Flexibility

If there is anything I have learned in my last 6 months of running it was that you have to be flexible. But sometimes that is hard for one to overcome. I can be flexible. I don't usually have a problem with it. My job requires me to be flexible. It was probably one of the first things I learned as an undergraduate working towards my degree in elementary education. You have to be flexible.

Now, with running.... one needs to be flexible as well.

One might ask, "what is her point of this rambling post?"

My point is that today was yet another day that reminded me how I need to be flexible with my schedule. Especially with the chaos that I am engulfed in.

Last night I chose to do this darn 40 minute sculpting video (which felt so good) that worked almost every muscle in the body. That's fine. Today I chose to wear high healed boots instead of my flat shoes. That's fine. Today it was slipperier than hell on campus(due to the heavy snow fall). Fine. But, when you put all three together.... let's just say it was the cause for a little extra soreness!

Darnit!

I was hoping to get in a nice 3 mile run tonight, and then Spin tomorrow, but I could barely walk without feeling the soreness! And, I want to be able to workout tomorrow between school and class. So.. .. .. I took a free pass .. .... a REST day.

Yes folks, this girl took a REST day and I am okay with that. I think... ..

Now that changes things up a bit, so I hope to get in a few miles tomorrow afternoon, a few on thursday and then another REST/STRETCH day on friday.... we'll see.

Ahh...the flexibility... ... . . . isn't it wonderful?!

Wedding, dresses, snow, and jello thighs

This past weekend I went home for one of my cousin's wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding and we all had so much fun! It was the first time all of us cousins were in the same place at the same time .... ever! So, we were bound and determined to get a photo! Now that was fun! There were 28 of us ranging from the ages of 4 to 32! How crazy is that! And, now there are three great grandchildren, all born within a 3 month period!!

During our short period of time at home, my sisters and I were able to hit up three bridal shops and finally find the bridesmaid dress for my sis' wedding! I am so pumped! It is beautiful...and the color my sister was looking for! I am so excited and ready to dance the night away!

Today, Mother Nature was bound and determined to shake things up a bit around the state of ND. Yesterday, in Bismarck, it was close to 70 degrees, and I am assuming it was similar in the GF, but this morning it was below 35 degrees and by mid afternoon it looked like a full-fledged blizzard outside our classroom window! I couldn't believe it! We were expected to get up to 5 inches of snow with wind gusts up to 45 mph. With that in mind, our Superintendent decided to postpone parent-teacher conferences (thank you Mother Nature)! I was so pumped to just be able to get home! It took us nearly an hour to drive a 35 minute drive! Craziness! We'll see what the weather is like in the AM, we might be starting later than usual!

Now that I have taken a few days off after my wonderful 5 miles of hills (which by the way did leave my ankles feeling a bit achy, Neese, and wore me out, Jess), I am attempting to get back into things! Tonight I just did my Sculpting video that worked almost every muscle in the body...leaving my thunder thighs feeling like jello! Tomorrow I hope to get in 2-3 miles on the track, and then 45 minutes of SPIN on Wednesday. That is as far ahead as I am planning...for now!

Today's Workout:
40 min. Turbo Sculpt
278 calories

Happy Runnings, y'all!

Randomness

Tuesday night I went out for dinner with my sister, her fiance, my two cousins and one of their boyfriends. It was soooo much fun. We went to a local family Japanese restaurant and we had our own little private room. My cousin had ordered a pot of Sake and I was hesitant to try it. It was like a warm rice wine. Who likes their acohol warm? But, I must add it was wonderful!

I was hoping to do a late night workout afterwards, but I caved for peer pressure and went out for ONE drink with a bunch of friends for a 21st birthday. Yeah, such a dare devil! On a school night even!

Yesterday I hit up the gym before my 7 o'clock class. My intentions were to jog/walk a mile or so and then Spin for 45 minutes. Well, let's just say my heart rate monitor watch was not correct on its time and I was late for grabbing a bike. Darnit! I was so disappointed! You know, you get in a mind-set of what you are going to do and then when it doesn't workout, it is hard to change your frame of mind and do something else. Or at least it is for me. But, I was already sweating and I had an hour to kill before having to shower, so I got back on the thrillmill and did some hills. Yikes! By the time I was done, I had covered 5 miles! 5 miles! I was so worried that I was going to be sore today, but not too bad. I am hoping to get to the gym in the AM for a couple miles and some upper arm lifting, but we will have to see. I have been struggling with getting up and doing that, even when I do have my bag packed and everything ready to go the night before. I just CAN'T get my lazy ars out of bed! Maybe I will just get up and do one of my workout videos! Hmmm....

