Disappointment

Again, my training slacked off so much that I am not doing the half marathon or full this coming weekend. I started the summer with big goals, but it didn't result in what I had hoped. This is a disappointment. I just knew that if I tried it, knowing that I hadn't run ten or more miles in over a month, that I wouldn't be able to do a job I was happy with. And I'd missed discounted registration prices so I would've had to pay 80 dollars... for a race I wasn't sure about. So, now I'm (yep, the title) disappointed.
In other news, Friday is a teacher work day, so I have a whole day to get prepared for the rest of my time in the class, organize, etc. Should be a productive day. I have been making a list of things to accomplish. I've implemented some new center ideas, so that has been fun. The kids are still great, and I still love the job. People are now asking me "what is next after this?" I do not have anything lined up and I worry about that. We'll see.
I must go now and prepare for the day.
Oh, I like "quiet music" for when the students should be quiet, so I found "Mozart for the Mind" on itunes, downloaded it, and made a cd for the classroom. It is great music! :) Just thought I'd share. :)
Hope you, Reader, are well.

Bustle

There's always bustle around here. Our youngest turns ten tomorrow, so this weekend was the family party. My family came down, and my in-laws all came over, as well. We had a very nice time. We made her favorite: breakfast burritos fixings, coffee cake and I tried a new recipe: Angel Lush Pineapple cake. Mine looked ok, a little lopsided, but it tasted yummy.
Running has been scarce to nonexistent. The half marathon is next Sunday and I'm still not totally convinced: I haven't run longer than ten miles, and haven't run much in the last three weeks.
Schoolwork still has to be done: grading and lesson creating, but I always enjoy it. The kids are still great and I'm really happy to be there. I'm lucky. Only one problem: the flu has been through three children in the class so far... I try to wash hands regularly, but I'm hoping it stays away! I don't want to have to get a "substitute for a substitute". :)
I can tell I've been really busy. I have four scrapbooking magazines full of ideas, waiting to be perused, but I have had too much to do. I also have tons of email to get through and reply to. For the first time in a long time, I haven't even gotten to read all my friends' blogs! Tonight, though, that is the goal, and I did read a few before composing this, as well.
My dryer finally "gave up the ghost" this week. My husband's been repairing it temporarily over the past few weeks. But it'd gotten so that it wouldn't get through one load before it broke again. So, we used his overtime $ and got a new washer and dryer at the same time. We got energy and water efficient models. We also got a bit of a deal: if you spent so much they were another percentage off, we got the floor models and we picked them up and installed them, so that made them cheaper. They weren't the prices you see on the link, for sure! They are pretty neat. And so far, I'm enjoying catching up on the LOADS of laundry that we hadn't done. Well, I like the cathing up part, anyway. :)
I haven't read anything since summer break, except my daily (or almost daily) Bible readings. I have "how to raise a teen with love and logic" to get started, from the library, but haven't sat down to read it. Maybe I will get it done by the second daughter? ;) Just kidding. :)
Well, off to get some work done. Hope you are well.

Not much time to blog these days. Hardly time to check email. Loving subbing. First graders are wonderful! I have a great group! My oldest daughter had a great cc meet and algebra test last week and my youngest had a great soccer game and math test, also! We are proud of them as students and as hard working athletes. And they're having fun! :) Staff meeting this morning, curriculum night Thursday, plus work in between. :) Husband's hard at work, and enjoying the way his product's going. Our youngest got sick yesterday, so husband is staying home with her today. That's always hard. It's my job to take care of them, but while subbing, not full time teaching, I have to go to work if I can while he stays home. Tough for me. Hoping she's better today.
My grandparents came for a visit over the weekend and got to see the girls' sporting events. Was a really nice weekend.
No running whatsoever right now. I go from one thing to the next and am exhausted. Not to mention I have a cold: in my chest, head, plugged ears, coughing, not sleeping=tired during the day... It makes me tired but I'm not taking any meds of any sort. But I will live. It's just a cold. :) Well, that's all for now. Just wanted to log on and say hello!

Love this!

I was in the midst of cleaning my desk, when I took a break to check my google reader for new posts. I saw this book excerpt in a post by Thimbleanna, and totally loved it. I printed this out to put on the fridge! :) Hope you get a smile! :) This excerpt is from Thimbleana's blog-thanks, Thimbleanna!

"It’s from The Twits by Roald Dahl and it’s describing Mrs. Twit. (Oh how we love Roald Dahl.)

But the funny thing is that Mrs. Twit wasn’t born ugly. She’d had quite a nice face when she was young. The ugliness had grown upon her year by year as she got older.

Why would that happen? I’ll tell you why.

If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."

Here's to sharing sunbeams! :))

Autumn is coming

I ran this morning and I could feel autumn approaching. I smelled the dry leaves; heard them crunch under my feet. Most neighborhoods were quiet, even at 8am. The sun started to come up; I saw the most beautiful sunrise over some water, and colorful clouds. Then, as quickly as it came, the clouds swooped in, gray and blue, and blocked it. I ran ten miles and I was so happy. The weather was wonderful, nice and cool. I ended my first ten miler since May, I think. Since then, I haven't ran over anything other than the 7 last week. Anyway, I ran at a 9:20 pace so I was pleased! I told myself this was the "do or quit" run. If I made it without collapsing at the end or walking during, then I was still shooting for the half marathon in October. I did. :) I'm pretty happy about that!
In other news, school has been great, exhausting but great! :) I love the kids, the school and my fellow teachers. I only get to sit at lunchtime, so I my feet are usually blistered or tired, however, the day goes SO fast! There's so much to get done! :) I went to two meetings last week, one on a new way to teach handwriting and one on the new assessments the schools are using to establish the children's current reading level. Both were really interesting! I enjoy learning the new ways to do things. :) And, the best part, I had two kids tell me on Friday that they weren't ready to go home because they were having fun learning! :) And I got hugs on their way out, too! :)
I am having dinner with a good friend tonight. We don't get to see each other much due to our kids and their schedules! :) So, that will be fun.
On the girls' schedules: cross country meets, piano lessons, soccer games, dentist appts, and one curriculum night.
In reading news, I found time to read a book this weekend: Chardonnay Charade. It's a wine mystery. Interesting, and a fast read.
That's all for now. Hope you are well, readers.