Oh My Blog

It started with a 3 day weekend due to MLK Day.  Then came the cold front/winterymixpocalypse. FBISD cancelled school for Tuesday and Wednesday.  It looks like we'll be going back for a 2 day work week.

I'm catching up on things I should have been doing and one of them is blogging.  The journal prompts I've missed are below.  Don't expect full responses to each - some of them suck.

I'll be back to blogging in less of a list type manner starting tomorrow.  Looking forward to the weekend! lol

5. A time you don't want to forget. My wedding.  I had so many people there who I loved.  We all had a great time.  I danced and danced.  Everyone was happy. 

6. A trip you want to take this year. I don't know.  I don't have any specific places in mind.  I'd like to see people.  I'd like to see my family and friends in El Paso (for a fun trip, not the result of something bad happening), my sister Jerra (and maybe meet my nephew), perhaps a trip to Arizona to see Alex and California to see Michael.  There are so many people I'd like to see.  Heck, maybe I'll just take a cruise with Dan.  I just need life to be less filled with bad trips so I can make time for good trips.

7. Your top 3 priorities. Family/friends, my library and its minions, my health.  I know I need to up my self care...

8. A list of places you have visited. Skipping.

9. Do your actions match your words? Yes.  Sometimes my words are quite lofty.  I try.

10. One thing you have learned about yourself last year. I am ever the optimist.

11. A challenge you have overcome. Fucking 5:30 am alarms (excuse my language).

12. A need you can meet. Doing more things which make me happy - like blogging, reading, and spending time with people I like.

13. A place you have been recently. Tul-sa, Oklahoma.  I don't know why I break Tulsa down into two separate pieces when I say it... but yeah.  Visited for Jono's graduation.  It was an adventure.  I'd never been there before.  It's VERY wide open.

14. Someone who made you proud. There are people in my life who make me proud every day just by getting up and doing what they do.  Sometimes that is a battle.  Know I love you and appreciate you.

15. A good idea. Sleep. Reading. Travel. Adventure.  These are all of my favorite good ideas.

16. What are your personal gifts. I'm resourceful and kind. 

Top 10 Things That Make Me Happy

While in El Paso, I watched a show with my mom where two celebrities listed the top 10 things that make them happy. Friends, family and health are givens. Here's my list followed by some explanations. What makes you happy?

1. Traveling
2. Having a great book to read
3. Writing
4. Game nights
5. Teaching
6. Someone singing to me
7. The smell of rain
8. Fountains
9. PJs
10. Crafting

Traveling - There is just something about leaving your life behind (not forgetting it, mind you) and seeing some place new. It's the adventure of being out of your own element and in someone else's. Nothing compares to being able to travel and experience something new you would have never been able to if you had stayed in one place.




Having a Great Book to Read - The next best thing to traveling will always be having a great book to read. Done well, great writing transports the reader to amazing places, real or not. I've been given some flack for reading mostly fiction or humorous non-fiction; told that it is second best to reading to learn. I whole heartedly object to the idea that reading fiction is not reading to learn. Fiction teaches the human condition.




Writing - Though I've lost touch with much more than blog writing lately, it still makes me very happy. It's like watching TV (which I don't do much of at all) or reading a great book, but with the ability to control where the story goes. I can create all sorts of adventures and choose where they go and how they get there. It's better than dreaming.




Game Nights - Growing up, my family played board and card games together. We are all competitive by nature. I love getting together with my friends or family for games. The games are really secondary to the laughter and fun of being around great people.




Teaching - I'm probably the only teacher on the planet who hates summer vacation. True, I get to travel. There is that, and I'm grateful for having the time to travel. However, I miss the kids. I miss bringing new ideas to them in fun and interesting ways and seeing them respond. They're also just dang fun to be around. It's truly the kids I loved about working at Disney. It's awesome I get to recreate that magic in a classroom.




Someone Singing to Me - It can be any song, even sung badly. Singing solo or along with the radio, making that connection lyrically, possibly emotionally (depending on the song) just makes me smile. It's like having my own personal rock star, performing just for me. Love it.




The Smell of Rain - It's the smell of the rain hitting the hot pavement (or sand in the desert) which hits you before the rain actually begins to fall that I love the most. The smell of the rain once it starts to fall isn't quite the same.




