I did it!

I am a worrier. If it could happen, I run the scenario through my head. And then I tend to stay there. It's a nasty habit and I am trying to get out of my comfort zone.

Today I did just that!

While visiting some family, we decided to go to the Natural Bridge and head into the caverns as well.

And so the thoughts began. Being underground, a lot of thoughts ran through my mind.

If I never leave a place a comfort, then I never get to see God's beauty.

And on Easter Sunday, I am so glad I did. What a way to worship the One who has given me everything.

The pictures do not do it justice.

Say what?

Just completed a ten hour road trip and saw a first.

Connected to the gas station.

I have seen it all now. And can we say shady???

Used the restroom and then left.

To go...

Three hours down. Ten to go.

Produce packed.
Clothes packed.
Snacks packed.
Technology packed.
Gifts for family packed.
Books to read packed.
Books on cd packed.

Time to rest and gear up for tomorrow.

What's that?

My friend is off in a day for language school abroad for a week. She was kind enough to give me her produce since it will go bad before she gets back.

My friends and I had just finished having frozen yogurt at a nearby place with the boy that I babysit. As we got back into the car and headed home, he pulled something from the floor and said, "what's this?"

He handed me what looked like a nectarine. I just assumed it was from my friend.

Then he tells me it came from under the passenger seat.

Oh no! It was an OLD cutie. From when? Don't know. From where? Maybe my lunch bag?

Glad he found it!

Hold on

It's coming. The sun. The bright light that shines into my living room when I sit on the couch reading an amazing book.

Just hold on.

And when you go out on recess duty you won't look like this for much longer.

We clap...

We clap in my class.  It's often led by the same girl, nevertheless...we clap.

We clap for the student who struggled to write his thinking and he did today.
We clap for the student who struggles to use kind words when he uses his words to solve problems.
We clap for the student who can be dramatic and today went back and worked on what she needed to finish from earlier.

We clap for the student who learns something new.
We clap for the student who tries something that was hard for them.
We clap for the student who makes a better choice.

We clap.

And we create a community that cares for each other and recognizes their hard work and says, "We see you and are proud of you."

Would you like us to clap for you?

Sliced goodness...

I am weird. There is no denying it.

One thing that adds to my weirdness is my taste in foods. Quite literally.

There's no denying that healthier foods fill my plate more nowadays.

And one of my favorites is on there tonight. I could eat them if they had been frozen, sautéed, tossed in a salad, or my favorite - roasted.

Brussels sprouts!!!

When visiting the grocery store last week, I saw the stalks in the produce section. And into my basket went two of them. And my past four meals have consisted of having a huge helping!!!

It takes me back to the days of being a kid. My mom would serve them from a frozen bag with butter and I imagined I was eating tiny heads of cabbage.

The way of cooking has changed, and the love has grown!!!

Rewards

I like to reward myself. Sometimes it's for the most simple of things.

Today it was grading their writing.

I rewarded myself with a trip to Dollar Tree. And some organizing and spring throw-away-ing.

Voila!!!

Levels

Nowadays we think in levels. Reading, writing, weight loss, workout intensity, and today I suggest grocery store levels.

Whole Foods
Trader Joes
Martins
Kroger
Walmart
Aldi
Amish bulk stores
And junkin...

I introduced my friend to the last two today. We found great cheese and snacks. I found Crystal Light and mint chocolate almonds at the junk store.

I introduced her to the fine art of checking expiration dates and wrapping.

And to odd finds.

Oh the joys of junking!

Kindness

Some days I feel like I am too short with my students.

And this is what humbles me.

Enough said.

Tail is tucked between my legs.

Nasty Cycle...

Cycles are everywhere.  The water cycle is probably one of the greatest examples.  Always ongoing.

I have a nasty cycle in my house...maybe you will find some sort of connection in your own life.

It's called a sink full of dishes.  How does that happen when I live by myself?  Oh yeah, it's called, I like to cook.  And bake.  And eat.  Let's not forget that one.

Thank goodness I have a dishwasher...if I didn't have one, it would probably curb my enthusiasm for cooking.

Tonight, as I came home from Zumba, I walked through my kitchen and unloaded my bags.  And once again, after emptying my lunch bag, my sink was full again.

Empty the dishwasher.  Fill the dishwasher.  The sink is empty...sort of.  It's not overflowing though...and I can see the disposal on the right side.

What to do?

BAKE!

Tonight - almond joy muffins made from coconut flour and they are one point each!  Yummo!

And in about 20 minutes, I'll be enjoying one...too bad you won't!  :)

Happy cooking!

If you give it, they will...

I don't know if it's due to the way I teach or the type of class I have...but when I start seeing the same things over and over, I am beginning to lean towards the type of teaching.

