Check that off!

Be the Easter Bunny?  Check.  I can now cross off dressing up as a mascot off my list.  (However, I don't think I ever had it on my list!)

My mom was in a pinch and needed someone to dress up for their Easter Egg hunt that their company puts on.  Who does she ask?  Me!!!  Since it's the beginning of our Spring Break, many people I'm sure left on vacation and I was able step in.

What's it like being in a costume?  Claustrophobic to begin with.  Hot.  Sweaty.  The headband kept dropping into my eyes and it was hard to navigate it back up.  The overall worst part (and you would have to know me for this), I couldn't talk!!!  Argh!  An hour and a half of silence!  Makes me wonder how the Disney characters do it day in and day out.  

Nevertheless, the smiles on the kids' faces, the hugs, and grabbings of my legs made it all worthwhile.  It was fun to pass out high fives, give candy, and try to be overly dramatic with my movements.  

After...see how my hair was affected by the head piece?

Sure, there were the kids that screamed as soon as they saw me.  But there were others that kept coming back for more hugs and photo opportunities.  Pricessl

Disappointment

I have a treasure chest where I buy trinkets for the clas as rewards. Unfortunately, it is now put away. A student chose this squishy duck as his prize for having a reward ticket drawn this morning. The duck disappeared during lunch. Looking back, I should have just cleaned out desks myself. Hindsight is always 20-20. While I asked the kids to look for it, another teacher called and as I turned my back, it "magically" appeared on the floor under many desks. I had been watching that area to see who might have found it. Argh!!! Turning my back cost me a lot of grief. I gave the culprit ample time to fess up. Heads down...no peeking chance. Confess on a piece of paper chance. Talk to the principal chance. Talk to our second grade para chance. I took our fun activities away. Gave the guilt trip talk of how they will remember this lie for the rest of their life. Nothing!!! And yes, readers, I cried. My heart broke for a child in my room who has to lie and lie and lie and doesn't get it. Then my girls began to cry. It was a bad day. We went to gym. Went to recess. Came in...and wouldn't you know? Another person's prize from the chest came up missing. I guess they didn't learn their lesson... Any advice?

Here I am Again...

This evening, our elementary is performing an evening performance of our musical show.  While I have already seen it (afternoon matinee), I am staying again...much to my delight.  :)  There are positives and negatives. 

Negatives...I'm at school for almost thirteen hours.  It was dark when I came and dark when I go home.  I am surrounded by work to do. 

Positives...Pandora at loud levels (since no one is around).  I can accomplish tasks around the room I have wanted to do for a while...like organize more. 

Just what I wanted to do right before break.

Here are some before and after shots.  I cleaned, dumped, packed away, hid, rearranged, and threw away quite a few items.

Before...I had just moved a bookcase so we had the seating on the left.

Before (notice all of the stuff on the counter top)

Again, stuff on the counter

Before...we use this organizer for math stations and holding different writing utensils.

After...

After...

After...

After...there's less stuff!!!



It's a start...I still have work to do, but it's a start!  What do you think?

Intimidation

As my students were getting started in reading workshop, the door opened.  Who should walk in, but our two coaches (reading and writing) for our district.

They walk.  Slowly.  They stand together.  They meander.  They talk.  Softly.

At first, I think, "Wow, they chose my classroom to observe a fabulous workshop."  Hey, at least I'm honest...

And then I realize why they are in my room.

Humble pie.

I had come to our writing coach and asked for some help in "organizing" my classroom.

This was my evaluation year and after going over the form with my principal, I asked what I could do to improve.  She had already shared what she thought my strengths were, but like all great teachers know, we always give a student a teaching point.  I asked for mine. I received.  My classroom is...overwhelming.

The coaches were looking to see what is overwhelming about my room.  I value their opinions.  I wouldn't ask for help if I didn't want it.  However, I have to admit.  It was a little intimidating to watch them walk, meander, and talk around my room...

I'm sure pictures will be posted as I change and make my room less "overwhelming".