Fountains - No idea where I picked up my love for fountains. Even the most basic fountains draw me in. The more elaborate fountains absolutely enthrall me. I'm compelled to get in all of them... It's a serious battle of willpower not to.




PJs - I'm not talking about sexy nighties. I'm talking about super soft to the touch pants and matching tops, often with polka dots or absurd prints. At the end of the day, it's fantastic to slip into a pair of PJs and relax. My mother used to buy me PJs every time I was sick. They always brought me comfort and made me happy.




Crafting - It's about the challenge, not necessisarily the finished product. Trying new crafts, gluing, twisting, sewing, hammering things together to create something new is always something I'm willing to do. I'll see something and think, "I can make that." It's the process of trying to figure out how to do it, then actually doing it that I like most about crafting.

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30 Things Series - In Flight Edition (11-15)

All boarded, iPad in airplane mode, playlist loaded. Let's knock out another chunk of these.




11. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.

While I agree that all three can be fun, I'm unsure of the necessity of a cordless drill or a black lace bra. I feel like the last two on that list only lead to trouble.

12. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.

I've got a shopping habit. Anyone who knows me already knows that. However, I rarely spend a fortune on anything. Every designer piece of anything I own was on sale well below half of retail. I've gotten much better at curbing my retail therapy this past year as well.

There are a few things that I'd like that I know are ridiculously (and therefore unjustifiably) expensive. Even the excuse that I deserve them hasn't been enough to push me to purchase any of them. I'd love a pair of Christian Louboutin red-soled shoes. I'd be tickled over even an empty Tiffany's box. Though, like I said, can't justify them.

I try to save my splurges for travel. I guess you could say that I've bought myself lavish trips. I spent a week in Paris and a week at Disney World - because I deserved to go.

Try as I might to save money in the future, I'm very rarely going to turn down a chance to travel. I want to see more of the US, tour Europe, even check out places where I can't google what the signs say because my keyboard doesn't do those characters.

13. The belief you deserve it.

It's not hard for me to believe I deserve to spend money on travel. I've done everything the "right" way in life. I behaved as well as any teenager could, never got knocked up, got good grades, a scholarship, went to college, graduated cum laude, and found myself a great career (not just a job). All of this equals to me that I deserve to spend money on ridiculously expensive travel. Hell, even a short "staycation" at a hotel in town for no other reason than I want to escape the rest of the world is justified in my mind.

While this may sound somewhat like entitlement, I feel the need to say that I worked to get where I am. I've done what I'm supposed to do and what I've had to do to make my world happen. That's different from saying I deserve it because I am awesome.




14. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine, and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don't get better after 30.

The first two were on my to-do list for a long time. I finally broke down and went to some experts for my skin. So far, I haven't collected many more wrinkles than those I picked up around 22. I'm hoping to keep my skin that way in as much of a healthy way as possible.

Starting earlier this year, I picked up running. I actually really enjoy going out for a run, even if I don't get to go for very long. It makes me happy to be able to go clear my head and people watch while running. I haven't been able to go for a month, but I intend to pick it up again soon.

As far as the rest of the things which don't get better after 30, I'll just lump everything under Health.

I know I need to start keeping out of things I'm allergic to - just because I can tolerate it with a Benedryl does not make it a good idea.

I know I ought to start watching my diet. I can count calories all day, but in the end, weight loss does not equal a healthy diet. I've cut a lot of the garbage out of my diet. I suppose I should look into cutting more of the crap and adding some more good things instead.

I know I could use more sleep on a regular basis. As much fun as I have on the Internet, I seriously need to hit the hay before midnight every night. This will likely be the hardest for me, considering the people I talk to online tend to keep later hours due to time zone differences.




15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship, and all of those other facets of life that do get better.

I love being a teacher. While I get paid well, the satisfaction is definitely the kids. I miss them all summer, even though I get new kids in the fall. I look forward to going to class to teach and interact with them. It drives me. I love them so very much - even the challenging ones!

Someday I might like to try my hand at something else. I haven't given up completely on writing. Law school interests me. Perhaps I'll stick around the schools and become a principal. I don't know. For now, I plan to keep doing what I love until it has lost its luster. The kids deserve that.