Happy Runnings, y'all!

Wednesdsay's Workout:
5 miles thrillmill - hills
723 calories

Running partner

The best thing next to running is having a running partner. Sis and I went for a nice run today! No breaks! Straight through! It was a great run! This was probably the best run I have had ... ever... especially since my sore leg!

Today's workout:
3.25 miles
473 calories
38:55 minutes

Happy Runnings,. y'all!

Workout summaries....

Wednesday's Workout:
Spin - 45 minutes
11.3 miles
623 calories

Spin on Wednesday night was wonderful. I was able to put on 2.3 more miles than the first night! Talk about progress! What an awesome workout! My glutes and inner thighs were a little tender the next day!


Friday's Workout:
Run 1 mile
Stairstepper 21 minutes
485 calories

Didn't have too much time for a workout today, but was able to do a quick 1 mile warmup with my sister and then chose to do the stairstepper for a while. I didn't want to make my leg hurt, so I kept it to 1 mile!

Molding our future

In conversation, people sometimes ask me what I do for a living. Last year I worked as a full-time Learning Disabilities (LD) teacher. This year I am working in the resource room with a variety of disabilities...earning my Special Education Strategist. The second the title of my job comes off my tongue, I get a reaction. A lot of the time people comment on how that is great that I can teach becuase they could never do it; or how I could work with children becuase they would never have the patience to do so. Most of the time I take this as a compliment, sometimes I take it as an insult. My job is so much more than a job. It is so much more than a career. This is my passion. This is me doing my part to make a difference in this crazy world of ours. This is the most rewarding thing I could ever do... teach. Some of my most rewarding moments this school year thus far are as followed:

• watching a child say "I get it Ms. S!" during his/her third, fourth, or fifth attempt at adding fractions, dividing with remainders, or searching for the direct objects in a sentence.
  
• Trying to teach a child to read when he/she doesn't even know all the sounds to the letters of the alphabet, and then watching a him/her read a three letter word for the first time...accompanied by the biggest grin ever. (and me choking back tears of excitement!)
  
• Watching a child with Autism struggle with taking turns while being "forced" to work cooperatively with another student...and then watching that same child tell the other student that they will take turns and work together to solve the math problems.
  
• Watching a student struggle with anxiety while working on his/her math assignment to the point of uncontrollable tears and gasping for air; taking the time to try to calm him/her down, and then thirty minutes later as he/she has finally gotten ahold of himself/herself.... he/she takes the time to be polite and say "thank you Ms. S....thank you for helping me with my math" when all I was worried about was trying to figure out how to keep these anxiety attacks from happening again.
• Working with a child who has difficulties expressing himself/herself, most of the time choosing to not make eye contact or say anything, and watching him smile for the first time followed by reading his/her answer instead of just pointing or shrugging his/her shoulders.
• Watching a child with limited English talk the most he/she has ever talked in the past two years, with his/her last words coming out of his/her mouth "I don't want to move." This just makes your heart break. This makes you wonder how much he/she would learn if he/she were to get a good, consistent education in one setting...not two.
• Watching a child with Autism make his/her first real friend, and be able to keep it, knowing that students with Autism are usually considered to be loners due to lack of social skills.

I can truely say that each and every day, I look forward to going to work. I might not always look forward to the icky moments that consist of behavior issues or working with students who are having a lack of motivation, or the early mornings full of IEP meetings with parents who don't care or sometimes don't even show up, or the mounds of paper work, but I can honestly say that I love what I do. I love working with children. I love being given the opportunity to mold a small number of creatures to become the best that they can become, those creatures who will be the future of this great big world we live on.

The whole 26.2 miles

Kind of like the whole 9 yards. ... . but not really. I was thinking today, thinking about how I haven't ran since saturday and I have been itching to get out there and do 3 or 4 miles.... thinking about what it would be like to complete a marathon. Any marathon.

Many other runners out there, especially in the midwest, are in taper mode right now. Tapering for the Chicago marathon. Oh, I wonder what it would be like to be in that position. So many hoping to be able to finish it, avoiding a DNF.... many hoping to break their PR.. ... and then those elite runners, hoping to meet the requirements to qualify for Boston. Now, I do not know exactly what the time requirement for BQ is, I am guessing somewhere around 3 hours; all I know is that it is way too hard for me to imagine even completing right now.

