Light at the end of the tunnel...

Well, it's been a busy semester, as is so often the case. But, we're almost to the end, which means we get to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with family and lots of rest and relaxation.
Andrew has had a successful semester, and with three out of four grades currently posted online, he's got three A's thus far. He has just one semester left on his Master's and is scheduled to graduate on May 14th, 2011! I guess time flies when you're having fun. He really enjoyed his classes this semester, especially the two classes he had with a particular professor that he really admires. I'm so glad he's found a profession that he truly has a passion for. I know I couldn't spend hours and hours reading this type of material - but for him, it's basically his favorite thing ever. So, yay for that!
For me, choir is winding down for the season. It's been a good year and I feel like now that I'm just at one campus, I'm doing a pretty decent job of building a choir program that is a good strong program for kids and everything, and yet isn't a program that takes over my life or prevents me from having a life at all. I'm typically able to leave school at a reasonable hour, say 60-90 minutes after student dismissal, so that's not bad at all.
Right now, I'm really looking forward to the break. Most of the time, I'm fairly "OK" with having family so far flung and only seeing my parents and brothers a handful of times each year... but somehow it's now, when I know I'm going to see them soon, that I miss them most. I guess it's just the anticipation.

last update at 28

Sorry for falling off the face of the earth yet again. It's been a good school year thus far - concerts, as mentioned in the previous post, as well as a musical (Once Upon a Mattress, Jr.), and a few social events. I kind of stalled out and even backtracked on WeightWatchers and only this week returned to "losing". I weighed in at a meeting this afternoon at 167.4, down 1.6 lbs from the previous week.

At the end of this week I turn 29.

I don't have any great big thoughts about being 29. I am among the youngest of all my friends... particularly those that I have known for a long time, since I was ahead a year in school. So, being surrounded by people turing 30, turning 29 isn't bad at all.

But it does make me think... what is my Before-I-Turn-Thirty wish list? To be honest, I don't really know. Some things that come to mind:

• I'd like to see us finish up Baby Step 3 (3-6 months of expenses in savings)
• I'd like to continue Weight Watchers... I've lost about 40 pounds this first year. If I lost another 40, that would put me at 124, which would be within the "healthy weight" range for my height. That could be cool.
• I want to keep up with this running situation. I've done three 5Ks this year. Maybe a 10K is in my future.

Incidentally, for those that are interested or so inclined, you will now find a wish list to the right of the page. A little bit of everything there.

Concert Season

Well, it's the seventh week of school, which means that it's about time for the first round of concerts, and things have gotten decidedly busy. My first concert is Cluster Concert this Thursday, followed by a sixth grade concert next Wednesday that I'm actually really excited about. My sixth grade kids are really sweet this year and sound pretty good, I think.

In life outside of school.... well... oops. Was I supposed to still have a life outside of school? My bad.

Well, I am teaching/facilitating Financial Peace University Sunday afternoons at church again this fall, and I'm singing in a group called the New Collection on Monday nights. Wednesdays, I've made my triumphant return to Chancel Choir, which I'm actually really enjoying. I'm also still trying to do a little running when I can.

I've made a lot of progress since I first started on the treadmill back in July. I can now jog a mile or more at 4.5 mph with 2-3 minute sprints up to 6.0 mph.

The last two weeks at WeightWatchers, I've had the same weigh-in result: 166.2 lbs. I don't want to get into a plateau like I did last spring so this week I've been really working on kicking it into gear. I've been under points every day since Saturday, and both Saturday and Sunday I went jogging. Saturday, I did a little over 4 miles on the treadmill in about 70 minutes. There was a pretty significant amount of walking ,but when I walked, I did so with a 7% incline. Sunday I ran two miles on the treadmill and then walked 2 miles outside because it was BEAUTIFUL! Yesterday was New Collection, so no time for such things. Tonight, we had rehearsal for Thursday's Cluster Concert. But, as I sit here typing, I can't help but think... if I've got time to blog.... I've got time to jog!

See ya.

