We throw away things that people kill each other over...

A few days ago My husband and I watched "The Book of Eli."  In this movie, the world is a totally different place that where we live today.  The ozone layer is so thin that the sun will blind you if you are not wearing sunglasses, there is little to no water, people have very little, and education is not a priority.  The Bible and religion is lost. 

One of the quotes from the movie got me thinking.  Well, actually, many things made me think about my spiritual life, but this one in particular made me think about my physical life and the things I have or think I need.

A young girl was asking Eli what it was like before and he replied, "We threw away things that people kill each other over now."

It made me think about all the excess in my life.  What do I really need, what is just junk, wasting space, cluttering up my house/mind/soul?

One of the biggest recurring arguments that Hubby and I get into is over clutter and cleaning up.  I don't like clutter, he doesn't seem to see it.

After thinking about it for a while, I decided that we do have too much stuff.  Less stuff = less clutter = less arguing for Hubby and I = even happier Hubby and I.  Sounds logical, right?

So I am slowly going through the house and looking at everything we own and asking myself  "Do I really need it?  When is the last time I used it?  Do I have a plan to use it in the near future? Does it work? Do I have space for it"  All excess is being dealt with (donated/given away/recycled/ etc.). 

We've taken bags of clothes to the Salvation Army, a box of "decorative knick-knacks/junk" to a friend who was having a charity garage sale, and even emptied our pantry (are we REALLY ever going to eat this?  If not, it went to our church for the food pantry).

Ironically, one of the biggest excesses we have is...MOVIES!  We have an entire bookshelf filled with DVD's plus the two DVD cabinets that are on our entertainment center!  Now, most of these movies were bought, and watched, by the Hubster himself so I don't want to just go in and assume that he doesn't watch a movie enough to warrant keeping it...so I'm attempting to get Hubby to discern that for himself.  It's slow going! HAHA  I love him! :)

The movies that I have chosen to keep are: The Princess Bride (my all time favorite movie), Chronicles of Narnia, Chicago, all of the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Twilight series, and of course my Audry Hepburn movies for a total of about 20 movies.  Yes, I know.... I don't NEED movies for my survival, but we aren't going that far (yet). 

So my question of the day is...What are your favorite movies that you couldn't part with?  If movies aren't your thing, then what TV shows, books, or whatever?

Fitness Friday #3

"Dear bathroom scale,
I know I wasn't very good this past week.  But please please please don't go higher than you did last week...please!  If you only stay the same then I swear, I'll be a good girl from now on.
Your Friend,
Nicole"

......

And the answer is......

......

196.4!

My plea was granted!  WHooo Hoooo :)  Thank you dear Bathroom Scale.  I swear I will keep up with my end of the bargain!

These were my goals last week:
1. Continue with my running (3x's a week). I'll be at my Mother-in-law's Sunday/Monday so it may end up being Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday rather than my normal Monday/Wednesday/Friday... then again...maybe I'll bring my running stuff to her house and let her watch the little one while I go for a run... Hmmm... decisions, decisions...

2. Try one new healthy recipe. Any suggestions?
3. Log my food/water
4. I will plan my snacks and meals and eat them at set times so that I'm not munching just to do it.

Well, I managed to reach one of the goals...#2.   I made Chicken Pot Pie that was delicious!  I found it on a Weight Watchers site.  I don't do WW or watch points but it was only 4.5 points per serving...however for those like me who need "real" numbers, there were around 250 cals per serving and 4.7 g of fat, but A LOT of sodium.  Hmmm  Need to do better on that.

I have also found a new yummy (healthy) snack food.  Dried vegetable chips.   YUMM-O!   I may have to try to make some of my own.