Ode to Medicine

No medicine today.

Can't catch me.

Spinning,

Breaking pencils,

Tattling,

Jean holes created.

Defiant, destructive, argumentative.

Flippant comments

Out of control

Exhausted am I.

Thankfully, my strength comes from something greater and I can cling and will cling to this truth...

Psalm 73: 25-26

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?
   And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
   but God is the strength of my heart
   and my portion forever.

However, I will now ask daily if the medicine has been taken...

Memories

My uncle is carrying on the tradition.  I never realized how amazing farm fresh eggs are.  When my grandparents passed away, my uncle took on the farm and has slowly built up some chickens.  He sells brown eggs for $1.50 a dozen.  I get the family discount ($1 and sometimes even free)!

Tonight, I ran out to the farm and instantly my brain is flooded with memories of spending time there as a child.  The stones that line the entry way to the door.  Tracing my hands over those rocks, waiting for my mom to say good-bye.  Rolling down the hill (it was monstrous as a child and now I wonder why it's so small) to the garden.  Picking green beans in the gigantic garden.  Jumping over the cement valleys near the barn, imagining creepy, crawly monsters below.  Walking the asphalt driveway with my grandma.  But my favorite memory is when we left.

Three honks when we were leaving the driveway.  Always.  Three.  I love you.  Another chance to say it.  In case something happened before we got another chance to say it.

It's a tradition I carry on now to my family.  Leaving my mom's.  Leaving my dad's.  Leaving my sister's.  Leaving my grandpa.

And today.  Leaving the farm.  It's tradition...I have to do it.

So, readers, if I ever honk at your house three times...you'll understand why and hopefully you'll feel the love in the honks.

It's back...

It didn't take long.  It's back though.  I thought it'd take just a little longer.

I took a walk from two o-clock to three-thirty.  Beautiful weather!

Fast forward.  Youth group was great.  We sat outside for twenty minutes and had acoustic worship.

After coming home from youth group, my step-dad came over to help me figure out what needs to be tilled up this week.

I ran inside to use the restroom (not giving you any details there) and wham!  I looked in the mirror and noticed a sun burn.  Unbelievable!  Guess next time I take a walk, I'll put the sunscreen on.  Didn't think I needed it in March.

Revelation

When I was little, my parents had a game for my sister and I in the car.  Every time we asked, "How much longer?" or anything remotely related to it, my mom took a dime from us.  She had given us ten to begin with.  Hey, as a kid, ten dimes were great...well, until I figured out how to count money.

Today, as I was driving back from Indy, I remembered those times because I was racing my GPS estimated time arrival at home.  Anyone else do that?  

Why am I in a hurry?  Why am I always wondering about what the next step is or what the next leg in the journey is?  Why can't I just enjoy what's in front of me and the breath that I am currently taking.  

For the next two days, I am dedicated to enjoying each moment.  Not wishing them away, but just taking in all around me.  No worrying about what's next.  Just thankful for what's in front of me.

What are they thinking?

Target.
Strapless jumpsuit.
Polyester.
Blue and teal stripes.
Eighties go away!!!
It was a fad for a reason!

Tired

Sometimes Thursdays are hard.  I am in charge of an after-school club and tonight was a meeting.  All I want somedays after being with kids all day is ten minutes of no kids.  Just give me a breath and then I can go again, but the revolving door of good-bye to hello is tough.

However, seeing the residents at the nursing home that we visit makes it worthwhile.  Their faces light up and I draw my breath from seeing their smiles.  The hugs they give the kids and the sparkle in their eyes makes the journey worth it.

Breathe. 

My alone time comes soon and then I can rest.

Love

Readers, I have to tell you the truth.  You deserve it.  I am in love.  I know most of you are just now finding out and you are probably wondering why I didn't share the lead-up to this amazing feeling.  Well...it kind of crept up on me.  I wasn't really watching for it (that's when they say it always happens), but wow, it was a little on the fast side.

