No Dark Sarcasm In The Classroom, Teachers Leave Those Kids Alone

The last day of school! It was sad, but I'm also back on Monday for summer school, and much of the math department is back next week cleaning out the office, so it really still doesn't feel final. But I really really hope I am back there again in the fall. I loved that school, I love teaching, I just want to be somewhere a little more permanently so I can put down roots, participate in school events and clubs, and just dig into the school community more. My position was so vague this semester, there really was no way to do that.

I really have to stop torturing myself and learn to run at better times of the day; the brutal heat kills me, and sooner or later I'm going to keel right over on the sidewalk from heat exhaustion or sun stroke. The problem is, when I get home from school, around 4:30p.m, is the most convneient time for me to run. I'm not a morning person, so I'm not about to get up an hour and a half earlier, and once I have dinner and settle in for the night, I'm not going to be inclined to get up and run. Fortunately, once summer school is done, I can run in the morning. But until then, I've got to try to attempt to avoid the sunshine torture!

Make Me Believe, Lie If You Have To

As usual, I've been listening to different podcasts on my commute home every afternoon. My two favourites are Jillian Michaels and Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone, but I'm all caught up on those, so I've been listening to Cut The Fat Podcast. I love hearing what different sources have to say, but something they discussed shocked me. I'm hoping it was maybe just a misunderstanding on my part, or maybe I can blame it on the fact that part of my brain was still focusing on driving and missed something key, but from what I did understand, they claimed that it is not helpful to weight loss to do intense cardio. There was some long-winded scientific explanation about burning carbs instead of fat, and basically they flat out said that jogging was worse for you in terms of weight loss when compared to walking.

Now I'm sure there's all kinds of ways where that would be true. If I walked for 3 hours but jogged 30 minutes, I'm sure walking would be better. Or if I walked 5 times a week but only jogged twice. But all things equal, how would lower intensity exercise be better? What happened to calories in vs. calories out? Isn't it better to burn more calories, and have a higher 'after-burn'?

They do favour interval training above all else, but I'm really at a loss. How can burning fewer calories be better for you if you are trying to lose weight?

There's A Big Hard Sun, Beating On The Big People, In The Big Hard World

I just finished watching Into The Wild (which is conveniently #145 on IMDb's Top 250 Movies list). I didn't know the story at all before watching it, and it was a beautiful movie. The scenery is amazing, great music (I mean it's Eddie Veder!), and it's an interesting story. And it definitely makes me want to include some Thoreau in my reading adventures. Definitely worth a watch.

The Rain's Gonna Wash Away I Believe It

A very long day that started with a difficult run, followed by a wedding dress fitting (not mine!), a very long afternoon of exam marking, then dinner and laughs till midnight. I'm tired and ready for bed.

I should include that so far, all my meal challenges have gone quite smoothly. I am getting rather good at this me thinks! But tomorrow will be the really tough one, eating at an amusement park. Yikes.

Shiny Happy People Holding Hands

For a Friday, it wasn't a great work day. I don't think I'll get into it, I've ranted more than enough on Nick* and my bookclub girls tonight, it's just a frustrating situation and I'm stuck in a rock and a hard place and basically just have to let myself be taken advantage of or risk being the squeaking wheel that people will think twice before hiring in the future. When there are so few teaching jobs out there right now, it does not pay to be the squeaky wheel.

Needless to say, I wasn't in a great mood heading out for dinner with the girls. I felt bad for my car pool buddy cause I ranted quite a bit. But I calmed down after talking it out, and had a really great evening with the girls. I am so lucky to be a part of this group of friends; they really are amazing, and it's so nice to have a group of girlfriends that get together on a regular basis.

My dilemma today is learning how to get along with someone's spouse who you really don't like. She is my oldest friend. Him, I find to be a condescending know-it-all. And tonight he felt like giving me unsolicited advice on what I chose to put as my Facebook status. Because apparently I am too dumb to have considered my thoughts (or privacy settings) before putting it into writing. Unfortunately, the wedding is this fall and I'm in the wedding party, so I really have to play nice, at least until the wedding is over. And lucky me, it sounds like the bride and groom and I will be having dinner tomorrow night. Again, I love her dearly. Him, I can't stand. And I've only met him a few times! I try not to make such quick judgements on people, but I haven't heard anything come out of his mouth (or in his excessive Facebook comments) that doesn't sound like an arrogant jerk that just wants everyone to realize how super intelligent he is and how stupid the rest of us must be in comparison. Personally, I find it overbearing and rude how he talks down to people. But she seems crazy happy with him, so who am I to say anything? I'm happy that she is happy, I just cringe at the thought of being around the guy. So what do you do? How do you bite your tongue when, if it were any other random person, you would give them a piece of your mind? I don't know how much more of his attitude I can take before I snap; I just have to keep reminding myself that I am keeping the peace for her sake/happiness. Could be a tough dinner date tomorrow though.

And yes, I have deleted him from Facebook. As juvenile as it sounds, he can't bug me if he's not there.

Everybody Dies But Not Everybody Lives

Another long day. Exam #2 (hey, proctoring and marking is tiring work!) and then baseball. We had a great game; we played against a really friendly team and just had a lot of laughs. We've yet to win a game, but we keep getting better!

I'm really starting to feel like my choices are becoming my new habit, like binging isn't necessarily my instinct anymore. I still think about it, but I'm more easily swayed towards making the right decision, whereas I used to be more along the lines of binge first, think later. I like it. It is actually making it easier to live healthy for the long run. I hope it sticks. Permanently.

I did spend some time on my goals last night and making up some lists; once I finalize any of them, I will get them posted!

Take Control Of Your Mind And Meditate, Let Your Soul Gravitate To The Love

I had a fabulous run today! Even with the lovely mist I was being covered with, I felt nearly invincible. What a difference it made to do 3 (albeit longer) intervals as oppose to 4. What a great run. It was almost effortless (I said almost!) until I under-estimated where my last interval would end, and then had to run an extra (long) block. But overall, I feel great.  Now I just need to get caught up on the almost two weeks I am behind!

I feel like I've been mildly ignoring my goals recently, and especially since Nick started the 100 pushup challenge earlier this week, I really feel like I should start working on some of them a little more intensely. I think I will hold off on the pushups until winter (it's a good indoor activity), but there's lots of things I could be doing, and with 6 weeks of vacation coming up, I could be getting together a list of books to read as I lounge in the sun! So I hope to put together some ideas for my literary goals over the next few days. I am also attempting to put together some good quotes for my top 101, so here is a sample:

I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experiences behind him.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

You can't escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

- Abraham Lincoln

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.

- James Oppenheim

A man who wants something will find a way; a man who doesn't will find an excuse.

- Stephen Dolley Jr