As for #1... I brought my clothes to run Monday at my MIL's but forgot how uncomfortable her guest bed is.  I slept OK but woke up stiff and my back was a bit sore, so I decided that I would wait until Tuesday and run at home T/Th/Sat.   Well, we didn't get home until LATE LATE LATE (for me) on Monday night so I didn't get to bed until nearly 1am. I totally missed my window of opportunity to run the next morning seeing as how it is too hot to even think about running by 8am.  I was still in dreamland until Baby Girl woke me up.  "OK, I'll run Wednesday and get this started again"...or so I thought.  Baby Girl got a cold and coughed all night Tuesday night so no sleep for mommy.  No sleep = no run.  Sigh.  I did manage to run this morning. I did Week 4 day 3 of the C25K plan (5 min warm up, run 3 min, walk 90 sec, run 5 min, walk 2.5 min, run 3 min, walk 90 sec, run 5 min, 5 min cool down.  I actually had about a 7 minute cool down because I wasn't quite to my house at the end of my 5 minutes of cool down walking.  I figured after a week off it wouldn't hurt to repeat the last day of last week before starting week 5 next week. Next week is 5 minute warm up, run 5 minutes, walk 3 minutes, (repeat 2 more times), 5 minute cool down.

We did however, take Baby Girl for a walk after dinner on Tuesday and Thursday.  I plan to do it again tonight - weather permitting.

As for goals #'s 3 & 4.... I wasn't home.  OK...Yes I was....and I made poor choices.  I wasn't home on Monday, that part is true.  Also, Wednesday I did have to take my daughter to the doctor in the morning and didn't get home until early afternoon, but other than that I was pretty much home on Tuesday, Thursday and today.  Thursday and Friday were better than earlier in the week, but 2/7 isn't a majority!

AHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG

I know what to do.  Why am I not doing it??  I think I am lacking motivation :(

So...in hopes to motivate me by keeping my motivation at the front of my mind, and taking some of my own advice that I recently dished out to a friend of mine...here is some of my motivation that I need to keep in mind:

1. Baby Girl needs me to be a healthy adult roll model so that she grows up to be a healthy adult.  I need to make a healthy lifestyle a habit now so that she doesn't see me struggling with it later on when she is old enough to realize what is going on.
2. Baby Girl needs me to be active enough to play, run, and generally have fun with her.  Who wants a party pooper mom who won't play with her?  Blah...no fun!
3. I need to be in shape to run the 1/2 marathon in November with my friends. They've never run a marathon before so they are counting on me to know what I'm doing and be able to do it!

With that motivation in mind...here are my goals for the week:

1. Run at least twice (I say 2X's rather than 3 because hubby and I have a wedding to go to out of town* so will be gone for a bit.  I don't know that I want to run in a strange, unfamiliar place.  Maybe the hotel will have a treadmill...that would be cool!)
2. Log my food for the days that I am home, and be mindful of what foods I choose and how much I eat while we are gone. I should say log my food even when I'm gone but I'm trying to be realistic here.  We will be with friends that my husband hasn't seen since he was stationed in Japan with the Navy and some that I've never even met.  It will be difficult to log everything by logging in on my phone and guessing at what everything was that I just ate.  Rather than logging it online in my food diary via my phone (which is a PITA), I'm thinking I'll print out a couple of these to carry with me. (if you'd like a different printable food journal, here are some others.)

Keep it simple, right?  2 simple goals.  I should be able to manage that!  At least, in theory.

No...

I WILL be able to manage that!  I can do this :)

*Which reminds me....Because we will be gone, I might not get around to doing Fitness Friday until Saturday or Sunday next week!  We may bring a laptop and I might get it done but if you've ever been in a big wedding then you know...there is no guarantee I will have time!

Pages

I've been playing around a bit with the blog today (Baby Girl is at Day Care today so I have free time!  Yipeeee!!!).  I added some pages up at the top.  See them?  Right now I have "Books" and "Running Events"  but I'll probably add some more later.

Under "Books" I've made a list of the books that I've read this year (or what I can remember - haven't had much time for reading with a newborn!), books I am currently reading, and books I want to read.

Under "Running Events" I put the marathons/tris/etc that I have completed.  I thought about putting my upcoming or planned events but then I thought better of it.  There are crazy people out there and I'm not sure I want them to know where I'm going to be and when!