I'm super excited when I get to hang out with the one that I love and I'm glad to be able to say it out loud.  I want to shout it from the rooftops that I am in love!  I want to tell people as they walk by me on the street.  That would kind of be weird though!

It really did happen all at once.  I guess there have been some signs lately, but I just ignored them and went on in my daily life, wondering if something was building.

I guess when you spend more time together, you really do cultivate that relationship.

Again, friends, I am sorry you are reading it here first.  I should have told you in person, but I've kind of enjoyed keeping it to myself.

Would you like to know more about my love?  Well, keep on reading (if you haven't gagged yet, you might soon).

I am in love with my shoulders!  Yes, I said it!  They are some of the most amazing specimens of muscle-toned arms that I could ask for!

I've been taking a new class on Saturdays and boy, does it kick my butt!  However, the results are amazing!  My shoulders are toned and when I take Zumba on Tuesdays, I cannot help but stare and make body-builder poses.

And to top it all off, I invited our health survey lady (not sure what her real title is) to come back after our December blood screening to test my body fat again.  The ideal range they wanted is from low 20's to 33%.  I was bummed that I was at 34.2%.  Having never been in the ideal range, I wanted to see if I had achieved it yet.

She popped in today while the kids were at gym (however, some popped back in right when she was getting ready to weigh me.  I shooed them out really fast.  

The number now????  31.6%  That's right!!!  Down since the beginning of December.  My weight?  Well, that's a different story of why I don't know that number (thanks K and M).  

Tonight, I am happy.  I am happy with the number (excited to see it keep going down though).  I am proud of my work.  After all, I am in love with my shoulders and soon, I hope to love my hips and legs as well.

Repeating is good for the soul!

To somewhat protect myself, I always have students refer to me as Queen Bee when on videos or in writing if it goes on our class blog.  My student used my name...but I am changing it to protect their and my identity.  :)

At the end of the day, I always give the kids a hug or a high five as they leave.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  They have the choice, always (except the last day of school and then it's a quick hug).  It's a great way to end the day with them, even if we had had a bad day (meaning them...okay, me too).

As they leave, they file into their prospective lines.  Walkers, bus riders, and car riders.  The bus riders are the last the leave.  There's a LOT of them.  Towards the end, my little one (who is an energizer bunny if no medicine and has grown on me tremendously this year), says, "Bye Queen Bee."  He said this AFTER he had gotten in line.  And just in case I hadn't heard him and because I haven't given him eye contact.  He said it again.  AGAIN!  "Bye Queen Bee."  He raised his little hand and waved.  Satisfied now that he had said good-bye, he turned and walked off with the bus riders.

My heart melted.  Precious, precious, precious.

Book Club Woes

I am blessed to be a part of an amazing book club.  We meet once a month and I am thrilled they let me join.  Most of them are retired.  All have children.  Some have grandchildren.  Sometimes, I'm the oddball of the group (single and no children and a few years younger).  However, we are all avid readers and that's the connection.

Tonight brought some drama though.  Let me give you a little backstory.

I like to have the right answers.  That's why the eye doctor stresses me out.  That's why Beth Moore Bible studies sometimes stress me out...I can't come up with what she might be looking for.  Can you say I am way too paranoid about the right answer?  And as a teacher, I try and break students of always having the right answer.  Oh, the irony!

Back to book club.

We have read all of the books that we arranged six months ago.  What do we read next? Well, since we all had forgotten the written list they were on, we decided to go potluck.  Everyone would read a book and then share about it next time.

No problem.

Um, I think I need someone to tell me what book to read...Anyone have some great ideas???  I know it kind of defeats the purpose...but they won't know!!!  (Well, some of them are slicing...)

Pruny fingers

My fingers are pruny.  Why?  Well, it's not because I relaxed in a hot tub.

It's not because the weather has been amazing and I went in a pool.

It's not even because I gave myself a manicure.

No...it's because I just de-shelled a bag of frozen edamame.

Why?

Pinterest.  I'm addicted.