Giving them the right.  The right to choose their reading.  The right to choose their words.  The right to choose their learning.

Today, another chapter book club was born.  I have four boys who are reading a Magic Tree House book together.  They are picking out words for each other to learn.  Border.  Colt.  UH-mazing!

Today, two girls want to read a book together.  At the end of the day, another girl wanted to join and they headed over to get a book for her.  Knowing our literacy coach had helped out, I walked over to make sure I knew where the books were coming from.

There were three more books in the bag after the new girl joined.  Within three minutes, three more girls joined the group, a homework assignment was set (by them), and a book bag was empty.

Wow!

If you give them a book, a choice, and guidance...some amazing things happen!  And I get a front row seat!

Well...the weigh-in

Background - I've been doing Weight Watchers since November...needed to get serious and needed someone to see my weight (I cheated on my own).  Goal was set and was in reach...was 5.6 pounds away last week and made lots of great changes and good choices all week.  Was set up to see a pound or two down...

As I walked in, my stomach was in knots.  I was nervous to see the number.  I knew I hadn't reached my goal, but I knew I would or at least could be closer to it. 

Shoes came off.  Bathroom visited (got to get the last ounce out - sorry if TMI).  Sweatshirt off. 

My favorite recepcienist was open and I walked onto the scale.  AND WAS BLOWN AWAY!

Disclaimer - If you're not in the mood to celebrate with me, stop reading.  I'll understand.  Believe me.  It's hard sometimes to be happy for others if you're not in the mood for it.

Not only did I lose a pound...or two.  I was the biggest loser!!!  (Well, for me.)  I lost 6.4.  Yes, you read that right.  6.4! 

I was under my goal by .8.  Wow! 

Unfortunately, I had to leave to go to book club, but several people celebrated with me and as a group, we'll celebrate it next week. 

 

But for today.  I celebrate...and I now get 6 extra points of food.  Uber excited :) 

Saved by the text...

It was a night of tossing and turning.  Our area had been placed under a winter weather advisory that called for possible freezing rain in the morning.  Well, the weather man has been wrong before and I assumed he'd be wrong again.

Throughout the night, I would wake up and then check the weather radar...just to see. It was getting closer and they were now calling for it to arrive before our buses would be sent out.

When my alarm went off at 5:40 and there was no delay, I hopped in the shower hoping I would wake up a bit more.

As I went back upstairs, I was about to turn on my music on my phone (a morning ritual) when I saw MANY texts.  Three to be exact alerting me to a delay.  Hot dog!

Back into the bed I went.

Knowing it was icy out, after a quick hour nap, I got ready, ate breakfast, drank an extra cup of coffee, and stayed close to the phone.  I've done this before...drove to school too early and the delay or cancellation was called.

I checked with a co-worker whose husband is in administration and asked if there was a possibility of closing.  She texted back that it was unlikely, so out to the car to warm it up.

I had just loaded up the first batch of bags and odds and ends for school when I walked back inside and grabbed the next round plus my coffee.

That's when it happened.

Ding, dong!

TEXT MESSAGE!

CLOSED!  Saved by the text!!!

Out to the car I went to shut it off and unload the bags from the car.

Workout clothes on, lunch unpacked, Pinterest pinning to begin, and a nice lazy morning to drink the coffee.

Crafty McCathy

Pinterest has changed me. Opened my eyes to newness all around me.

Food to make.
Food to eat.
Ideas to teach.
Items to create.
Clothes to buy.
Exercises to do.

And today was craft day.

Hoping that the recipient of this card will enjoy it and a smile will be across her face knowing she is thought of and loved!

Boots

Boots. Brown boots. Brown boots that fit. Brown boots that fit and can slouch. Brown boots that fit, can slouch, and go over my fat calf. Brown boots that fit, can slouch, and go over my fat calf were 69 dollars. Were is the key word.

Brown boots that fit, can slouch, and can fit over my fat calf were 15 dollars at the register!

Cool boot beans!

Lost and Found

Background information - My sister LOVES Target and Kohl's and is obsessed with the clearance items.  She even bought my birthday cake (angel food - my fave) on clearance.  Isn't she awesome?  For her wedding, this past summer, she gave her bridesmaids a beautiful silver necklace with a blue stone.

While this may seem like a travel in time, just keep reading! 

I had just bought a beautiful new sweater and wanted to wear the blue necklace since the sweater had blue in it...small problem.  It wasn't in my jewelry stand with all my other necklaces.  The last place I had worn it was the gym.  Checked the gym bag.  Nothing.  Checked the purse.  Nothing.  Checked the purse I had used before Christmas.  Nothing.  You get the picture. 

With panic setting in, I went to church without the necklace. 

