? Any fun vacations? Please tell me you're not going to be studying the entire time!


Sue- You don't get a week for spring break? That is so bizarre. I think people would riot here dare we suggest no spring break. We get the week before Easter and the Monday right after. It's not for 5 more weeks, but I'm waiting for it, for sure!

OK, lots to do... I'm about to pay some bills. WHOOPEE!

Sorry to hear your month was crappy, and I hope your father is doing ok. TOM arrived, and I'm glad to hear about that for sure! Yep, the girly doc is never fun but it's gotta be done. Ack.

I'm sure you're doing the countdown to spring break just like I am. I DO have plans for the summer--I'm doing some clinical research in Ghana--so I'm ready for that as well. I've just got to get through the rest of this crappy year!

You'll get back on that diet wagon and be ready to rock this summer, running around in a swimsuit and soaking up the sun!

Sorry to read you have had to deal with so much stress. That can certainly trigger a lot of things. Glad things are going better. We have a lot going on at work right now with the principal moving some people around. Have a few upset people and can't say I blame them, especially in how it has been handled. I will be glad to have a break, too. Just don't get much of one this year. Had Thur. afternoon off for Dr. appt. Was nice to get home early. I actually got some laundry done!! Hope you have a good weekend.

Ah, the weekend. I thought it would never arrive!

I have a little house-cleaning and some laundry in mind today. I will probably just sit back and take it easy, really. Maybe a nap this afternoon, ahhhh. I am going to be out of town the next few days for a conference in a different state. I'm going with another girl from school and the school district is footing the bill for our registration, hotel, and meals. I'm a little leery of leaving my kids with a sub for two days, but I am thrilled to leave my kids with a sub for two days. :laugh: I locked up everything before I left, so there's not much they can really do in my absence.

On the health news front, my dad is doing OK. He had some tests that indicate he has cancer. We won't know much more until after further testing. It's not aggressive, we know that much, but he actually had a different kind of cancer about ten years ago. The two are totally unrelated, so, as he put it, he's "just lucky." It appears, though, that it's very early. So, it sucks, but he's feeling good so far, partially because it is so early and partially because he's been down this road and knows what to expect, so the fear of the unknown isn't there like it was before.

I'm trying to stick to my diet a little better. Going out of town should help. The girl going with me is doing WW points, and her good choices usually influence me when we go to eat. I'm going to shop for some healthy snacks to take along with me, to avoid eating the cookies that are usually in abundance at these things!

Well, I should get off the computer and get a jump on my chores. Have a good weekend, all!

Enjoy the conference. So nice to stay in a motel and be pampered a bit. Hope you get some worthwhile ideas from it. Good luck and keep enjoying that weekend.

Hi Teach!

You sound quite relaxed and peaceful today--that's great! The conference sounds like fun, and it's always good to travel with like-minded eaters. When in doubt, there's always Subway. I think until about a year ago I thought it was just a rule that anytime you were on the highway longer than 15 minutes you were obligated to eat a cheeseburger! :laugh: The sub will be fine--they will torture her/him and you'll be hundreds of miles away! Good times....

Sorry to hear about your fathers' cancer. That is never an easy situation, but it sounds like he has a good attitude about it and that can work wonders. Keep us posted on his progress, will ya? I'm not only concerned, but curious about his treatment.

By the way sbraun (Susan I think?) I love your tagline--hot water--so true!

Have a great weekend, nap away, and enjoy some down time! Thanks for checkin' in on me.

Four hours until I leave for my conference. I'm doing laundry and trying to pack. I can't really do much else until I either:

a) take my shower (so I can pack my shampoo, makeup, etc)
or
b) finish my laundry

and neither one is happening right now, so I figured I'd check in here while waiting on the laundry.

I weighed myself this morning, after a long stretch of avoiding the scale. I'm back up two pounds. :( It doesn't sound like much, but I didn't want to lose a whole lot--- about 15 pounds total--- so that 2 pounds makes up somewhere around 13% of the weight I wanted to lose. I know, though, that I just eat too much, and I haven't been making the right kinds of food choices. If I eat better, the pounds will come off.

Lately I have been addicted to coffee. I don't usually need it in the morning so much as after school, around 4:00. I fall into a late-afternoon slump and need something to keep me going. if I'm really splurging, I go with a Starbucks vanilla latte-- 320 cals and 12 fat grams. :help: My other choice is a vanilla coffee from Dunkin' Donuts-- 70 calories and 6 grams of fat. I just looked up nutrition info this morning. The DD coffee is clearly more manageable in terms of nutrition, so it will give me something to think about the next time I feel the urge to have a caffeine boost.