I saw this recipe for roasted edamame with sea salt. Since I'm not eating meat this month, I wanted to immediately try it.

So, twenty minutes later, my stir-fry is waiting for my roasted edamame.  And my fingers are slowly turning back to wrinkly, pruny pads to normal.

Motivators...

What are your motivators?  Right now, it's a beautiful, blue dress.  I have some amazing friends who are great motivators.  Who keep you going when you can't go anymore.  Who tell you, yes, you can and you believe them.  I am turning into my own motivator.

You have to with the workout I did this morning.

Begin with the heavy weight and start kettle-bell type squats with your right arm.  Then move them into shoulder press squats.  Plie squats now with heavy weight above your head.  Finish with swinging the heavy weight like a baseball bat to work your abs, back, and shoulder.

Cardio sprint.

Start again with the squats, but move the heavy weight into your left hand.  Repeat the same sequence.

Cardio sprint.

Repeat squat sequence again with right side.

Cardio sprint.

Left side.

Cardio sprint.

Twenty minutes have passed by.

Time for single leg lunges.  Both legs.  Plie squats with shoulder type row.  Plie squats with weights going above your head.

Cardio sprint.

Repeat single leg lunges again.

Cardio sprint.

Squats now with bicep curl and over your back to work your abs and back.  Throw in some dead lifts.

Cardio sprint.

Repeat....

Cardio sprint.

Are you tired yet?  We're almost done.  You can do this.  You have everything in you to keep going!

Some ax choppers (not sure how to describe them) and dead lifts.

Cardio sprint - It's your last one!

Now comes the green band which goes around your legs and you begin working the inner and outer thighs.

Relief when the song is over...You've made it!!!  Cool down and stretch.  FINALLY!

And yes, I do this every Saturday morning.  It's such a good workout.  The kind that makes you feel good about your body and what it can.  The kind that motivates you to keep going to get better.  The kind that you look in the mirror and are proud of what you see!

Ugh!

As I head into my room to put in an hour before I work our school's carnival, I turned around from my table and saw them.

Ugh!

This year has been different than those in the past.  Due to high numbers, we have a split fourth section where they divide into three groups and come into our rooms for math, science, and social studies.  Our language arts block is all in the morning.

However, I have a group of students pulled for LLI in the morning.  I did the spelling test while they were gone and would have them make it up later.  I placed them on the back counter and went on with my day. 

Yep.  You got it.

I forgot.  Again.

Do you ever feel pulled in so many directions, you can't make out which end is up.  That is how I feel. 

Ten days.  Spring Break.  My brain needs rest!  My body needs sleep.  My soul needs recharged.

Liar!

Because I'm blogging from school (I have a meeting at 7 and there's no point to drive 20 minutes home at four bucks a gallon), I don't have the slice of life button.

However, since I have so much time at school, I decided to finish up grading piles of papers and record them.  I grabbed the Sharpie erasable pen to record my new data.

I have a small obsession with certain types of writing utensils.  Ticonderoga pencils.  Papermate Sharpwriter (pencils where the lead twists).  Sharpie pens.  All teachers have these obsessions, right?

Enter the Sharpie Liquid Pencil.  With.  An.  Eraser!  Wow...

I had written the students' scores on a verb paper and then had them redo it.  Serious reteaching needed.

Tonight, with lots of time (no bitterness) to kill, I regraded and went to record the information. 

Liars! 

It is not liquid pencil that erasers.  Just a really nice pen.  It didn't work on my grade book.  Scores had to be rewritten over and ones turned into fives with some finesse.

I'll stick to my Ticonderoga and Papermates...Sorry, Sharpie!

Quick History Lesson

I have tried to incorporate more historical fiction into my reading to help give students context of when things have happened.  Let's face it, seven and eight year olds don't always have the most up-to-date knowledge of history and even current events.

Case and point today.

One of my girls was so excited that she had found some author information in the back about Molly (one of the American girl dolls).  Molly's life takes place in the 1940s...era of WWII.  We were looking at the photographs together when she inferred, "I think that's Molly's dad."

