Cheer Yourself Up

If you need a little cheer, visit http://www.photofunia.com. It definitely made me smile today when I needed it. Thanks, Jeff, for telling me about it!

Life is Precious

Why do we always need reminders about how short and precious life is? A friend from high school woke up this morning, but her baby girl did not. She'd just slipped away in the night, silently leaving her family and this world behind. A fleeting gift of only a few months, gone too soon.

Squeeze your kids, world. Don't wait to say "I love you." The sun sets, whether we're ready or not. Every day is full of joy. Every day is a treasure. Every single day.

A Class Act

Thank you, Bea.  Rest in peace.

Be A Lion

A clip from Maravel Arts Center.  This place is doing great things for kids.  I don't care what you think of Rosie O'Donnell.  She's paying it forward in a huge way.  I had goosebumps from start to finish.  Wow.

Kettlebell Torture

On Mondays and Wednesdays, our principal's wife has been leading a crew of us teachers/gluttons for punishment in a strength training workout after school.  The main object of torture she uses is the dreaded kettlebell.  When I found out they came from Russia, it made sense.  Think KGB torture device, and you're probably close.  They're really not that bad.  In fact, they're good.  So good that I leave feeling like I want to crawl home, or better yet, just stay lying on the floor at school until the next morning and have my classes come to the weight room where I'll be teaching from the floor.  OK.  An exaggeration.  But they are TOUGH!  I've worked up to the 2nd kettlebell, which I'm proud of.  Each one is 8 kilos, which is over 16 pounds I think... I'm terrible at remembering conversions.  My current kettlebell is yellow (ours are different than the ones shown here), but our coach uses green.  Maybe I'll be brave enough to try a green for a tiny bit before the end of the year.  I have no idea how heavy they are, but since yellow is freaking heavy, I'm guessing green is massively painfully freaking heavy.  There are even bigger ones than those which I'm sure I couldn't even lift off the table!  I actually really like working out with my colleagues.  I'm the kind of person who needs a class type atmosphere.  If I have to do it all alone, I'll talk myself out of it every time.  All in all, it's a good thing.  Pain is good... right?

Here's a clip of the kettlebells in action... darned things.  ;)

Windy Spring Day

I feel great today. I rode my bike to school for the first time this spring. It felt good. I live so close to school, that I honestly feel guilty driving my car every day. Before you start applauding too loudly, you should understand that I'm definitely not a fanatic about it. I refuse to bike on rainy days, cold days, or days when my backpack is too heavy (too many papers to grade). But, I feel like any day that I can bike is an improvement. Since I go home for lunch every day, I get 4 quick little rides in throughout the course of the day. It was so darned windy today though. It made things a little challenging. I was pedaling like a crazy woman on the way home for lunch, and then on the way back, I was going so fast... I felt like I was flying! It's sunny and beautiful today though, despite the wind. Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer, and it might hit 80 degrees on Friday! I plan to bike the rest of the week, for sure... no rain in sight!

Spring Has Sprung

It seemed to happen overnight. Blooms and green everywhere. I love spring. I don't even mind the rain today. Hopefully, it will bring on the morels!

Last night, Andrew and I went to dinner with Roberta and Darien. We went to the Bonaparte Retreat. I love it there, and my filet mignon was to die for. Andrew's steak was less than fantastic (to say the least), but he got the ribeye. That's supposed to be their specialty, but I always get the filet there. It's so good!

Yesterday was our 3 month anniversary. What a happy 3 months, and what a change 3 months can make in a life... or 2 lives, I guess. :)

Tonight is Kevin & Alicia's birthday party, so I'm looking forward to that. They always throw a fun party.

This was a tiring week... a good, busy week... but a tiring week. I'm glad it's the weekend!