I made some for my recipe blog too...

Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up...

As I sit here and look at my clutter, I wonder...what does everyone else do to control this?

In my defence...I'm not the messy one (hahahahaha).  But seriously, I have things that I do to control the clutter and mess that, believe it or not, will actually work - If you use them!

1. Do it right away!  If you've finished with the bowl, go ahead and rinse it out and put it in the dishwasher rather than just tossing it in the sink.  It only takes 2 seconds longer and keeps the sink clean.  Plus it's easier to do it in 2 seconds now than waste way more time later doing several dishes.  This works for everything.  Go ahead and put it where it belongs....now.
2. When you leave an area, take something with you! If you are walking to the kitchen to grab a drink of water, go ahead and hit the trash can or the dish washer on the way.  Again, a few minutes now is better than spending much longer later.

This is great in theory.  However, I haven't been able to convince my husband that this is a good idea yet.  I'm not trying to have a perfect house - I couldn't live in a "show home" anyway.  I just don't want to be COMPLETELY embarrassed if someone just stops by to say hello. 

Even more than not wanting to be embarrassed, I want my house to be safe for my Baby Girl.  Leaving things around that she can get into is very dangerous and I'd rather not have to constantly be hovering over her worrying that she is going to get too close to this, or get into that, or pick up...whatever that is over there!

So the questions for the day are:  What do you do to keep your house clutter under control...and how did/do you get the rest of your household on board with it?

Fitness Friday #2

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been without a laptop for the better part of a week and a half.  Living in this age of technology without Internet capabilities was NOT fun!  Granted, yes, I had my iPhone but that just isn't the same.

I did however still do my best to keep up with my healthy goals.  I did my runs as scheduled, and watched what I ate even if I didn't log it (my log is online!  UGH...again, yes, I could access it on my phone but it's much easier to do it with a computer). 

With all the frustration and a few other chaotic things going on, I did forget to weigh last Friday, but I weighed Tuesday morning........195.8 lbs!

This morning I woke up all excited to run (ha ha), and forgot to weigh until later.  I usually weigh first thing in the morning, before breakfast, before anything.  But today I forgot to weigh until after breakfast, after I ran, after I drank a bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of water...so it may be slightly off but it's OK.  It was 196.5...still looking pretty good :) I figure the extra weight was the fluids I just drank...Yeah...I'm going with that! he he

I saw today that according to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, people who use a food log will lose twice as much as people who don't!  WOW  Twice as much! Granted, my biggest goal is getting healthier...but in doing so losing weight is part of it so this is a good thing!  I must, I must, I must keep up with my food log (you thought I was going to say "increase my bust" didn't you?  ha ha, Yeah, I know you did...)

I noticed on my log  (when I did log) that I eat when I'm bored, and I eat way too much processed, quick-and-easy-to-grab type foods.  Not really fast food from a restaurant like Crap-Donald's or Booger King (I am only saying those names as such in order to try to convince myself that they aren't yummy...so far it's only having a marginal affect), but more the frozen, pop in the microwave meals or the little to no cooking snacks.  I know that if I spent a little more time that I could make healthier foods but it is difficult to get into the mindset of doing so.  I have a small child and until today, my husband was out of town (military orders - back today!  YAY!!) so I didn't want to cook a big meal just for me - I tend to forget/choose not to remember the leftovers so it ends up going bad. I think this needs to be addressed as a goal.



My goals for this week:

1. Continue with my running (3x's a week). I'll be at my Mother-in-law's Sunday/Monday so it may end up being Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday rather than my normal Monday/Wednesday/Friday... then again...maybe I'll bring my running stuff to her house and let her watch the little one while I go for a run...  Hmmm... decisions, decisions...
2. Try one new healthy recipe.  Any suggestions?
3. Log my food/water
4. I will plan my snacks and meals and eat them at set times so that I'm not munching just to do it.