Quickly looking at the photo, I interjected, "Um, no, that's Adolf Hitler."  And thus entered a VERY brief synopsis on who he was and what he stood for.

"Oh."

Whew...

Oh, no, she didn't!

Tonight, we (my friend and I) went to Zumba, like normal.  We walked, which was abnormal.  (Super fun!)  We sat outside and chatted before class, like normal.  We moved into our spots, like normal.  

I noticed the sun was kind of in my eyes, which is abnormal (thanks Daylight Savings Time).  I moved to the window and unrolled the shade.  

I turned around and noticed a woman (who tends to not be very friendly) in my normal spot.  

Oh, no, she didn't!  Um, she did.  

I hightailed it across the room and danced, shook, and cumbia-ed, my way through the class.  She can have my spot.  I am a creature of habit.  Thankfully, I can let it go, and just laugh.  

Where are you?

I'm searching for many things...but today, papers would be one of the many.

We are required to send a weekly newsletter home to parents.  No problem.  I normally type it in during my prep, but I had finished it early and sent it before school even began.  Walking down to the copy machine, I stopped and said hi to a few people.

Peeking into the room, I noticed NOTHING in the top tray.  No problem.  Someone probably moved it.  Nope.

Back to the drawing board.  I sent it this time to the lounge copier to pick up on my prep.  Walking down to the lounge, I stayed on my mission.  Popping into the lounge, I noticed the familiar red, blinking light.

You've got to be kidding me!

Paper jam.  Insert any words you would like to here...

I fixed it.

Job going again.

Jam.  Again, insert any words you would like to here...

Job going again.

Jam.  You know the drill...

I walked off (keeping the words to myself) and printed a copy off in my room.

I'm sure tomorrow I will have two copies of my letter in my mailbox.

Oh, copy machines, how I love you and loathe you all within two seconds.

Ahhh...

The signs are there.

Buds are on my lilac bush.

Flowers pushing up through the ground.

Youth group games are outside.

Car windows were down.

People out on bikes.

Flip flops.

Need I say more?

I think spring is peeking it's head out...it hasn't decided yet if it's going to stay, but it's thinking about it!

Well?

At 7:15 this morning, I heard the familiar ding dong of a text.  Turns out, my friend wasn't going to be able to join me for our Saturday morning torture of Zumba and intervals.

Waiting for the alarm to go off in thirty minutes, I had time to contemplate.  Do I shut off the alarm and sleep in?  Do I still go and just skip Zumba?  Do I go to both and push myself?

When the alarm went off, I had made up my mind.  What did I decide?

I put myself through both workouts.  Why?  Because when it comes down to it, no one is going to get my body into shape except for me.  Sure, my friends can join in through support and work out with me, but I am the one who will have to put the rubber to the road.  Well, in this case, the shoes onto the dance floor.

You know...

What kind of pants are in your closet?  Probably the same ones that are in mine.

The pants you wear when you're having a "feeling fat day".  The pants that you are waiting to get into.  Pants you hold on to, just in case, but you're never going back to those.  Pants you feel good in.  Pants that are just a tad too tight, but a long shirt helps immensely.  Jeans that are fresh out of the dryer or from the line.  You know those pants.  The ones you put on and try all sorts of cardio moves to stretch them before you have to button them.

Well, it was those jeans that I grabbed this morning.  Freshly washed and dried jeans. Here we go.  One leg in.  The other leg in.  Pull them up over the hips.  Suck in the breath, zip, and what?  Is that possible?  Did I just zip and button them without having to perform squats and suck in my stomach?  Could my interval class be working?

What's the motivation?  So glad you asked...

Meet my bridesmaid dress.  Which is ordered.  Which is a size smaller than I thought they would order.  Which needs my hips to try and get rid of three inches so I feel safe wearing it.

Which is why I am headed to intervals again tomorrow.

Jeans on today...dress to come soon!

