Weight Watcher April 15, 2008
Posted by ijusthadathought in weight loss.Tags: Add new tag, weight loss
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I’m now an official weight watcher. I always thought I could go it alone and do it myself, and once I actually did. Okay, I confess that was back in the day when Fen-Phen was handed out like a magic pill. (It was and it worked great…except for the whole heart problems thing!) I got down to a tiny size 6-8 or so and stand five-ten. I worked out twice a day, usually back to back aerobics or something, at an AMAZING gym.
Those were the days. In the past few years with major life stressors attacking, I became a stress eater and food was my friend. I finally caved and figured if I invested my hard-earned money into a program, I’d feel invested enough to stick to a program. To top it off, I told my family and close friends I was on a plan. Now I feel like I’d better not mess it up. There… accountability, investment, I should be okay.
I weigh in today. According to my bathroom scale, I’ve lost ten pounds. I must admit that my clothes fit better, I feel lighter (imagine setting down a ten pound bowling ball) and think I’m going to stick to it.
I don’t like having to write down every bite I take, so sometimes I don’t, BUT I am losing. This week I dusted off my treadmill (literally) and found it’s not so bad if I walk in front of my big screen TV and put a Crest White Strip on my teeth. It’s hard to pass treats through this system.
No Prom for You January 30, 2008
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My ex-husband teamed with my daughter (ubelievable! Was this the guy I was married to for 12 years!?!) and they came up with this convincing argument:
She would not be allowed to ride in ANY vehicle with a teenage driver. In other words, we (he?) would drive her TO the prom to meet her date, we (again, he) will pick her up from prom and deposit her at the ‘post-prom’, schoool chaperoned, event. Then at the end of the evening…. er, morning, she’d be picked up by her exhausted father and brought home.
The other half of the deal was that she’d have to be on her best behavior until said prom.
A deal had been struck.
…The following evening my daughter walked into the house after an ‘away’ basketball game. Her father asked, “Who’d you catch a ride home with.” (The correct answer was supposed to be “Jade”.)
“Jade,” she replied calmly.
“Wrong,” said her father…your brother and I are online and she’s in the chatroom with your brother. She’s been home for half and hour and YOU weren’t with her. BUSTED.
She rode home with her ‘boyfriend’ and his buddies.
I have nicknamed my daughter “Half-pint” after the Laura Ingalls-Wilder character from famed “Little House on the Prairie”. She’s got about as many chores and privledges for the next month or two.
Oh, and needless to say….NO prom, and I didn’t have to be the bad guy who said “No.” Give ‘em enough rope, and they’ll hang themselves. Ta-da.
Junior-Senior Freshman Prom???? January 18, 2008
Posted by ijusthadathought in mom stuff.Tags: dating, daughters, parenting, prom, teens
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My beautiful daughter is a freshman. She is “dating” a sweet senior. I use the quotes because since she is only fourteen, she is not actually allowed to date. The teens are using the dating label to define the fact that they are spoken for by someone. So although she only sees him in passing in the hallways, they have different lunch schedules, they share no classes, and they only see each other at the rare school dance or basketball game, they are in the eyes of their peers… dating.
She knows her father and I (we are divorced) are not thrilled with the situation, but have not demanded she break up with the boy. I don’t want to risk having her dig in her heels and rebel further. A few days ago she came to me and asked if she could attend the prom this spring. WHAT!?!?!
I didn’t realize that schools were allowing freshmen to attend the junior-senior prom. Apparently, they are if they’re invited at her very small rural school. I am NOT excited about this! Part of me worries that she may just stick with this boy so she can attend prom. I asked her about the possibility of them breaking up before prom. “Then what?” I asked.
She told me they would still go as friends. (Really? …she’s never broken up with a guy before.) After all, they would already have made the plans, bought the dress, flowers, shoes, accessories, etc., etc. Which brings me to another concern. $$$ Proms are extremely expensive! I really had never planned on paying for four years worth of proms.