If any of you out there in cyber-land have some yummy, healthy recipes, I'd love to hear them!  I have a few of my recipes posted HERE...but they aren't all weight conscious.  I'd love to get some more really healthy, really delicious, recipe options that my hubby and I can try out!

I didn't forget...

I didn't forget about my goal to post each Friday on my health goals...but my laptop went KAPUT!  I've been without internet connection (other than on my phone - but really, who wants to do much on that screen?) for over a week!  I'm on a borrowed laptop now while I decide if it is worth trying to fix the laptop or invest in a new one.  Rather than posting all my fitness/health goals today and then again tomorrow, I'm just going to wait until tomorrow to do it all :)

Run Happy!!

Today I.....

...went for a run.  Week 3 of the C25K which was a 5 minute warm up, 90 second run, 90 second walk, 3 minute run, 3 minute walk, repeat the 90/90 and 3/3, then finally a 5 minute cool down.  Baby Girl went with me in the stroller.  She loves the wind in her face!

...finished a recipe project I started yesterday.  I decided to start a "blog" for all my recipes.  It's not really a blog so much as a place for me to keep all my recipes online so that I don't have to go searching for them all over the place (random cookbooks, food boxes, websites, etc).  I also figured that I couldn't lose them so easily this way! I'm not a great cook nor do I really enjoy cooking if truth be told so there isn't much and all the recipes are pretty simple.

....played with Baby Girl!  I love these summer days where I can just sit on the floor with my baby girl and just let her crawl all over me and giggle!  Oh how I love hearing her giggle!!

...got a headache and took a nap during Baby Girl's afternoon nap.  The house didn't get cleaned up (oh well!) but that nap was MUCH needed!

...remembered to log all my food!  I earned nearly 300 extra cals by running, and came in at 18 cals under my "lose 1.7 pounds a week" goal - but I didn't quite reach my water goal...unless you count the 12oz of gatoraide and the glass of chocolate milk after my run towards it ;)

Doesn't sound like too usy of a day...but I'm exhausted now so it's off to dreamland to refresh for another great day tomorrow!

Fitness Friday #1

First off...the weight ......

.
...
.....
...
.
:::Drum roll please:::
.
...
.....
...
.

197!

w00t! :)


Starting weight: 200 (6/01/10)
Current weight: 197
Goal weight: 140


Last week's Goals were:
1.I have already run 2 X's this week...I will run once more. Did it! Did it! My legs are finally remembering how to run :) I did however have to have a pep talk with myself this morning before getting out of my nice, warm, cozy bed! I even had to gt up before the baby did if I wanted to get out there before the Florida summer sun made it too hot to go out.
2.I will drink at least 64oz of water daily. I *think* I did this...but.....

3.I will log EVERYTHING I eat onto my food diary (even the chocolate ice cream I ate today!) WHAM...didn't do this one :( I forgot/put off/neglected logging - which is why I'm not sure I made goal #2 or not...but I think I did. I know, I know...that's not as good as KNOWING I did...sheesh...get offa my back already! ;)
4.I will weigh myself again on Friday and report back here. Did that one...see above :)

5.I will call this "Fitness Friday." HA HA...see the title? Yep...that was an easy one! lol
OK so that was only a 1/2 week. This week is the REAL thing! No more cheater goals like numbers 4 and 5 up there...those were easy ones lol :) So, without further ado...


This week's goals:

Log my food into my food diary. I need to do this for myself to see if there are any patterns (yes, I'm a nerd like that) to be sure that I'm not only cutting my cals but to make sure that I am eating healthy foods for my body.

Run 3 X's this week (C25K week 3) and walk after dinner as often as possible. The hard part of running this week will be that I have to take the baby with me each time this week. She loves the rides and I love every minute with her...but if I'm honest with myself (and you), I don't like running with the stroller. I don't like not being able to use my arms to run. I didn't quantify how many walks because lately, it's been raining every night so it isn't possible to load up the baby and walk. If the weather permits, I will be going for a walk!