Sunday afternoon, I stopped at Kohl's and couldn't seem to find one that matched it. 

Wednesday night (during Bible study - ouch), I remembered I had a small make-up bag in my purse.  Sure enough - there it was!!!!!!!!!!!  I called my sister to give her the bad and good news.  Good thing I found it...it was a special order from a jewelry store.

Friday morning - jean day at school!  I wore my amazing new sweater and went to grab the necklace out of my make-up bag. 

One problem...yep, you guessed it!  It wasn't there.  Seriously? 

With panic setting in (again), I emptied the entire make-up bag.  Nothing!

I checked my wallet just in case.  Saved!

For some reason, I must have switched it there Wednesday night...ugh!

Aren't I pretty?  And vain...

It's gone...

Ear buds cleaned.
Ear buds wrapped.
Ear buds into plastic cases.
Cases snapped shut.

iPad covers on.
iPads in their slot.
iPads plugged in.

Cart locked up.
Cart rolled down.
Cart left in the tech office.

It's gone.

An empty spot is all that is left of our pilot run of one to one iPads.  What an experience!  I am so blessed to have been able to use them for the past several weeks.

Now it's gone.  Tomorrow will be different.  Tomorrow will be normal...or back to what used to be.  But we'll still use the three in our room...maybe a little differently after being able to access it individually. 

Spoiled

I am spoiled. Most days I don't admit it. But I am.

I get to read every day.
I get to perform every day.
I get hugs every day.
I get to play every day.
I get to see growth every day.
I get to see changes every day.
I get summers somewhat off.

And I get two hour delays still.

So what do I do with those extra two hours? I make a great breakfast and an extra cup of coffee.

Sounds like the life, huh?

Setbacks, Failures, and Goals...

For my newer readers, I joined Weight Watchers back in November to lose the 15ish pounds I had gained back from intially starting to lose weight seven years ago. 

I was 5 pounds from my goal (the goal right now is to get to a healthy range and then become lifetime) Monday at 5:58 p.m.  At 5:59 p.m., I was 5.6 pounds from goal.  Ugh!  A gain.

Another gain (last week was up half a pound as well).

So, what do I do? 

Thankfully, there's this amazing lady that sits behind me that has lost 75 pounds and is headed towards 100.  We share each week with each other what our mini-goals for the week are.  Through some reflectiveness on my tracking, I know I have let some things slide and have tweaked a few points here and there.  Could it all be what's derailing me?  That and I never know how shark week affects gains and losses. 

My setback and failure - gaining...again.  Three weeks out of four.

My goal - We decided for each of us (hers is the workout, mine is being a meticulous tracker), the days we do not do as we say we will do, we will pay the other a quarter.  Now, I like her and all, but she's not getting my money!

So, why is this my slice...well, I'm getting there.

I came up with a reward in my mind this morning as I packed my bag for Zumba tonight.  I have these new tanks from Old Navy.  Super cute and I look amazing in them (ha ha).  However, I am not going to wear ANY of my new workout gear until I lose.  I can lose 0.1 and I'll be able to wear one.  Each week - lose and wear a new tank.  I have three new tanks.  That's three weeks of losing and hopefully obtaining my goal of 5.6. 

Do I or do I not?

There it is again...the bubble necklace...

It's on sale...at Very Jane.

Only 9 dollars.

And so begins the internal dialogue.

Do I?  It's only 9 bucks.

Maybe you shouldn't...you just went shopping!

But...it's 9 dollars. 

And look how many colors there are.

But, will it still be in style next year?  What would you wear it with?  You barely wear jewelry as it is.

But, it's 9 dollars!!!

Cathy, say no!  You can spend the nine bucks on other things...

Okay, you win.  I will let this deal pass.

But...9 dollars...

Sunday night ritual

And it begins...the making of meals for the week, breakfast, lunches, and snacks.

Breakfast has been for the past month the growing oatmeal from the Hungry Girl website. Twice the amount of liquid and cook twice as long and the biggest, hugest, most ginormous bowl of oatmeal that I get for breakfast.

Lunches vary. This week I hard boiled some eggs for extra protein in salads and with veggies.

I also tried cauliflower with Greek yogurt, garlic powder, and buffalo sauce. Cook at 450 until its brown and crispy...uh-mazing!!!

Snacks always have protein or veggies. I still have veggies to cut up, but protein pumpkin muffins are made courtesy of Dashing Dish.

Coffee is to be made...chocolate truffle...yum!!!

Dishes are almost all washed, courtesy of me.

Can you tell I love cooking???

Being prepared is helping me to make good choices and plan through the week when I am busy every night with different activities. And it makes it easier when I'm barely able to think in the wee hours of the morning.

Why not?

Oh, my debit card got as much of a workout as I did today.