She is waiting for my answer. My answer is no. She has told me that if she doesn’t go with him, he will go with his ex-girlfriend (just as friends) or with the prettiest senior girl at school (also just as friends). Now, what kind of boy actually tells his girlfriend this? A boy who is putting some kind of pressure on her apparently. I’m not a happy mom.
She DID tell me that this boys is sort of ’afraid’ of me (I have substitute taught at thier school). This is a good thing. He has mentioned to her that he thinks that when he turns eighteen I could call the cops and force them to stop dating. Hmmmm… I don’t think I could do that though.
She’s anxiously waiting for my answer. I’m guessing she has also asked her dad, but I’m not sure. I’m really hoping we’ll be on the same page with this one. But it is entirely possible I could be left holding the bag and be the ‘bad guy’ on this. Yuck. Our rule of thumb is, if one parent says, “No,” the answer is “No.”
This parent says, “No.” Sorry kiddo. There will be more proms.
Blind Dates & Google January 16, 2008
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I’ve been set up on a blind date. My first thought was, “Great! Sounds like fun!” My second thought was, “I wonder what this guy is going to be like?” That’s what Google is for! I googled the guy. (I know that may sound weird, but you’re online, you know what that means!!) Turns out I found out what he does for a living, found his business web site, AND most importantly… found his picture! Aha! Was I expecting to find, a brain surgeon/underwear model? Of course not. I found about what one would expect. Since it’s a pretty good friend who set us up, I landed a pretty decent looking guy, with a pretty decent job. It did make me wonder though… What would he get if he goggled me?So I googled myself. (I know, that all sounds a little silly, but we’re all adults here, right?) What I did find was, I reviewed a book for Amazon eight years ago, only did it to get the discount they were offering on another book. It was a boring book about my job. Not much personal information for him to find there. I also found my name listed as the administrator for a school I worked for many years ago. No big news for him there either. Other than that… nothing. The guy won’t be able to come up with a picture, personal information of any kind, nada, zip, zilch. My phone number is unlisted, so he’s going to be out of luck if he tries to get anything there. No maps to my home, phone info, address, zero. I guess he’s truly going blindly into this date! Lucky for him, I’m a real catch! 
I, on the other hand, have seen his picture, read quotes by him in his local paper, know all about the business he started, and have some info from our common friend. Gotta love friends for setting me up and Google for helping me with background checks!
It’s All Relative January 2, 2008
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The recent bout of cold weather has gotten me to thinking about the definition of COLD. I’ve decided it’s all relative.
When I was in college, many, many years ago, my friends and I used to break out the shorts and tank tops when the spring temperatures would hit the mid to upper 50′s. However, in the fall, the temperatures would dip into the 60′s and we’d all be breaking out our new fall sweaters. We were not just eager for a wardrobe change, although that’s always fun, we were genuinely cold!
In the winter months in rural Minnesota, temperatures in the mid twenties are cause for celebration. Hooray! It’s not twenty BELOW! Who needs a coat?
But on the day after Christmas my parents packed the truck and headed to deep south Texas in search of warmer climates. I must admit I felt as though I was sending them off to summer camp. They were as giddy as children! I spoke to them yesterday. They mentioned how nice it was during the day (eighties) and how it got downright cold (yes, this hearty Minnesotan said COLD!) in the evening when it cooled down to the upper fifties.
I was told him to cry me a river, build me a bridge, and GET OVER IT! We had wind chill advisories scrolling across the bottom of the tv. I didn’t have any sympathy for people who could warm up by putting on a wind breaker.
I remember when I actually moved to that region of Texas many years ago. Students came to school in full winter gear: coats, hats, mittens, scarves, etc. I thought their parents were nutty and the purchasing departments in the mall were losing it. Why were they selling heavy winter sweaters, and why couldn’t I find a pair of shorts in December?
Many years later, after my blood had thinned, I too was donning my warmer jacket and complaining about the ‘cold’ while the retirees, Winter Texans, would mock me. I guess I had become climatized.