I look down my sidebar of this blog, and realize how much I thought I would have accomplished by now. I began my running journey in May hoping to run the Detroit Lakes HM in September. I can make many excuses, and I don't want to think of them as excuses but as parts of life. I struggled with "becoming" a runner, finding time, and battling minor injuries and hurdles through the process. Now, looking back, I didn't complete that HM, and I wasn't even able to do the 10K Medora race that same weekend. So, as of right now, the only races I have done are 5K. But, I have done them, and have been reminded multiple times how becoming a runner is a slow process, and becoming a better runner is just as slow.

I look at my sidebar and all I see is the 200+ miles I have put on my legs in running, sub 50 miles on the bike, few laps in the pool, and the few 5K I have accomplished. Even though, I am frustrated with the lack of races I have accomplished, I realize that I have accomplished so much. I have learned so much.. ... I have learned about different types of runs; tempos, long, fartlek, etc... I have been learning about shoes, cross-training, resting, healing minor injuries, healthy meals before runs and after, proper stretches, proper intake of liquids, etc.

The purpose of the entry? Who knows! Just some random thoughts on my running and others. But, I do hope, that some day... I will attempt the 8K, 10K, Half Marathon, and then maybe, just maybe....the whole 26.2 miles.

Good luck to those of you who are running the Chicago Marathon, and others who are running any upcoming marathons in your neck of the woods! You will all do awesome...you all have been quite the inspiration for me and many other runners out there!

Happy runnings, y'all!

Spin Baby, Spin

Sis and I hit the gym this afternoon for Spin. Oh, it was soooo much fun! I can hardly attempt to explain how much fun it was. But, I will tell you there were flashing lights, black lights, disco bulbs and awesome music to go along with our workout! Soooo much fun! We were able to take in 9 miles of hills and speedwork on the bike and it felt wonderful! Afterwards, sis made a wonderful dinner of chicken and pasta...mmm....

Tomorrow.... a REST day. My leg is feeling okay, but I want to take it easy. I must admit, I am itching to get into those new beautiful shoes!

Happy runnings, y'all!

Thanks, Runners

Thanks from all you who gave me advice on the ever-annoying leg pain! I really appreciate it. I thought I would let you all know that I not only appreciate it, but I am using it wisely! I have stretched my calves twice today, once when I woke up this morning, then once after purchasing a stretch band after work this evening. I went to my usual place to look for shoes and got some wonderful help from a handsome gentleman! He wasn't too keen on the idea of me buying the same shoes, and made me try on a $170 pair of shoes! Yeah, right. Plus, they were a half size too big (sure made it a whole lot easier to pass on). I then tried the same one's I have right now and really noticed how much my current shoes were worn! WOW! I just had so much success with these shoes that I just HAD to get them... again!

(sorry about the pic...with NO makeup...eeks. EDITED PHOTO: THANKS TO NEESE!)

Now, I plan to take 3-4 days off from running. I am thinking that I might hit the thrillmill wednesday evening to give the new shoes a test spin. In the meantime, I hope to get on the bike and do some spin tomorrow night (thinking that it won't affect my shins too much, and I will be able to get in a great cardio workout), stretch a couple times a day, and hopefully find a yoga class that I can get into this week. We don't have school on thursday and friday, and I don't have my night class on tuesday or wednesday, so I will have some extra time on my hands!

Thanks for all the advice and support! Happy running, y'all!

Leg Pain

Some of you had asked for more information on my leg pain to help with advice, here it is:

As I posted earlier today, I am struggling with this leg pain, but only after I run and just for a period of time. Like today, I ran a mile and then played basketball and it was bothering me. Right now, 12 hours later it is still somewhat achy. I really noticed it this past sunday when my sister and I did some running on the track. After we finished, I had shooting pain in my right leg. Then a few hours later, my calf muscle was extremely tight for some reason.

Here is a picture of the area that gets sore. It is between the two blue bands. It is mostly on the front-lower part of my leg...somewhat on the inner side. When I kind of squeeze that portion of my leg, it just feels tender/sore.

Could it be due to lack of stretching? I read somewhere that if one does not stretch the calf muscles enough, it pulls on the front part of the foot/ankle. but, this is a bit higher. I think it is quite weird. I have had shin splints before but it did not feel like this. Should I being staying away from running for a while just in case....so I don't make it worse? This is so frustrating...

Anyone up for some PIG?

I went to the gym this morning with my sis and her fiance. We ran a mile to warm up and then decided to play a couple rounds of PIG on the court. It was quite fun, but it has been quite a while since I have been on a basketball court! I think I am going to have to start lifting some weights again. I really struggled to get the ball to the basket from the three-point line. Ick.

