Still Alive

Sorry to leave you hanging.

Boot camp is still kicking my butt, but at least this week I can walk up and down stairs without too much effort.  I am still trying to be asleep by 9 which in it's own way makes me an old person.

I have never in my life had this much accountability for my nutrition and fitness.  Yesterday, at the senior breakfast, I had a Chick-fil-a chicken biscuit.  After exerting major self control on Monday to turn down 5 different offers of chocolate cupcakes, I had no will power left.  It smelled too good.  And it was so good....

Until this morning that is.  I decided not to lie on my food log and I won't make that mistake again.  After an hour long, really tough workout that focusing on cardio, core strengthing, and arms,  I got my first (and hopefully only, if my conscience will allow a little fib here and there) taste of the encouragement after party.  It was terrible.

I may be back to crying up and down stairs tomorrow.

Oh, and as a side note, I didn't mention in my last post that another reason I am doing this is because Scott and I have a bet about who can lose the most before April.  It's kind of unfair since he is a boy and all.  I mean, all they have to do is eat healthy for 2 weeks, run twice, and they've lost 20 pounds.  But I am am stubborn and I am determined to win.  If I lose then I have to do some karaoke thing at a Braves' game.  But if I win, then Scott has to get rid of all of his flowered Hawaiian shirts.  I am so winning.

Seriously, What was I thinking?

Actually, I know exactly what I was thinking- April 5th, want to look amazing, want the dress to have to be altered down and not up, want to love looking at the pictures.  If this isn't enough motivation, then I don't know what would be.

Let me tell you now that I was crazy. 

Today was day 2 of Operation Boot Camp.  I am getting up at 4:30 to drive to Powder Springs to be tortured by a pair of VERY in-shape guys for an hour every morning.  

At 5:15, they start by looking over the log book of what we ate yesterday and chiding us for the bad things we ate.  Apparently,  starting next week, if we eat something we shouldn't then we have to endure "encouragement"  after the normal hour workout.  I want no part of any "encouragement."

Following, there is a workout designed to make us wish for death.  several times.  

People, I have NEVER in my life been this sore.  I am walking like a 95 year old with a double hip replacement.  I have entertained the idea of asking for an elevator key because the steps to my classroom are suddenly the thing I dread most about school.  If my arms didn't hurt so much then I would think that a walker must be nice.  I am scared to stay in one position for too long for fear that I won't be able to move when I need too.  

I have been down this road before and I do know the soreness brought on by a new exercise program.  But, I'm telling you that nothing compares to this.

So, do me a favor.  If you see me, tell me that I look amazing.  That you can already see a difference.  Lie to me.  Lie through your teeth.  And remind me how amazing I will look on April 5th.  If I am going to get through this, I am going to need all the real encouragement that I can get.

Absence

Yes, I know that it has been a while since I have written.  But I am burnt out.  Completely.  

One the wedding front, things are falling into place.  I now have a dress.  Bridesmaid's dresses are ready to be ordered.  The colors have been decided.  We have booked a caterer.  (We may have even won a rehearsal dinner!)  And today I think that we got the photographer.  

I wish that work was as easy as wedding planning.

One Million Can

You know that for several years, I have been involved with the Passion movement and this summer, I joined Passion on the World Tour to Uganda.  Well, there is something new and cool that Passion has launched.  It is called OneMillionCan.  The idea is that we can change the world each by giving small amounts.  

At Passion 07, the 20,000 college students in attendance were challenged to fully fund 8 global projects.  In the course of 12 months, they gave over 1 million dollars and that 1 million dollars was used to change lives around the world.

Now the goal is to keep going.  There are 7 new causes to support.  (Two are with ministries in Uganda!)  

So go to onemillioncan.com  and watch the video.  See if God pulls you to help one of the causes and give.

Wedding on a Budget

Should I choose, I think that this wedding could be pulled off without some of the major expenses.

Today, I had students offer to sing at the wedding (today's was actually the 3rd student that offered this), be our photographer, and make me a custom wedding dress.  

My people

My favorite class to teach (at least right now) is the Honors Analysis class.  I don't know why the name got switched from Pre-Calc to Analysis, but that's what it is.  It is a hard course and covers a lot of material.  Students usually struggle and then whine when they are not making an A.  But the thing that I love about teaching it is that many of these kids are actually having to think in math for the first time ever.  