Another week, another loss

First off, a weight loss update. I have now entered the 160's for the first time in recent memory. I'm not sure when I was last in the 160's - maybe high school or possibly college. This morning at WeightWatchers I weighed in at 167.8. Thats a grand total loss thus far of 36.2 pounds.

I kind of love this chart. Makes me feel very accomplished.

Since breaking out of the plateau of the mid 170's, I'm now finally getting to a point where I feel like I can see the weight loss in more places than just my face. After just 10 pounds, I could see it there, but elsewhere, not as much. Yes, I did go from a size 16 to a 14 in jeans somewhere along the way... but I guess one assumes that if you lose 10 or 25 pounds, you're going to see a HUGE difference. After all, if one has lost 25 pounds, they've basically lost a two-year old person. I would like to think that having lost the equivalent, there would be a dramatic difference.

Having lost 36.2 pounds, I've apparently lost:

• a mid-sized microwave
• a four year old
• about seven reams of copy paper

That's when it starts to hit that I must be doing really good things for my health. My poor body, carrying around a microwave every day.

Anyway, I'm now getting to where I walk past a mirror or other reflective thing (the practice room doors in the music hall at school, mainly) and I don't do a "double take" per se, but I do see a difference. So, that's good.

In non-weight loss news, the second week of school was another success. We had auditions for the upcoming musical, and we start rehearsals this coming week. I've been doing a good job (for the first time in my teaching career, sad to say) of really planning ahead and having a goal of what I want to accomplish with each class each day. This has led to a happier me and a more well organized and well behaved classroom. At least so far. Maybe in a future post I'll go into more detail about the changes I've made in my teaching.

I guess it all goes to show, once you start changing stuff, you don't ever stop... or so it seems.

First Week = Success!

Well, we've finished up the first week of actual school with students, so it's about time for another update of my life of constant change.

This year I've returned to life on just one campus, like a normal person, which has been really nice. Last year I never really "moved in" to either of my schools, and there was a certain amount of disorganization... which I can live with. Anyone who has seen my desk or my home can attest that I'm one of those "organized chaos" people... my desk is like my own personal archeological dig. But, it's by no means my preferred way of life, particularly at work/school. But, it takes time and forethought to create the systems that lead to lasting organization. This year, I feel like I've actually taken several giant steps in the right direction, which is nice.

On a similar note, I've resolved to rein in my after school hours this year. Last year, I didn't do a ton of "overtime" work because I did the entire year more or less in crisis mode, cut a lot of things I might have done in more normal circumstances, and therefore I was pretty much shot by the end of the school day. I think it will be a temptation, now that I'm at one campus, to go back to my old ways of constantly adding on more and more until I'm either (a) at school 24/7 trying to keep everything in control or (b) running around like a crazy person at school because I've taken on more than I can do in a reasonable number of hours. So, that's the plan.

Bad news for this weekend was that I left school before 5 yesterday, assuming that I'd be able to put in a few hours today. Didn't even think about the possibility that the school building would be closed... which of course, it is. Oops. So, I'm a little nervous about falling back into my old flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants ways on Monday, but I'll make it work.

So far, my kids seem very pro-choir and on board. No obvious attitude problems or behavior issues right off the bat, so that's good. It's looking like a great year for growth!

In other news, I'm still doing WeightWatchers. I transitioned this week from going to Monday/Tuesday meetings, to now going to Saturday morning meetings. So, I went this morning and posted a 2.2 pound loss. That's a total of 33.8 pounds so far. So, back by poular demand, my awesome weight loss chart:

I'm at 170.4 right now, so hopefully next week I'll break into the 160's for the first time in a long long long time.

One of my seventh graders this week said something about me looking different, and I said "well, I've lost thirty pounds." He said "well, that'll do it." So true.

On the exercise front, I'm gone running on the treadmill three times this week (MWF) and each time did about two miles in about thirty minutes. I've now gotten to the point where jogging at 4.5 mph for several minutes (7-10, perhaps) is doable. So, that's nice, to feel a little faster and a little more "in shape".

