Tag: me

A Sunday with guidelines.

Okay, we were really snowed in today. The Max line wasn’t running due to frozen switches. I did very well with my guidelines.

  • Get up and dress to the shoes. Yep did this. I didn’t take a shower, because when you are snowed in and slightly cold all day there isn’t a lot of sweating going on. I’ll shower tomorrow.
  • 1 hour review for math test. Yep. Took the two hour practice test. It was pretty depressing. I think I might see if I can move that test date.
  • 1 hour work on the blogs. Did it. I got all the photos ready to post and wrote a few things.
  • 1 hour of exercise. Shoveled snow twice. Walked to the store and back across unshoveled sidewalks so even more effort was used. Matt and I went to get dessert at Pizza Fino, also over unshoveled walks.
  • 4 hours work. I rocked the work. Probably more like six hours.
  • Maximum nap time: 30 minutes. No nap today.
  • Keep up with dishes and picking up. Yep.
  • Plan food the day before. I’ll do that right after I finish this post.
  • Eat only when hungry and stop when full. Breakfast and lunch very good. I wasn’t super hungry for dinner.
  • When watching movies, eat nothing or fruits and vegetables. I’m going to have wine with my movie. For some reason this winter weather has me craving wine.

My first day of guidelines.

How did it go? Pretty well.

I did get up, went jogging (4) and got dressed (1). For work (5) I spent from 8:30-3:00 (includes transportation time) decorating the tree at my Aunt Pat’s house. I also wrote my Christmas letter and went by the library to see if I could pick up the books on hold. Sadly, they were closed because of the snow. Oh! And I shoveled the walk. I just loaded up the dish washer (7) though have not picked up the house at all today. I actually packaged up the rest of my apple from breakfast this morning because I was full (9) but did get a little full for lunch and dinner.

On the didn’t side.
No nap (6) today, so well under my 30 minute limit. There was no studying for the math test (2) though that was on purpose as I want to take a 2 hour practice test tomorrow, so that will count for both days. I made my food plan (8) this morning, instead of last night. I haven’t watched a movie today, but if I do, I have my eye on a pomegranate (10) in the fridge.

On the maybe side:
I still have 34 minutes left of blog time (3) I may do the full hour.

Guidelines

Well, this evening begins my two weeks of Winter Break. One of the perks of my job is that I have a lot of vacation. Would that every American had this much vacation, I think we would be a much happier and healthier country.

As much as I love vacation, I sometimes get a bit off track. When free from the normal structures of my life, I sometimes want to be free from all structure and some parts of my vacations have passed in a food coma haze where I also either watch to many movies, read too many books or both.

The problem is that if I keep to my normal routine it doesn’t feel like vacation, it just feels like work in a different place. But if I discard all my routines I become a bit too free and that isn’t pleasurable either. Sometimes I have a project that keeps me occupied, but I wasn’t feeling up to a whole project thing this break. So instead, I decided to have guidelines. Things that aren’t quite my normal routine, but are things that will most likely make for a pleasurable vacation. Here they are:
1. Get up and dress to the shoes.
This is a Flylady thing. Flylady is always going on about putting on your shoes so you are prepared for anything. I’ve found it is true for me, and it is so cold that I need to wear shoes right now anyway.
2. One hour review for math test.
It’s coming up right after break is over and I would love to pass it the first time.
3. One hour work on the blogs.
The other one is caught up, but this one is horribly behind. Hopefully, I can chip away at this and get this post up in January or *gasp* December.
4. One hour of exercise.
Although if I jog, then 25 minutes plus stretching will do. I feel so much better if I exercise and it, sadly, is one of the main things that falls apart during vacations.
5. Four hours work.
“Work” means anything I am doing that is not officially leisurely. I’ve got a lot of little this and that in the project realm that could be finished, I could work on the blogs or do some house cleaning. Running errands counts too.
6. Maximum nap time: 30 minutes.
As vacations go on my naps tend to get longer which messes up my overnight sleep. I know that I can have 30 lovely minutes of napping (one of my favorite parts of vacation) without affecting my sleep, so that is where I will draw the line.
7. Keep up with dishes and picking up.
There is nothing worse then attempting to eat a lovely lunch and finding that there is no clean silverware. Okay, there are worse things, but a lack of silverware is a vacation downer.
8. Plan food the day before.
When at home, I tend to react with excitement to every item I see in the refrigerator. Thus my meals can become quite large. This should keep them normally sized.
9. Eat only when hungry and stop when full.
Yet another challenge while on break. Life is better for me when I can do this, though.
10. When watching movies, eat nothing or fruits and vegetables.
I have stockpiled a bunch of movies to watch over the break. I usually like to have popcorn, but fourteen days of popcorn would not be a pretty thing. However, I can have one bowl of popcorn, as long as I stick to having fruits and veggies the rest of the time.