I'm pretty sure I'm working towards the most satisfying relationship of my life. :)

 

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Two Things Tuesday

My good friend, Elizabeth, writes a blog in which she has weekly posts for Thursday entitled, "Three Things Thursday". As I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon, I was inspired by a structured weekly post. With her permission, I altered her Thursday and changed it to my very own Two Things Tuesday.

2tT posts will be around random things. Sometimes they may be themed. No promises.

Now, without further ado, two things:

1. I love my movie buddy Dan dislikes going to the movies. I love going to the movies. It really doesn't even matter what the movie is - I'm there for the escapism and, more importantly, the popcorn. I could live on popcorn. Since Dan does not like to go to the movies, I was left with the option of not seeing them or seeing them at home. Enter Elizabeth! She is my movie buddy, and I am truly grateful for her. We snap up the $5 Groupon tickets to Studio Movie Grill every time they pop up. It makes me happy to go to the movies with Elizabeth.

2. Buh-Bye Queso In recent times, I have been eating a lot of chips and queso. I loved the melted cheese. It didn't even have to be great queso. Even just melted Velveeta worked for me. However, after a short period of not having any queso, I've discovered I can no longer stomach it. For some reason, it makes me sick to eat much of the stuff. This makes me sad. The same thing happened when I stopped eating McDonalds for a period of time. After that, it just didn't taste as good and made me sick to eat. I suppose we build up a tolerance to the junk we eat, which allows us to keep eating whatever it is. While it isn't a bad thing I can no longer stomach melted cheesy dip awesomeness, I am going to miss it very much.

Shoes - The Solution for Everything

A lovely lady at my school has begun a Biggest Loser style contest at my school. This is actually the second run of the contest. The first time around, I pretty much just donated my entry fee. This time, I'm taking it seriously. Even if I don't win, I fully intend to be 15 pounds thinner by June 1.

 Week 1 went really well. From Monday to Friday, I lost 3 pounds. I ramped up my activity and started seriously watching my caloric intake. As recommended by a good friend of mine, I've been monitoring my activity using a FitBit.

 The FitBit is a glorified pedometer. However, it not only tracks my daily steps, it also tracks distance, calories burned, stair flights climbed and my sleep. Yes, it even can tell how well I am sleeping.  Armed with this information, I have been able to quickly adjust what I can in order to be at optimal calorie intake/burn levels.

 This week (week 2), I intend to ramp things up. I found a running for beginners program on Pinterest which sounded doable, even to asthmatic me. So, in preparation for my upcoming runs, I bought these babies today:

Have a Magical Day!

First, a little good news: the 3 legged cat finally reappeared today.  I had been worried since I hadn't seen it in nearly a month and it has been so insanely hot outside.  I threw an ice cube in the water I set out for it.

Second, the fish I bought for my classroom has been acting strange.  It buries itself head first into the rocks.  I'm guessing it's because he hates the lights?  I'm going to work on finding some sort of hiding space for the fish for inside the tank.  His new name is Jack.  Funny, since last year's fiction assignment was "Where's Jack?".  Little did anyone know, Jack was really a fish.  

My school is still under construction.  That's been an adventure.  Here's to learning how to be more patient when things are miscommunicated.  I cannot change others or their actions, but I can change myself and my circumstances.

I've inadvertently taught how to imply things.  Everything is "magical".  Disney folk, you'll understand.  

Obligatory "Back-to-Blogging" Lament/First Post

During my foray into the world of personal branding (thanks, Twitteratti PR friends), I decided to delete all of my blogs since they wouldn't necessarily mesh with the professional Lindsey I was attempting to market at the time.  Not that I was concerned about my personal life and opinions affecting my chances of getting a career; I was concerned that I was marketing myself as an expert in an area about which I had no professional blogs.

Anyway, I could go on explaining all of this, but, alas, I've given up writing about the Houston job search (Examiner.com is a joke).

So, here we meet again, blogosphere.  I don't know where this blog will go.  I do know that I'll be sharing my creations from Prim Beads, thoughts on life, various photo observations of life in Houston, and perhaps a few too-good-to-not-share stories from the classroom.