Air Raids

I had stayed after the meeting of the club that I sponsor at school.  There's something comforting about being there later than most and just reveling in the quiet.  As I was reading my students' notebooks (studying synthesis and what that looks like in reading), I was frustrated with the lack of thought that seemed to go to into their writing.

I headed over to our literacy coach's room and poked my head in the door.  As we got to talking (she's a fellow slicer, so that was one of our topics), I helped her with various technology questions.  She helped me by finding different books I could use.

Suddenly, a siren went off.  I assumed it was her phone.  No such luck.  According to her computer, it was going to shut off in five minutes unless she did something.

Um, that means my computer is also making that sound.  I leaped up, raced to my room and flung open the door.  Sure enough, since I had been listening to Pandora (quite loudly) before I went into her room, the alert signal was blaring!!!

I'm not trying to make light of countries that have had and currently have air raids, but if we were to have one, I am assuming this is what it would sound like.  It was quite loud.  I quickly pressed all the buttons that needed to happen and then went back over to my friend's room.

She was still somewhat panicking because she wasn't sure exactly what to do.  As we pressed the okay button, we clicked on another program.  Abort, abort, abort!  Clicking the next button allowed the program to stop and off we went on our merry ways.

Got a good laugh and a great slice!

Small voice

You know that small voice you hear in your heart and head?  You know that feeling that at the end of the day that remains?  Even after you've tutored a student who is struggling in math, had a student stay after school so he can do his homework because it never seems to come back, when you've had a kid mislead you about a scuffle at recess, when you see the mound of papers and notebooks to read and grade?

The voice that tells you - this is a good job.  This is where you belong.

I heard that voice today.  I needed that voice today.

Oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh!  Oh my gosh!

It began with a frantic, and I mean, frantic phone call from my sister.

Well, it actually began in September when I went wedding dress shopping with my sister. For her.  Not me.  She found a dress (for cheap) and bought it.  Then had buyer's remorse.  You know that feeling.  She returned it.  Unfortunately, they only offered her credit back.  Fast forward...the company is now out of business and my sister has to deal with a consulting company.  She needs the original receipt which she gave to me so her fiance wouldn't see it.

Problem.  Big problem.  I can't find it.

I have checked five purses, three wallets, two bins of papers, and went through my files in my filing cabinet.

I feel like a failure.   I have let my sister down.

I had an honest prayer with God and shared how it'd be nice to find it, but I also knew in my heart that I should just give her the money that she was out (it wasn't too much).  I went out to my car to check one more purse that was in my trunk (don't ask), I decided to clean out some of the papers that were on the floor in the back seat (I don't even have kids and my car is a mess!).  Lo and behold, as I unfolded a white piece of paper...IT WAS THE PAPER!!!!!!!

Skipping inside, and muttering, "Oh my gosh," over and over again, I called my sister and told her!

I am now a good (make that great) sister again...and hopefully she'll tell everyone on Facebook too!

Run for Fun

An unexpected text changed a planned run on the upstairs track to an outside run on some local trails.

Running up and down the hilly trails.  Through the woods, skipping over branches and slowing down for the descent.  Pushing on my toes to run up the massive hill at the end.  Hands bone cold.

Listening to one earbud.  Yelling behind to my friend.  Sharing what is happening in our lives.  Huffing and puffing through most of it.

Until the end, when I realized again how much I love running!

Rest

No alarm this morning.  I pulled a very-unlike-Cathy move and skipped church.  After the long, stressful drive home last night, I just wanted to breathe in the morning air and rest.  Move at a snail's pace.  Have quiet time alone while my roommate was at church.

I listened to a podcast about comparison (it was amazing) and did one of the days of my Beth Moore study.  I washed laundry, swept the living room and kitchen, and began preparations for some great lunches for the week.

I just wanted a slow morning.  Before the rush of the week begins, just a slow, quiet Sunday morning.  It was heavenly!

Nightmare

I was going to write about the sweat ring I earned today in my 120 minutes of work out classes.

I was going to write about being able to order a size smaller bridesmaid dress than I thought they were going to order.