I’ll check in mostly daily and see how I do.

Parking lots and snow

One thing I always remember about snow in Boise, is how a light snow would fall and cover everything, including the parking lots. People would drive to the mall, or the store, or someplace with a parking lot and take their best guess as to where the spaces were. They would then go in a shop, or perhaps work. Meanwhile the temperature would warm up and the snow would melt, exposing the actual parking spaces, many of which were difficult to park in, because the people who guessed would have guessed wrong, yet their cars were still there, parked outside the lines.

With that memory in mind, I was pleased to see this ingenious solution at a parking lot near my work.

GPS devices have me stuck on Existential

I think that navigating through the landscape is a skill that can (and should) be developed. I have a particular talent for it, if I do say so myself. So when the nice-lady-voice keeps telling me I have made an error, I don’t really like to hear it. The car, that vestige of freedom in the modern landscape, is the last place I want an inanimate object telling me what to do. Except for the few people with absolutely no sense of direction, I think GPS units are one of those things Americans needlessly spend money on. When you don’t have to figure out where you are and where you are going, you lose that skill. Is that something you want?

But this comic made me laugh.

Turkey Trot

For the past few months I’ve been training for the Turkey Trot, the annual four-mile run at the Zoo. Turkey Trot day arrived clear and cold. I took the Yellow Line Max to Pioneer Square where I transferred to the Blue Line Max that would take me to Washington Park. It was about 6:30 in the morning and workers were lighting the holiday tree. But, strangely, other workers found it important to cut back wisteria too. I have no idea why.
Sunrise over parking lot full of people waiting for the start of the race and people waiting in line for the port-a-potties.

Self-portrait before the race starts.
The race started late (grrrr) so I had ample opportunity to contemplate these banners at the World Forestry Center. The middle one I get, it’s the logo. The right one I get, it’s a picture of a big tree. The one on the left I don’t get at all. What does a family white water rafting have to do with a forest? I guess they could be rafting through the forest, but it still seems an odd choice. If they wanted to show recreation in the forest why not some cross country skiers, or snow shoeing?
For those of you who have never had the pleasure of running the Turkey Trot, it’s a pretty “ugh” course. Two miles downhill, turn around and groan your way through the same two miles you just ran, but now they are two uphill miles. Once I started I thought to myself, “I do not, in any way, shape or form, feel like doing this right now.” But what could I do? Turn around and finish with the slick actual runners in their running shorts and with their 5 minute miles? Not really an option. I persevered, and eventually finished. Dispute the very uphill portion, I ran this faster than my usual Saturday long runs which happen on flat land. The Turkey Trot is a fun run, so I don’t have an official time, but the time I kept was 50:52 for four miles. I’m not a fast runner, though I do have designs.

The “I finished” self-portrait:
Then it was a quick walk to the parking lot where Mom whisked me away to the Thanksgiving celebrations. Though there was a bit of parking lot waiting before we could really “whisk.”

I finally turned the heat on.

I play this game every autumn. It’s the one where I wait as long as I possibly can before I turn the heat on in the evenings. I can make it fairly late in the calendar year because I tend to run a little warmer than other people and also I bundle up. Plus, my evenings are full of cooking dinner, cleaning up, etc. There is much movement until I settle down to read. At that point I can retreat under blankets until it is time to go to bed.

The heat has been on, mind you. That other person I live with isn’t quite as active when he is home, nor is he so much into the stoicism involved in playing the game. The difference between us is that I’m convinced, in some small way, that some day I will make it thorough the winter without turning on the heat. I think of the pioneers, or even people at the turn of the century, who really had to work to get their heat. Surely they wouldn’t stoop to turning on the heat on such a comparatively warm night? Whereas Matt would rather be comfortable. So weekends, when we are both home, have been pretty warm. Comparatively. Our heat is usually set to 60 degrees. But weeknights it is just me and I regret to report that tonight was the night that I couldn’t stand the cold any longer.