Drink 64oz of water a day. Hopefully I will KNOW I did this one because I will have done #1 :)

They look pretty similar to last week's huh? Yeah, I know. But I want to accomplish them and make them a habit...then I'll add some more to them! :)

After all,

...watch your actions, they become your habits...

Here's to having healthy habits!

Starting over again (again). The starting of Fitness Friday

A friend of mine started a blog to journal her weight loss and it has inspired me to start blogging again and focus on my own weight loss journey. (Go check out her blog and offer a word or two of encouragement)  Since 2007 I have gained 50 lbs!  YIKES!  Way too much to be healthy, so I'm starting over again (again).


I actually started getting serious about this a few weeks ago but I didn't blog it.  Perhaps like Patty, the blog will keep me accountable.  So, for those of you who are friends of mine on Facebook and/or who see me in real life on a regular basis...let me hear about it if I don't update this too often!  For the rest of you...comment me here and send me a stern finger-shaking via e-mail!

OK, throwing all shame out the window I will face up to it.  A few weeks ago I stepped on the scale and saw a 2 in the hundred's spot!  Luckily, there were zeros in the tens and ones places, but I had officially gone into the 200's and it quite literally FREAKED ME OUT!!  I started then.

Exercise: I've started running again.  I'm doing the Couch to 5K to get me back into the swing of running and have agreed/committed to running a local 1/2 marathon in November.  I'm on week 2 and feeling great!! I plan to run 3 X's a week (at least).  I also plan to start throwing in some other non-gym, no-equipment-needed exercises such as squats, push-ups, and sit-ups for some cross training. These may be done sporadically through the day between baby pick-ups and play-times. If I can ever scrape up enough to join the gym I will start swimming again...I love swimming!!

Food:  Nothing special here...just trying to choose more healthy alternatives and put down the fat-filled, greasy, empty calories.  I will usually have a Slim Fast shake in the mornings for breakfast because it is fast and easy, but I won't really be following the full Slim Fast program (I won't be having one for lunch nor will I be having their snacks throughout the day).  More fruits and veggies, and less sugar and processed foods.

I weigh myself first thing Friday mornings before I eat or drink or do anything so hopefully that will give me the truest estimate of my real weight.  Last Friday I was down to 198! :)

This week's goals:
Yes, this week is already 1/2 way over.. but I can still make goals can't I?

So...

1. I have already run 2 X's this week...I will run once more.
2. I will drink at least 64oz of water daily.
3. I will log EVERYTHING I eat onto my food diary (even the chocolate ice cream I ate today!)
4. I will weigh myself again on Friday and report back here. 
5. I will call this "Fitness Friday."  (If you want, I'd love anyone who wants to to join me in making fitness or healthy goals each Friday.  You can post them here in the comments or on your own blog -please comment me and let me know you did so I can go read and be inspired too.  If nothing else, consider making health-related goals just on your own, even if you don't let me indulge in my voyeuristic side and get all nosey into what you are doing!)

E-mail to the House Reps, the Govenor, and anyone else who will listen!

I am a teacher in Florida.
I am a damn good teacher in Florida.

I am a damn good Exceptional Student Education teacher in Florida.

I am a damn good Exceptional Student Education teacher in a low-socioeconomic area of Florida.

I am a damn good Exceptional Student Education teacher in a low-socioeconomic area of Florida who will likely lose my job if SB 6/HB 7189 passes.

I will either lose my job or be forced to change jobs and work at a different school just so that I can survive.

I will not lose my job because of something that I will do, or not do. I will lose my job because my students are unfairly asked to do the impossible, and many are not be able to.

My students do not perform on grade level. This is why they are part of the exceptional student education program. If they could perform on grade level, they would not need the ESE program. I work hard to get my students on grade level and out of the program, but unfortunately, many will never be able to make it to that point. They start off the school year sometimes multiple years behind their classmates, struggle all year to lean basic skills that come easily for their classmates to learn, then are expected to take and pass the same test as their classmates at the end of the year. (Yes, some of them may have extra time to complete the FCAT, but not extra time to prepare for the test to make up for taking longer to learn or being behind to start with due to their disability.)