For those of you out there that are Scentsy fans or clients, please be reminded that Scentsy is 10% off through August, so let me know if you want something!

Now, I'm off to continue with the quest for a cleaner more organized house, since I wasn't able to go in to school today. Laundry calls. Loudly.

Back Again - and Back to School

Once again, a mini blog drought. Sorry about that.

Well, the quick update is roughly this. We had a successful trip to Kentucky/West Virginia and back. We took a quick detour through Brentwood TN on the way back home to visit Financial Peace Plaza, the home of the Dave Ramsey Show and affiliated offices. Dave was on vacation, so we didn't get to meet him, but it was fun to go anyway.

After getting home, we've had a few fairly lazy days, done quite a bit of laundry... nothing too major.

I've also managed to get off track again with regard to exercise... food has still been on track, but I haven't been on a treadmill since Monday, at MawMaw's house in West Virginia. Oopsie.

Today was church - Andrew taught Sunday School and it was an excellent lesson if I do say so myself. After church, I took a big nap. We watched the Rangers game (another win!) and did our standard Sunday night dinner at Andrew's parents' house.

Tomorrow: inservice begins.

I'm laying out my jogging clothes before bed. Here's hopin'.

On the Road

Oopsie, forgot to update for a few days there.

Well, San Antonio and TCDA was a good time - it's always good to have an opportunity to see my colleagues, especially in the choir world where each of us is the only person (or possibly one of two people) on the entire campus who teaches this particular subject area. So, the opportunity to conference, pick the brains of other people, etc. isn't really a daily occurrence unless one seeks it out.

Anyway, I got home Saturday evening, did the church thing Sunday morning, which was my last Sunday serving as the interim youth choir director. I enjoyed my time of service but am relieved that (a) it wrapped up before school started again and (b) that I therefore had a couple of weeks of true summer no-obligations-on-the-calendar freedom. All that being said, I have of course already found something to take up my Sunday afternoons: starting September 12th I will be reprising my role as Financial Peace University facilitator at church. It's been a year or maybe a little longer since I last led the class, so it will be good to be back! Personal finance is one of those things that I never knew I'd be "passionate" about, but now that I am, I'm glad there's a way for me to share that with other people.

Monday was a day of unpacking, doing laundry, and re-packing.

Tuesday, yesterday, we hit the road to squander our two weeks of true summer no-obligations-on-the-calendar freedom: we're headed to Kentucky and West Virginia to spend a little time with my side of the family.

The drive from Plano to Louisville is something that I've prided myself on doing in one day multiple times before. The good people of mapquest claim that it's a 13 hour drive, which of course feels like 14 hours when one heads east and loses an hour. So, in theory our 8am departure time yesterday would have led to an 11pm arrival last night.

Instead, we hit traffic in Memphis that obliterated a little less than two hours of our lives, stopped for dinner just east of Memphis and decided to wimp out and get a hotel room. A bed, wifi and cable TV sounded a LOT better than another 5-6 hours on the road. Also, for the first time in ever, a fitness center or other gym-like situation sounded really appealing to me. Who have I become?

So, we spent the night in the Quality Inn of Jackson, Tennessee. As luck wold have it, the hotel has a deal with a local gym by which hotel patrons can be gym patrons at no additional cost. So, last night I drove over to Jackson Sports and Fitness and spent a little time on a treadmill.

They had fancy schmancy treadmills with the attached TV so that you can watch whatever you want and hear it through your headphones without forcing other patrons to do the same. I have not used one of these before, but it was FABULOUS! I got there right as the Rachel Zoe Project was starting on Bravo, and I resolved to jog through the actual show and walk during commercials. As I got warmed up a bit, a believe there was a mid-show commercial break that I continued to jog through. Regardless, when all was said and done, I spent 62 minutes on a treadmill and did about 4 miles in that time. I was very very tired afterwards and have since gotten a great night's sleep.

Within the next 30 minutes or so, we plan to hit the road again and hopefully be in Louisville right around lunch time. Yay!