Today, we started discussing the 6 trigonometric functions.  You know, sine, cosine, tangent, secant, cosecant, and cotangent.  One of my students piped up that secant is her favorite becasue the abbreviation for it is sec and that makes her think of sports and why she needs to do well in math so that she can keep playing.  I made the confession that my favorite is cosine because something about the sine function seems like it is the overachiever.  And I like to root for the underdog.  And I got made fun of, which is completely what I expected.

And then, L. said, "When I was little, I didn't have imaginary friends.  I had imaginary numbers."  I asked her to eleborate on this.  (That sounds fancy.  Really I said "What?!?")

And she said that it was true, each number had it's own personality.  The number 2- a tomboy.  And 6- the goody-goody teacher's pet.

How funny is that?  These kids are my kind of people.

The Ring

Finally, here are some pictures of the ring!

 

I absolutely love it!

One easy decision

I can guarentee that this cake will be no where near our wedding:

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/09/cake-head-diet-aid-killing-appetites.html

Manic Depressive

Today, I came face to face with what happens when the following things collide:

- extreme lack of sleep

- thoughts of another late school night because of Open House

- 2 classes of underpreforming, ungrateful, poorly behaved ninth graders

- an upper level Honors class that won't give you a break for getting a problem wrong

- a search for a wedding location

I had a meltdown.

Who knew that an engagement would make me manic depressive.

Most Useless Day

This might be my least productive school day in my teaching career.  When I should be thinking about how to best teach finding a logistic regression model, I am thinking about locations.

So here is the question for today:  If you were going to get married in April in the Atlanta/LaGrange/Newnan area, where would you have the ceremony?  The reception?

The details

So I was talking to Wendy at dinner tonight and wondering about the best way to share details. I have already talked on the phone way more than normal and I am having a hard time censoring for time's sake. Therefore, I am going to type it here. And if you are getting bored with the story then you can skim it.

The first thing that you should know is that Scott and I have been talking about marriage a whole lot. I knew that he would ask and he was pretty confident that I would say yes. We have even talked about the fact that every time we did something out of the ordinary, I thought that it must be when he was going to propose. And then when it didn't play out the way I had worked it out in my head, I would be a little sad.

You should also know that I am a little bit of a thunder thief. I think that I can read people (and especially Scott) so well that it is impossible for me to be surprised. Scott will want to do something sweet for me, like send flowers to work, and before he can executed his plan, I will say "Hey, it would be so sweet if you sent flowers today." Rightfully, it completely annoys him, but makes me laugh.

So yesterday, I was heading up to Gainesville to help Scott pack for his upcoming move to Atlanta. On Thursday, he told me that he wanted to go to this place on the square for dinner. He said that it was nice and I would need to bring a dress, which was really kind of a bummer because last week was so long and exhausting and all I wanted to do was wear sweats all day. But he was excited about going.

So excited in fact, that I thought "He is totally going to propose tonight." I was so cocky that I wrote it down. Give me some credit for not just telling him up front.

But, the day didn't go as I thought that it would. Scott was (and is) sick and so we spent a few hours at urgent care and then at the pharmacy getting medicine for bronchitis. He also initiated a conversation about how he was nervous about talking to daddy. And he asked a lot of questions about when I would want to get married and how long I would want to be engaged. He completely threw me off the scent and by the time we went to dinner, I was resigned to the fact that it was just another dinner. A nice one, but nothing special.

Dinner was great (www.scottsonthesquare.com) and towards the end of dinner I suggested that we take a walk around the square. It was just so nice outside. And so we walked for about 30 minutes around downtown. Along the way he asked if I thought he was going to propose that night and I fessed up. He asked if I was disappointed that he hadn't and I said that disappointed wasn't the right word because I knew that he would do it at the right time but that this was how it was going to be EVERY time we did something together. I was always going to expect it.

So we made our way back to the middle of the square and we were standing there just enjoying being together. He asked if I was sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I jokingly responded with "Are you offering?"