I don't remember if I mentioned a month back or so that I was at the dermatologist and got two new prescriptions for my face. I'm in my twenties, and I have acne. Not horrible, disfiguring acne, but enough that it made me uncomfortable, and OTC solutions weren't helping in the least. They did tell me it would get worse before it got better, and boy, they weren't kidding! Redness, swelling, peeling, burning, itching--- ugh. It was awful. X-( Now, though, my face is so much clearer than it has been in ages, and unlike before, it's not just clear, my skin actually looks healthy. I'm thrilled. I even went to the store sans makeup yesterday!

Susan-- You aren't kidding about how nice it will be to stay in a hotel! The hotel where we're staying is actually a really nice one, and it's attached to the conference center as well as this awesome shopping mall. We have nothing to do today other than check in at the hotel and the conference-- today's sessions are geared toward elementary grades-- so we're going to eat, shop, and then grade papers in our pajamas while we watch the Oscars. The girl who'll be with me has become quite a good friend since August, so it should be a lot of fun.

Amanda-- Yes, I'm looking forward to my friend's good influence when it comes to food. She's lost more weight than I have, so I suppose the proof is in the pudding. As far as my dad goes, thanks. I should hear more in about two weeks. Now that all of us kids are older, he's less concerned with us-- two of us are out of the house now, and one is away at school-- and he can focus in on just his treatment. Last time, he and my mom were much more worried about the toll it was taking on us.

Well, I need to run a bunch of errands and get some stuff done. Have a good start to the week, everyone!

Back in town after my little trip. It was good to get away, but the conference was essentially useless. It was billed as being for educators of all levels, but 90% was aimed at elementary teachers. Elementary teachers are important, of course, but kids don't stop learning at 5th grade, and there isn't much out there for those of us in the 9th grade and up crowd. Of five sessions I attended, one was applicable to me, and that's not counting two general sessions we skipped because they had titles like, "Teaching Readers in the Elementary Grades." Oh well. Bottom line, though, it was fabulous to have a long weekend in a nice hotel, and the girl who traveled with me was a lot of fun. We did some shopping, and tried to eat healthy, although we probably snacked a bit too much watching the Oscars.

I really want to lose ten pounds before school is out. I think I need to just bite the bullet and put 110% into my efforts, rather than the half-@ssed method I've been using. Exercise is another element I need to add to my routine. If I join the gym and go just two or three times a week, well, that's better than what I've been doing thus far. I have no butt! I have lost a lot of muscle in my legs, which were always hte least of my problems, and my gluteus maximus is looking more like a gluteus minimus.

I'm home early for a change-- it's not even 1:00 yet-- so I am going to take advantage of my early afternoon by getting a little shopping done. Have a good one, everybody!

Yay! Glad you're back and you enjoyed the weekend. I wish I had that gluteus minimus problem--my ass is roughly the size of Texas, but shrinking slowly. That seems to be one of the first places I lose.

You can definitely knock off 10 pounds before school gets out! Looming swim suits and shorts can be great motivators, ya know? I know you can do it--hang in there. Sorry the conference wasn't the most helpful--do you still get credit for continuing education and all that jazz?

Have a good Tuesday!

Quick update:

I ate fairly well at my conference, and I was feeling pretty good. I was really determined to eat much better. I slipped a little--- afternoons are rough for me. I eat lunch right around 11, and so at 5, I'm ready for dinner, but I want to wait for hubby, so it's usually more like 7:00 when we sit down to eat. I get hungry and resolve not to eat too much, but then I say, "Ah, the hell with it!" and munch away. BAD.

I ate well over the weekend and drank LOTS of water. I've discovered the no-calorie flavored stuff. It was warm here on Saturday, so hubby and I went bike-riding-- some good cardio action. This morning, I realized I'd lost a pound and a half! I'm pumped.

We had a staff training day today, which is good because we see the kids for just a couple of hours. Even if it's boring computer software training, it's still good to be away from the little beasts for a bit. We went to lunch (only so-so... appetizers are the death of me) and when we returned, it was really crowded in the room where we were meeting, so I couldn't sit with any of my teacher pals. I ended up next to this math teacher because there was an open seat there. The girls in my class all think he's really cute, and I was inclined to agree, but... ick. He's a thirty-year-old frat boy. He tried making some small talk but I was just getting the "icky vibe," and all his frat-boy teacher friends were elbowing him and being stupid. Ew.

Well, I'm home early for a change. I bargained with myself that if I came home early, I would at least grade papers on the couch. I'm off to do that.... sigh...have a great night, everyone!