I promote our school auction.

Each year we have an auction. This year some promoting needed to be done. Because I am the person who stands at the door at the beginning and end of the school day, I was an ideal person. Plus, I got to tap into my beauty queen persona. First came the sash, drawing attention to the fact that the auction was fast approaching. Next came the crown with the message “Have you bought your auction tickets?” After that was the scepter which could be used as a mace, should the need arise. Each day the mace informed the public how few days remained until the auction. I planned to fashion a cape, but I got busy.

Math. The Internet Helps.

I’m spending 2 1/2 hours a week studying for a math test I am taking on January 10. Passing the test is one of the requirements to become certified in Middle School Math in Oregon so I want to do well and pass it the first time. It covers a lot of material: algebra, geometry, etc. Most of those things I haven’t done since I learned them in high school.

Aside: one pet peeve of mine is when adults say “They never taught me.” the “They” in question being teachers. That phrase causes me to wonder how much of the things that were never taught, were actually taught but not retained?

So three mornings a week for a half hour and one hour on the weekend I am up to my ears in math. I just spent several weeks on Algebra and am now reviewing Geometry. The best part of this whole venture is that the Internet was invented between my high school experience and today. Back in high school when I didn’t get something I could reread the chapter, look at the examples, refer to my notes and sometimes look in the back of the book for a solution. If I was still stuck–and I often was–I was left with the “I don’t get it” option of either pressing on through the assignment or giving up.

Today when I hit the “I don’t get it” point I have many, many helpers just standing in the wings. Here’s what I discovered while reviewing algebra.

Purple Math. The best site for explaining all things algebra and I love that she grew up not liking math.

The Math Page. His “Skill in Algebra” review was invaluable and his page has a feature that allows you to do problems he suggests and step-by-step uncover what is happening. I also love that you can start reviewing math with his Skill in Arithmetic and work your way up all the way through Plane Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Calculus, and Real Numbers.

West Texas A&M’s Virtual Math Lab was my next step in solving things. They have step-by-step instructions and practice problems with answers.

As I move into the Geometry Review I found the best thing ever. A simple program that creates PDF flash cards. Oh, to have had this in college! I would have avoided writing out those thousands of flash cards. I’ve been typing my definitions into Word so I can check my spelling, etc., then copying them onto the fields provided.

One of my favorite things about the Internet is that people would take time to build web pages to help little old me with what I am doing.

Oh the irony!

Way back in the 90s, Dishwasher Pete used to pop up every once in awhile on This American Life, telling tales from his quest to wash dishes in all fifty states. I enjoyed listening to his views from the dish machine. Imagine my surprise today, when one of the student teachers mentioned her brother-in-law was visiting Teacher John’s class today as a guest author. I asked what her brother-in-law had written and she said, “Oh, a book about how he was trying to wash dishes in all fifty states.”

“Your brother-in-law is Dishwasher Pete!” I shrieked.

I was very excited to meet him. Alas, the universe had other plans. As one of my many hats, I manage the school lunch program which means, among other things, that if the lunch volunteer does not show up for her shift, I get to serve lunch and clean up afterward. This usually throws a wrench in a few people’s plans because if I serve lunch it means that I can’t do my usual recess coverage which means Maureen has to do all of the recess duty which puts both of us in grumpy moods.

So you can imagine the volume of grumpy today when the lunch volunteer didn’t show and instead of meeting Dishwasher Pete and discussing various aspects of his dishwasher life with him, I was instead serving food to students and yes, doing dishes. Teacher John took pity on me and got me a Dishwasher Pete autograph on a post it note, but I was pretty forlorn at my lunch serving table. Dishwasher Pete and I exhchanged waves as he was leaving and I was serving lunch, but it wasn’t quite the same.

Here’s my tribute to my time with Dishwasher Pete: that’s the autograph, right there on the dishwasher.
Teacher John also lent me his copy of Dishwasher. That will have to do for now.
ps. We don’t really have a dishwasher, it’s a sanitizer.