I am still having that pain in my lower part of my leg. It doesn't feel like shin splints. But, it kind of sends shooting pain through parts of my lower leg. It is starting to really piss me off (pardon my language) but I only ran a mile and while shooting around it was acting up again. Does anyone have any idea what this could be due to? Any ideas would be great.

Changes

There were many changes today. Some might say they were not so good. Being the true North Dakotan that I am, deep down inside, there was a bit of me that was just a little excited. One might ask, what are these changes that she is referring to? Well, just let me tell you.

First of all, yesterday was quite a chilly/windy day. We all knew this was coming sooner or later; just never thought it would be this soon. It rained a little bit during the day and when I was leaving class around 7pm, it was extremely cold, wet and windy. The three mixed together is quite atrocious in the eastern part of this state. I went to the gym, had a horrible workout, and then decided to head home. On my way out of the gym, I noticed there was still moisture falling from the sky, and didn't realize until I got in my car, that it was raining.....and...snowing! Yes, folks, I said it. It was snowing. Let's mark it on our calendars... Tuesday, October 10, 2006....the first snowfall. But, it didn't snow enough to really leave a mark, except for slippery corners and interstate bridges.

So with snow, comes low temperatures, obviously. Last night it got down to 22 degrees. I was chilled and had to turn up the heat in this wonderful apartment of ours. This morning, on top of all my other things I had to get ready, I hurried to put the inside liner of my winter jacket back into the winter jacket and find my wonderful mittens. Who would have thought that I would be doing this so early in the month. Not me apparently....since I didn't have things put together before I went to bed. And then, on top of those extra things, I got out to my car and had to use all my effort to pry my doors open without breaking the handles (due to the mix of rain and snow freezing) and had a good layer of frost on all of my windows. Wonderful. Just wonderful. As if I wasn't already running later than usual.

Changes. You can't hate them. I don't. If I absolutely hated these changes, I wouldn't still be here. I am a true North Dakotan. Born and raised. Even though I dislike the extreme temperatures and bitter wind gusts that leave my ears, nose, and fingers tingling, I look forward to this day .... every year. Every single year. And honestly, I don't know what it would be like to live elsewhere...without these wonderful changes. I know that this is just the beginning. The beginning of another long winter. Another long cold, wet, snowy, bitter, but beautiful winter. You just wait. You'll see. I will show you how beautiful it can be here. And you might, you just... might... fall in love with the beauty.... just like I do.

Today's workout

My workout today was not so successful. I went to the gym shortly after I got out of class with the full intention of doing a few miles; maybe four if all went well. Let's just say all didn't go well. I got on the thrillmill and instantly my knees were in pain. Usually that pain subsides once I get my stride down, but that wasn't the case today. So I switched to the eliptical machine, hoping something with a little less impact would be better. I was only able to get a little over a mile in on that before I was bored. I then got back on the thrillmill hoping that I "warmed" up my legs enough to run. That was not the case. I only got a mile in and even though my knees were feeling better, I just had to stop. My shin was bothering me again. I can only think of a few possible reasons why my run didn't go as I would have liked.

• One, I pushed myself too hard on Sunday, the day after a race.
  
• Two, my shoes have reached the point where they just aren't going to work, and need to be replaced soon.
  
• Or three, I just didn't have it in me today.

I don't know which one it was exactly, and it could have been all three. Right now, there are a few things I need to take care of before I get back out there; have my shoes checked out and possibly replaced, rest, and ...... listen to my body.

5K Alumni Race

I had a couple requests to add further comments in regard to the 5K Alumni Race I participated in on Saturday.... so here goes.

The whole family, including my sister's fiance woke up early saturday morning and were to the Wellness Center before 7:30am. I had pre-registered my parents and I, and my sister's fiance. Thinking it would make things easier to "sign-in". Not really. They didn't have it as well organized as one would like. And, even though we were pre-registered, we did had to fill out a form in order to receive our t-shirts.

The race started a little after 8am...after a few minutes of stretching with the wife of UND's president. Wahoo.

Mom, Dad, BW and I were planned to run while my two sisters decided to do some mad walking. Us runners started running at the sound of the shot-gun and BW was out of sight before I could even find him. Dad was quite the speed runner as well. Mom and I stuck together and did some nice chit chatting. The race started along the bike trail behind the Wellness Center, going south through campus, mostly following the coulee. It went back behind some of the older building and then north again by the library and along the soccer fields. It was a gorgeous day for a run. I think it was about 60 degrees with a nice crisp breeze. Wonderful...just wonderful! Sometimes you never know what the weather is going to be like this time of year in ND, but we couldn't have asked for better weather.