I was going to write about holding my nine day old niece (who was born on my birthday).

Instead, I am writing about my nightmare.   Background - was in a car accident on snowy, country roads.  Enter the tale of nightmare driving!

It had been windy all day.  That was nothing new.  I set the cruise and sped on I-69 at 70 mph.  Making great time and GPS put me at home around 9:30.  I noticed drops on my windshield.  I had about 20 miles to my exit when WHAM!  Suddenly, giant white flakes began blowing.  The road in front of me was instantly covered.  Being the chicken I am, I instantly slowed down and a few miles later, the snow stopped.

Ten miles to my exit.  I can do this.  I can do this.  I can do this.

The connecting road to my next major highway was pretty clear.  Good driving roads.

And then it began.  Once I had cleared my last city until my county, I noticed that there was NO ONE behind me.  For 20 miles, I had the road to myself.  Thank goodness.  With all of the blowing wind and the giant snow, I had to keep telling myself to breathe.  There were oncoming cars, but thankfully, I could drive as slow as I wanted.

Then, comes the nightmare.  The major highway that leads to a mile from my house has a slight detour.  It takes you into the country because a bridge is being replaced.  Country roads.  Snowy and slick and at this point, I am driving 20 mph.  Yes, readers, you read correctly.  20 MILES PER HOUR!

I used my GPS as my beacon.  It let me know how many more miles I had left on my treacherous journey home.  Honestly, I am more sore in my shoulders from being so tense on the drive than from my workout earlier.

Thankfully, I am home.  Safe and sound.  I prayed for many drivers that I passed that were headed into the slick roads...that they would see the danger before anything serious occurred.

I don't mind driving in the snow most of the time.  Just not at night.  And not when it's really slick.  And when it's really blowing.  Hmmmm, maybe I should move south.

I am weak...and forgetful

It's been two days.  Two.  And I've already failed.

The background - Every month, I've been choosing a different focus.  Getting rid of junk, taking photos daily, writing cards to friends...This month, I am going meatless and sweet-less.  The meatless I can deal with.  The sweets?  That's another story.  Enter tonight.

A few friends that I work out with decided to have sushi tonight at a local sushi bar/lounge.  A place where you forget where you are.  As we were sitting there, getting ready to order, another couple joined us on the enclosed patio.

It didn't take long to realize that it was going to be an interesting evening.  Not only was there inappropriate make-out sessions, there were many words that flew out of his mouth towards his date that caused our jaws to drop.

Have you ever driven by an accident and couldn't help yourself and just stared.  Well, that's what we did.  Stared, listened, and laughed at the awkwardness and dramatics of the clearly drunken man.

It was so quiet on our end.  Four girls.  Sitting, straining, eavesdropping, laughter.

Every waiter and waitress in that restaurant came out to check on our table and refill our water.  We even got another cup of coffee.

When you pay at this restaurant, they always leave an Andes mint.  After our server left ours, we had another delivered to us.  The workers had to walk by the table just to see what was going on.  We all knew what was going on.

Before I knew it, the green wrapper was on the table and the only thing I knew was I had just eaten a piece of candy.  Oh!!!!!!!!!!!  My eyes went big and I threw the other piece and exclaimed, "What did I just do?"  The girls just laughed.  In the aftermath of hearing this man, we had stopped paying attention completely.  Ugh!

I still have 29 more days where I can be sweet free...

The Bag

It was a long day.  After finishing up a full day at school, I sorted and packed up the papers (okay, students sorted them for me) into my bag.  I sat down to talk with parents about their child's progress for parent teachers.  The bag sat on the counter.

I attended a viewing afterwards for a family from school who lost a dear one to a tragic accident this week.  The bag sat in the car.

I emptied and loaded the dishwasher.  The bag sat on the couch.

I typed my Slice.  The bag stayed on the couch.

Too bad papers.  You'll be graded tomorrow.  Or the next day.  Or maybe the following.  Right now the bag needs to stay where it is.