I had to laugh, however, when the expressway, schools, and stores all closed down for a bout of 32 degree days. Brrr. It really did feel pretty cold. But I guess it’s all relative, right?
Libraries December 19, 2007
Posted by ijusthadathought in education, Uncategorized.add a comment
Today I find myself subbing in a high school library, er, excuse me…Media Center. The school librarian left a notepad for me to jot down the names and ISBN numbers of books that are checked out/returned today. Officially, after a full day of library, four books were returned, and ONE was checked out…by a teacher.
The students spending their study time in the library Media Center today spent their time in front of a computer, whispering quietly with a classmate, or completing missed assignments from various teachers. A few did stop by and pick up the local (weekly) paper to scope out their friends’ photos in the sports section.
What I’ve noticed is that not many books are being read. Guess technology has officially taken over the library!
Substitute teaching December 18, 2007
Posted by ijusthadathought in education, random thouhts.add a comment
Last year my school cut three teaching positions due to declining enrollment and lack of funding, so I find myself substitute teaching this year. Not exactly what I had in mind after 17 years in education, holding a master’s degree in administration. But, here I am, living in a small rural community, not wishing to relocate my family, again. Seniority lists aren’t all they’re cracked up to be sometimes.
I’ve had some pretty interesting days substitute teaching. (I am covering all ages Pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade.) I have found that the children are very similar wherever I go, but the classrooms and culture of the schools is definitely not.
Generally speaking, students at the elementary level are very eager to gain acceptance of the new substitute teacher. They are ready to please and will usually try very hard to behave and do their best work. High school students are a different animal, however. Their main goal is to gain acceptance from each other. That generally means, if they can crack up other students, they gain popoularity points. I generally like to let a few minor points get earned before putting a kabosh on the fun and getting down to the days objectives. You see, I gain a few points by letting them gain a few.
Although all classrooms are also similar in the fact that they have desks/tables, chairs, boards, etc., they can be drastically different! I have been in the most sparsely decorated rooms, and the most cluttered disasters one could imagine. I don’t know IF any learning goes on in the former, or HOW any learning can take place in the latter. Check out your child’s school on a day OTHER than scheduled conference day! Is it simply four walls and desks or does it look like an Office Max exploded?
One of my main pet peeves while substitute teaching is NOT, as one might suspect, showing up to a classroom where no lesson plans have been left. It isn’t walking into a classroom of unruly characters demanding to know where their regular teacher is and when he/she will return. As a veteran to the classroom, these things I can handle. The one thing that sets me on edge is…filth.
I have been in some very clean and tidy classrooms, BUT, when I hit a pigsty, I know it’s going to be a long day. Generally, a little dust and some pencil shavings are to be expected near mid-year, but cornflakes under the stapler and sticky, dried-up milk on the teacher’s desk? That’s not okay! I can’t help but wonder if this type of grime on a desk is limited to edcucators.
When I come across a classroom like this one, I feel compelled to spend my prep period cleaning off the teacher’s desk. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t go rearranging things that will be searched for tirelessly when the regular instructor returns. I simply pick up strewn papers, and attach one of those incredibly handy paper clips. I stagger-stack the papers neately on a freshly washed area of the desk. I reset once haphazardly placed office supplies at ninety degrees. I wipe down a charcoal gray keyboard and mouse. Seriously, all this tidying up takes me less than fifteen minutes!
As a once full-time, crazy-busy classroom teacher, I KNOW how little time there is in a teaching day. Seriously, I KNOW!! But it really doesn’t take that long to wipe up dust bunnines from the computer, cracker crumbs from a desk drawer, and stack and clip papers at day’s end.
I love the sign found in many teacher workrooms, once labeled lounges, (can you imagine?) that say, “Your mother doesn’t work here, clean up after yourself!”
Of course, most of the time, the teacher didn’t PLAN to be gone, and so I find things as they leave them for themselves. Maybe it’s all about procrastination…which is another topic entirely. I’m a sufferer. I wonder what my substitutes used to think of MY classroom??