Glad to read you did OK with food at the conference. They usually feed you pretty well, so good for you!!! We have a 1/2 day Thurs. and then have to assess writing in the afternoon. I HATE that day. There is so much controversy over the writing, it really does not seem like fair assessment.

Interesting things continue to develop at school. we are losing more planning time based on how our principal is setting things up. We may have to fight it as we should get the same planning time as the rest of the district. I just hate feeling this way and don't like confrontations. UGH!!

I've been feeling really good lately. I'm down another two pounds since last weekend. :) I've been drinking that flavored water (no calories-- Splenda) and guzzling it down like mad. I got some cookbooks from the library. I do like to cook, when I have time, and I have lots of cookbooks of my own, but I was bored and wanted a change. I've been trying to stay away from too many processed foods, as well as starchy kinds of things. I'm doing a lot better as far as the chiropractor is concerned, so I am hoping that in April I can join the gym and begin my exercise regimen. Most of my weight is in my middle, but my legs and arms need some serious toning before summer.

I have been getting some exercise, here and there. We've been walking at the park periodically, taking the dog out, and of course, there is always some cardio, too. :o Hey, it totally burns calories, right?? It counts!

It's been a really good weekend, aside from the fact that I have not so much as touched a single essay, all of which beg to be graded. Maybe tomorrow... I have also toyed with the idea of taking a sick day this week to stay home and grade. Ahhhh, it's so tempting!

On the horizon-- hubby has some really interesting (good interesting) job news, but I don't want to say too much and jinx it. More later, if it turns into anything. Keep your fingers crossed, though.

Anyways, I need to get some Zzzzzz's. The dog is snoozing at my feet here and I think I should take a cue from her!

How nice to just have a day like that! Hope you left those essays alone and took time for yourself. I have today off due to SNOW! We are experiencing a major snowstorm. You know it is major when our district cancels. We NEVER cancel (or rarely). I am so glad I did not have to try to make it in. It was nasty this morning and the drifts were pretty high by then. Supposed to snow and blow all day. How is that for spring!!

Congrats on the 2 lb. loss! I have gotten back into walking on the treadmill, but no loss in a while. I have really had a sweet tooth and have been making such unhealthy choices lately. I cannot afford to do that!!! GRRRRR! Well, hope you have a great week and enjoy another loss!

Hey Teach!!! Glad to hear you've been keeping busy with the cardio--yup, it burns calories! :laugh:

Sounds like you're really on a roll over here, losing pounds and working out and taking time for yourself every once in a while--that rocks! Are you on spring break right now? I am, and the weather here really sucks but at least there is no school. NICE. I'm sure you feel the same way about it.

Take the sick day!! Everyone needs time to chill every once in a while. I've got my fingers crossed for hubby's good job news.

Howdy howdy! Things are going well here... I've been keeping the eating in check, and the lost pounds are fantastic motivation. I seem to have lost from my stomach the most, which is great news, since that's where I seem to have all my chub. I've been forcing myself to drink lots of water, and that is really helping things out. PMS is coming up here, so if I can just manage to keep the evil snack beast at bay, I'll be alright.

Went to the mall after school today. I found the cutest pair of cropped jeans at Gap. Most of them look like really dorky flood pants on me, and seem to have that circa-1991 tapered leg thing going, but these ones are cute. Again, with my Buddha-belly shape, my legs are still fairly thin (thighs notwithstanding) and these pants played that up and made me look a heck of a lot thinner than I really am. I love finding pants that fit like that! Now if it would just get up out of the 30-degree range....

Sue-- I wish I had a treadmill. I would love to walk while watching TV; I think I would actually use that a lot. We are talking about buying a weight machine for the house. Hubby has a birthday coming up, and we've both been committed to losing the weight, so it would be a nice gift. I also bought an exercise ball this afternoon from my physical therapy session. I have a DVD with some good exercises; I am pumped to use it. Maybe tomorrow after school...

Amanda-- Yes, 'cardio' is good exercise, but to be honest, sometimes an extra half hour of sleep is preferable!! :laugh: No, I am not on spring break... a few more weeks. UGH. That's why I would love to take a sick day. I have stacks of papers that need grading, and the end of the quarter is about a week away. They all need to be graded and entered into the computer. We actually have no plans this weekend for the first time in awhile, so it will be awesome to just chill out, having graded all those papers while "sick." Even better, hubby has a floating holiday he's taking the same day that my illness will reach its fever pitch. We could even go and grab lunch; I live far enough from school that it would be A-OK.

I'm actually making dinner tonight, so I should get a move on. Happy Tuesday!

THE MALL! I love going to the mall and finding good, cute clothes that fit! :x