On top of having a documented learning disability, because of the low-socioeconomic culture that my students live in, many do not have the background knowledge that is so important for learning. Imagine living only 3 miles from the beach but having never seen the ocean; having never traveled outside the neighborhood much less the town, county, or state. All they know is survival; survival that must come before education. Their parents don’t value education because they are so focused on finding work and keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table. The children often have to go days without food, stay in houses with no lights, babysit younger children, or care for the elderly. Many live in cars, or if they are lucky, a room at the Motel 8 that they must share with mom, dad, and several brothers and sisters. I have had many students in the past who have had to miss school to take care of a younger child when the parent couldn’t find childcare. One of my students this year missed nearly a week and a half because she had to take care of her aging grandmother; she is only in the 2nd grade. Many of my students are afraid of what will happen tomorrow. It is a struggle for them to just make it to school each day. It is very difficult to teach a child who is afraid, yet that is what I do on a daily basis. It is difficult for a child to make up missing days but that is what we are faced with.

Many of my students have yet another hurdle in their education. Some also have emotional and/or behavioral disorders which prevent them from learning to their full potential. With these students we as teachers must first focus on the out of control, and often highly dangerous, behaviors of the child first, and slip in academics as often as possible. Students cannot learn if they, or one of their classmates, are throwing chairs, cursing at the teachers, starting fights, or trying to run away.

With all these hurdles it is amazing that any of my students succeed. I push and encourage my students daily to do their best and to learn as much as they can. However, their best does not always match up to “regular” students. Is this their fault? NO! Is it my fault? NO! It is no one’s fault, it is only the reality of the situation.

Imagine for a minute that you were born without a leg (a learning disability). You cannot afford to buy a decent prosthetic leg and must make do with an ill-fitting crumbling hand-me-down (poverty). Now, imagine that you must run a marathon (the school year and the FCAT). Because of your leg slowing you down, you arrive at the starting line late and everyone else has already started and many are miles ahead of you (being below grade level to begin with). How do you feel? Are you terrified? Are you nervous? Do you feel inadequate when looking at the able-bodied athletes? Do you think that this is a good attitude to have to begin with? You know that your coach has done everything that he can to prepare you; you’ve done numerous drills, sprints, and endurance runs, but is it going to be enough? Let’s go a step further; any athlete knows that the home court advantage is really about having the fan’s cheering you on. Imagine that while you are running this grueling trek, your family (the most important people in your life) isn’t there to cheer you on because they have to work, don’t understand how important it is to you, or just can’t be bothered. Now imagine that your coach will lose his job if you do not finish in the top 50%. Just crossing the finish line isn’t enough, you have to excel or your coach will pay the price. How is this fair to you or your coach?

How is what this legislation is trying to do fair to our students or their teachers? (By the way, ALL finishers in an actual marathon receive a metal, even the last one to cross the finish line. The last ones across the line often receive the loudest cheers as they finish because the spectators know that these athletes have struggled the hardest and applaud thier persistance to get to the finish line. Shouldn’t we do this for our struggling students as well?)

I hear all the time that parents and taxpayers complain that teachers are doing nothing but teaching to the test because of FCAT and school grades. How does tying teacher’s pay into the test solve this problem? All I can see happening is making it worse. Teachers will thenthemselves fly into survival mode and teach to the test to insure that their students do well on this one assessment.  Good teachers will leave the profession or flee to higher performing schools leaving the low-socioeconomic schools with the “left-overs.” To me, this seems like the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Our children are our future. Please, take a step back and take a good look at what you are doing to our future.

Basing teacher's pay on things that are completely out of their control is not the solution to a failing educational system. Yes, some things need to be fixed within the educational system, but this is not the solution. In fact, it will only cause more problems in the future.