It was then that I felt his heart rate shoot through the roof. He got down on one knee and said some really sweet things, none of which either of us can remember now. I cried. And said yes. The ring that Scott gave me was my grandmother's ring and she passed away at the beginning of the year. It is beautiful and filled with such sweet sentiment. When I realized that he had decided to use this ring, I started crying all over again. Bobbie would be so happy. (I was even wearing yellow, her favorite color on me.)

And so we stayed in the square a while longer just enjoying the moment. The proposal was everything I every wanted: it was so sweet, it was simple, it was private, and it was a surprise. Scott is continuing to amaze me with his ability to make me so happy.

Scott completely floored me. He had been down to talk to daddy over 2 weeks ago. And he had dinner with both of my parents on Wednesday to get the ring. And I had no clue.

We went back to the restaurant to celebrate with a glass of wine and when the owner/chef (who had visited all of the tables during dinner) heard the story, he helped us celebrate by picking up the drink tab.

Today, we went to the Falcon's game with my parents, Rebecca and Josh. It was so nice to be able to see my family and celebrate with them. All day I have been completely giddy and working hard at getting over the weirdness of being engaged. I, who normally never wears rings, am completely in love with wearing this one. Everything right now seems like so much fun just because there is some new sparkle. In fact, I have had to stop a couple of times while typing this to think about how typing is so much more interesting with something shinny on my hand.

While the thought of making all the decisions necessary to planning a wedding makes me want to freak out a little, I am so looking forward to becoming Mrs. Scott Smith.

Stay tuned for episodes. I am sure that there will be many funny stories along the way.

I may have a problem

I think that I may be a workaholic. Really. My case is as follows:

Monday- 13 hours
Tuesday- 13 hours
Wednesday- 10.5 hours (but would have been longer had Sara not called and asked if I wanted to grab dinner before small group)
Thursday- 11.5 hours
Today- 12.5 and counting (of course, I am using these few moments to blog and so does that really count?)

Other supportive evidence-
I am getting up before 5AM to get to school between 6 and 6:30. I don't mind getting up early, but pre-5AM is not early. It's loony.

It's Friday. Of the first week. You could smell the rubber burning as everyone else peeled out of her at 4. And I am still here.

Swimming hasn't even started!


And here's the thing, I don't know why I have worked so much. Nevertheless, here are my attempts to rationalize:
- I do my absolute best not to take school home with me. I need time away to be a rest.
- Scott has his son this week and so evening dates are out.
- Wendy is out of town and Angela, my friend & other roommate, is also a high school teacher just going back to school.
- It's the first week. It's going to be busy.

I just feel like there is always so much more that needs to be done. As humbly as I can say this, I am a great teacher. You may ask how I know and I just know. But it isn't really me. Honestly, it is evidence of Christ's work through me. Otherwise, there is no way that I would be as patient or as creative. And I certainly wouldn't care as much as I do. And to rest when I know that it could be better kills me.

But I am EXHAUSTED. And it has only been one week. So I am going to work on margin. Putting a time limit on myself. Monday, Sara and I are going to start walking the track at 4:30. We will walk for 30 minutes and if I feel that I absolutely must come back to my room and work, then I will. But I will try my best to just leave it all behind for the day. I am going to start saying no to things. Today, I did manage to delete the email asking for Saturday School Workers and the one asking for a sponsor for the Interact Club. But, I did tell a fellow teacher that I would co-sponsor the Gaming Guild. (It's a sickness people.) I am going to become more protective of my time away from school. No more cramming that full either. Mark my words.

The first step to recovery starts with acknowledging there is a problem, right? Let's hope so.

Day 1 Down

Day One is over. I am sitting and checking email for the first time all day. I have a love hate relationship with the first day back. Let's start with the bad.

I have some NASTY blisters from wearing real shoes instead of flip flops. My feet and throat hurt. I had all of 10 minutes for lunch and one quick bathroom. The copier acted up 5 times while I was copying my syllabuses. I broke the pull cord on my screen when I tried to pull it down for my first class. I have 65 new students to learn the names of and tomorrow I will have an additional 30. I am just exhausted for being on all day and now I have to spend several hours planning for tomorrow. I worked bell to bell, even during third period which lasted an extra 30 minutes because the lunchrooms were over crowded.