Here is the wonderful shirt!

Front:



Back:

I don't think I have ever had a UND homecoming shirt...Huh. Sorry no pics from the actual race. It was an early morning and my thinker wasn't on!

Happy runnings, y'all!

Weekend Overview

Friday:

• Twins lost their third game. All done.
• Parents rolled into town and we relaxed with other family in town.
  

Saturday:

• Got up eary for the 5K Alumni Race. This was fun. We got a cute 2006 Homecoming shirt that said "GET YOUR GREEN ON" on the front! The race went well. It started at the Wellness Center and wen through Campus!
• Did some necessary shopping with Mom and my sisters!
• SIOUX won their homecoming game against Mankato! Sorry, Ragsdales!
  
• Went to the hockey game with sis, sis' fiance, and Dad.... I think we enjoyed every minute of it!

Sunday:

• Woke up early to go to work.... yuck.
  
• Got home just in time to see the 'rents head home.
• Did some homework and laundry
• .... and ran 2.25 miles! We ran 2 miles and then sis made me sprint.... now my shin is feeling it...icky.
  

Happy runnings, y'all! Have a wonderful week!

I HATE fractions

I HATE fractions. I hate teaching them. I think of all things to teach in a resource room...fractions have GOT to be the hardest!

I am most definitely all FRACTIONED out today.

I was about ready to pull my hair out today... and I really usually have a lot of patience.... No matter what I did, they just wouldn't get it! You think it would be a little bit easier...especially if you are to use visuals and such, but NOOOOO... I went over it again and again and again with a couple of my students, and they still didn't understand what they were doing or why they were doing it.

I love math.

It makes sense to me.

But, teaching it can sometimes be overwhelming. Oh well. I am just hoping maybe it was an "off" day for them. It is Friday and all.... hmm...

Sex Panthers...ALMOST won...but still rule!

Okay.

So we won our first game.

But, we lost our second game to a bunch of players that play for an actual gym league!

Damnit.

That's not fair! There are not supposed to be any "good" players playing on a "fun" league!

Oh well. It was fun...and I played my heart out! Time to retire the Sex Panther uniform....
















Oh well...it was SOOO much fun!!!

This weekend begins HOCKEY SEASON! It's been 5 years since our "new" Englestad Arena was built! I can't believe it has been 5 years already! But, like most "older" UND hockey fans... we all miss the old arena!

This weekend is Homecoming weekend...and Saturday will be the 5K Alumni run. I will be running with my parents and my sister's fiance! Fun times... Hopefully I will get some pics and post them!

Have a great weekend... and happy runnings, y'all!

Quick note!

Just got home from running! Yep. Running. I figured I would post that real quick while I am icing my knee! 3.3 miles after my 7-10 class! We got out about 15 minutes earlier than usual which I thought was wonderful! I got on the thrillmill and went at it for 3.3 straight miles! Ahhh!

Tomorrow... is our playoffs for volleyball championship! We play at 615, I have class until 7, so I am hoping my team will win the first round...so I can play the next round. And then.... Sex Panthers will be done. Done done. Most of us have been playing together for 3+ years... and we will be done. A majority of us will be graduating this winter or spring and moving away from the big GF. It will be a sad night... so I hope we take it all!! Wish us luck!

Happy runnings, y'all!

Stress

Just when I thought I had things figured out, managing my time, be able to get my running in, getting somewhat enough sleep.... life will throw you a curve ball (or two). It seems as if things are starting to become overwhelming and stressful. Again. More overwhelming and stressful than before.

Last friday I received a piece of mail from the university, telling me that I am enrolled in TOO many credits. One would think that wasn't possible. As part of the RT program, we get a stipend due to the fact that they consider our residency (teaching during the day) as a 1/2 time GTA position. With that, they only want us to be enrolled in 6-10 credits, which would make us part time student. Makes sense. But, I am enrolled in 13 credits. Full time. This is mostly due to the 4 credits I am taking as part of my internship. So, now I have to fill out this graduate school petition to see if I can get those few extra credits okayed. If not, I may have to drop a class. All that work, and I would have to drop a class and take it next summer. I don't want to graduate in the summer. Graduating in the summer (August) means that I will not be getting my credentials prior to school starting, which in return makes job hunting/snatching quite difficult. I am a little miffed.