However, not only did I step out of my comfort zone and tried on a couple outfits I normally wouldn't do, only because of the very bright colors and patterns...I bought some of them!!!

Can't wait to wear some of them tomorrow...hopefully I'll post a cute one of me tomorrow.

Sound

I live by myself. I think that's why I enjoy the tv a bit too much. It's sound for when I am home alone. But when I watch tv, I eat.

Recently, I have been making a few more changes in my life and this week began a week of turning off the tv when I eat food. I am tired of mindlessly eating when the tv is on. Therefore, the tv goes off as I eat.

Sitting here tonight after eating dinner, my house is still filled with quiet.

It's peaceful.

Maybe turning off the tv isn't so bad after all.

Positive thinking...

Some people are optimists. Others are pessimists. I think grandma is a combination pessimist, realist, and loud mouth.

At the end of the day, I reminded one of my cherubs to have his grandma or mom check his folder. Papers never seem to come out of it. Homework, report card, information, you name it.

I also asked who was picking him up. He told me it was his grandma and I quote "she's picking me up until mommy gets fired from her job."

Ouch!

All that work...

Saturn hit! Finally, the weather people were right. If I taught the way they predicted weather, I think parents would be upset!

After coming home from working out, I shoveled my sidewalk.

Within an hour, it was covered again (the evening photos).

Sleep happens. So does snow.

My view? All my hard work for nothing!!!

Thank goodness I have neighbor boys that can be bought with cookies. They shovel, I bake!!!

No sense of cent...

While talking about the metric system with my class, I wanted to see if they could figure out what cent- means as well as how many centimeters were in one meter.

"How many cents in a dollar?"

100

"What do you color to for your percentage?"

100

"How many years are in a century?"

100?

"How many centimeters are in one meter?"

100...

"What does cent- mean?"

"I know," says one of my catch-it-all students.  "Coins!"

Ugh, as I smacked my forehead. 

Well...small steps.

So, today I left this on my desk.

As a temptation.
As a possible reward.
As a treat.
As a stress reliever.

As a reminder.

And I said no.

It's still there.

Self control.

My reward

I don't know about you, but I need a motivator.

My current motivator is this glass of coins.

Every day that I do what I am supposed to for my body (tracking honestly), I get a coin.

Back in November, I had joined weight watchers and I am hopefully four and a half pounds from my current goal. (Why I sabotage myself, I don't know.)

I am giving myself a month to lose the 4.5 and six weeks to maintain.

And when that money is gone, I am scheduling a massage that I have a gift card for.

Here's to one coin getting moved over tonight!

By the way, eating without the tv on for a single gal is a little harder, but doable.

Burn Away

Every Saturday, I have a commitment.  I wake up and head to the gym.  But not for just any class.  A kick-your-butt-every-time class.  Intervals.

I LOVE this class!

We begin with one arm raises (think kettle bell) squats.
Move to raise it up for a shoulder press.
Plie squats
Swing it like bat for your arms and back.
Quick cardio - jump rope or run the stairs.

Now repeat on the left side.

Enter tabata drills (twenty seconds on and ten seconds of rest - eight times)
Burpees

Another round of working with the heavy weight from before.

Tabata - jumping lunges

Cardio

Deadlifts
Lunges

Tabata - side to side squats with a resistance band.

Cardio

Deadlifts
Shoulder work with lunges

Cardio

Tabata - burpees and ab plank work.

DONE!

Granted, I may have missed an exercise here or there and messed up the order.  But you get the gist.  

What do I love about this class?  

One, I used to do NOTHING for myself.

Two, I have lost weight and inches through this class.

Three, I can do more now in the class than before.  I can't do it all, but that means I can always improve!

Four, I feel empowered and that I have done something good for my body and health.

Probably five years ago...

Before - many years ago...

A camp counselor...probably 7 to 8 years ago.

Today...I am proud of myself.

Today...I feel strong!

Today...I made a good choice!

They got it...

We had had a rough week. My class currently has one to one iPads. I feel like part of our reading time has not been as productive because they are more mesmerized with going between books in apps, which they most likely would not do in their book bins.

Today began a lesson in noticing our thinking changing.

True to form, my shallow thinker began his thinking about The Tin Forest with...I think it's about a flower.

As I read, my students started to notice certain things and another boy exclaimed, "I think I know the theme!"

My shallow thinker told me he was mixing his thinking together (referencing our pudding powder into mousse thinking) and shared how his thinking had changed as I read. Two others shared their themes - keep dreaming and never give up hope.

We looked at how our thinking had started with a flower and grew into something else.

The most amazing lesson. Ever.

And then...we read about Harriet Tubman and the class noticed her synthesizing of information. Wow! Can't wait to see their thinking!!!