On the good side. I love what I do. High school kids are so unique. Is there ever another time in our life when we are convinced that we know it all but are terrified that someone else will find out that we don't? I love being excited about math and about seeing them get it- even on the first day. This one kid, a freshman nonetheless, told me that my class was the best all day because we did work. Whoa! I love the way that my room is set up. (Thanks, Scott!) I feel like I accomplished something.

When it gets to be October and I have started complaining about needing a break, remind me that I do love this job.

By the way, I think that I did a good job of scaring my pre-calc kids. I sent them off with a smile and homework that is going to be hard!

First Day Jitters

They never go away. Each year without fail, the night before school starts is a sleepless one for me. I lay in bed and wonder what my students will be like. I wonder if I will have sweet kids or rotten ones. I run through lessons in my head and ponder whether I am teaching it in the order that I should be so that the greatest number of kids can learn the greatest amount of material. Will I have supportive parents or just nosy busy-bodies?

I wonder if by beefing up my pre-calc class if I have made it too hard. Will I lose them on day one and fight all semester to convince them that they can do hard math?

This year, I am teaching a new course- Math 1. Not just new to me, but new to the whole public high school curriculum in the state of Georgia. It is chop full of discovery activities and performance tasks. Designed to make the students better mathematical reasoners. Not as many standards as the old curriculum, but much deeper. Now I wonder if I will be able to find the balance between tasks and lectures.

I am just about finished with my lesson for tomorrow. (I teach, a lot, on the first day. And I give homework.) My lunch is packed. I have my first day outfit picked out. And now I am going to go lie in bed for too few hours staring at the ceiling and being nervous.

A New Blog

As if I needed a new blog to follow.

But if you know my biggest pet peeve, then you understand why I added this to my google reader feed.

And, have I mentioned how much I love google reader? If you are not using it, then you should be.
I actually think that someone sent me a news article about this blog a while back, but I obviously wasn't using google reader then and so I didn't remember to go check it.

Auld Lang Syne

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions.

At least, not on January 1^st.

I make my resolutions now. Maybe it’s that I get excited about new school supplies. Maybe it’s that I have been mostly lazy for two months and so I need a change. Maybe it’s that I feel like I get a new start with a fresh slate of kids. Maybe it’s that I am just meant to live on an academic calendar.

Whatever the reason, when August comes, I feel the need to make life changes. And so, here I give you my New (school) Year’s resolutions:

1. I will be TOTY.
2. I will be better at parent contact. Wait. If there is anything that I have learned from the numerous educational classes and seminars I have sat through, it is that a goal needs to be measurable. Let’s try again. At least once a month, I will attempt to have contact (phone, in person, or most likely, email) with a parental unit for each student I teach. (Note that if I am successful at this, I am making great strides at achieving goal #1.)
3. I will run a half-marathon (or the equivalent of one) by August 1, 2009.
4. I will lose weight. (Yeah, I know that this one as it is currently stated isn’t exactly measurable, but I am NOT posting my weight on a blog.)

I think that there are others, but it is probably be best to keep the list short and manageable. Wish me luck.

Now if only the first day of school came with a balloon drop and champaign toast…

Scott's Birthday

Yesterday was Scott's birthday. It also happened to be his weekly pool league night. Scott mentioned that he would love it if I would bring cupcakes to pool league. I don't think that he was expecting this:

I used decorating sugar to do the colors and stripes.


The center circle is a Necco wafer with the number done in black frosting.
And the chalk was made from two blue starbursts.


The look on his face was incredible and made the effort worth it. I am already worried that I won't be able to top it next year.

The Road to TOTY 2009

You know how the presidential campaigning starts way before you would ever expect?

I am going to take a lesson from the candidates and start now. My first step towards TOTY 2009 elections is to volunteer to stay at 8th grade parent night tonight. Doesn't that sound exciting? I get to stand behind a table and answer questions about high school math classes for next year's rising class and their parents.

The campaign begins.

Maybe Next year

The campaign to be TOTY didn't pay off. I was nominated, but didn't get the votes. Maybe next year.

New Blog

There are so many things going on right now. I created a new blog to address perhaps the biggest thing. Check it out.