My classes are really overwhelming. Lots to do, and just not enough time. I feel as if I need to put everything on the back burner. Running, social life, etc. This is really hard for me. I am one who feeds of off challenges, and have always loved having a full plate, but this is difficult. I am out the door by 7am (sometimes earlier) every morning, and not home until after 7 on tuesday/thursday, and 10 on wednesday night. For those of you who work with children, can testify that it can be draining; mentally, physically, and most definitely emotionally (especially when working with special education students). I spend my monday nights doing homework. I spend Tuesday nights doing homework after class. I spend Wednesday, between school and class, making sure I am ready for Thursday. Usually, it is at this time that I start to realize I don't have everything ready for my 4:00 class on Thursday. Thursday, after class, I am so mentally drained, it is hard enough to get things ready for school for Friday. I come home friday, and can't get myself to really do anything because I am so burnt out from the week. (Like last friday....I came home and ended up falling asleep in front of the tv, missing the Twins game) Then I spend most of my Saturday/Sunday doing projects and trying to stay on top of things.

Don't get me wrong, I have had my fair share of fun. I have made the effort to get out Thursday nights for volleyball (for an hour), which I beleive this is our last week (thank God). I have gone out a Friday/Saturday night here or there. But, I feel as if I need to put those things asside for now and figure out how to tackle all this crap. Yes, I still need to make time to run/workout. I just have to realize it won't be as much as I would like. Some is better than none. Yes, I still need to make time to socialize. But, I can't be going out and having "TOO much fun." That is wearing me out.

And what am I doing now? I am posting in my blog. So, don't be suprised if you don't hear from me for a while (don't hold me to this!)...while I figure out my schedule and try to get things together! But, I find this as a relief, and hope to look back on it when I am all done with school (in May, hopefully)...and realize that it was quite the experience and that I have learned so much!

'Till next time....

Happy Running's, y'all!

Fun & Wellness

Sis and I planned to attend a spin class tonight at 5:15. Let's just say we didn't make it early enough to save two of the twenty seats. So, wednesday we will be trying it again.

Instead, since most of the machines were taken (note to self...gym is very busy during early dinner hours), we decided to do a few laps. Just as we were finishing our lap to mark 1.5 miles, there was an announcement over the loud speakers. "Come join us in the 'Burnt Toast' room to learn how to make a healthy fetticini alfredo." Why not? So we joined a handful of other people and learned how to cook a healthy meal. Plus...we got to have some when it was done! As nice as it sounded, the food was TOO healthy! Wheat fetticini, soy milk and beans as the main ingredients in the alfredo sauce, and dried tomatoes... Too much! Tasted like nasty baby food...

Anyway. I did get some exercise in... and when we got home...I immediately started on dinner. Homemade chicken and wild rice soup (with onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, & ham)....mmmm ... that hit the spot!

I am hoping to get in at least 3 miles tomorrow night after class! It feels so good to be running again!

Happy Running, y'all!

Hello October

With the beginning of a new month, I was looking over my running log for September. I wasn't too impressed with my 22 miles I put on my shoes. Not impressed at all. And then, I was looking at my other stats, and realized that I only got on my bike once!

I think taking a two week break from running to adjust to life as a resident teacher, spending a good amount of time with my head either in the books or behind my laptop, was a good choice. I just needed to adjust. I lose a lot of sleep during the week. Which means I end up sleeping a lot on the weekends. Which is fine, but I slept straight through the baseball game on friday night. I wasn't to happy about that.

So, I have been adjusting. I know I can handle it. It has just been an adjustment period for me. I have been learning how to manage my time. With being a resident teacher, I have assignments and projects coming in all directions. Research project, student charting, preparing lessons, reading articles, reading books, night class projects, etc. I have learned to bring reading assignments with me to school. That way, when I have a student gone, or some down time, I can get some reading for class done. This has really helped.

On a lighter note, hello October! I do like October. And it feels and looks like October. The leaves are changing colors and some are falling from the trees. The air was crisp this morning with a nice breeze. Perfect running weather. Just perfect. Reminds me of those days, way back when, when my sisters and I would wear our sweat pants and sweat shirts and rake leaves. Raking the leaves into the biggest pile possible just to jump in them. Ahhh, memories!

Happy October, y'all! Get out there and enjoy it while we have it! Before we know it, some of us will be waking up to snow on the ground!

* * * * 8 months, or 34 weeks, or 223 days left of school! * * * *