Relentlessly Reading

I've moved!

2011-01-20T15:17:00.002-06:00

Check me out at:

http://keepingupwithkate.wordpress.com

Hope to see you there!

Bullet Points

2010-11-15T22:49:00.005-06:00

Yes, I'm resorting to bullet points. It's been TOO long. So, in short - here's what I've been up to.

Hiked the Grand Canyon (oh yes I did!) Pictures follow. This trip is highly recommended.

Our campsite. Yeah...it was sorta beautiful.

On the way down...

Every turn was seriously breathtaking. I wish the pictures did it justice.

Learned to sew - somewhat decently. Just finished baby gifts for a friend last night. I get way too excited when I've made something. It also is slightly scary because I picture cute babies in my future and my husband rolls his eyes.
I've revamped my website at school and LOVE it. Then I wonder...does it matter that much?
I'll be presenting at a conference in February about my absolute favorite web 2.0 (FREE!) tool for the classroom. Edmodo. I love you. Really, seriously. If you're a teacher and you haven't heard about it, ask me...or better yet, come see me at the eMINTS Winter Conference in February!
Read lots of books, but that goes without saying, right?

Currently my cat has decided to take over my lap so I must end this amazingly wonderful update of my life.

Currently Reading: The Book Whisperer (I'm excited about this one), Good Without God (heard this bit about Humanism on NPR and got interested)

Scattered Update

2010-08-03T22:32:00.002-05:00

I finished my first dress that I made ALL BY MYSELF today. Yay me! I'll post a picture Thursday.
My dog is scared of watermelon. Seriously. I picked one up off the counter today and she went bezerk. It was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen in my whole life. Well okay, maybe not my whole life, but it was damn funny.
This evening when we took our dogs on a walk Zoey didn't pull. It's a miracle. I tell you, that dog's been pulling on the leash ever since we got her (over a year ago). I probably shouldn't get so excited about a dog walking on a leash but it's awesome.
I have to go to work tomorrow. I'm not excited about that.
I really liked the books North and South and Love and War by John Jakes. So, of course, I wanted to watch the television mini-series (again). I'm really loving that E likes watching it too! :)
I'm going to the Grand Canyon!!! My brother and his girlfriend as well as E and I are going for five days. We're going to hike down into it and camp out a couple days. It'll probably be hotter than h-e-double hockey sticks, but I've wanted to go for so long I don't care right now.

Currently Reading: Just finished Mudbound, it was awesome.

Trying to be creative...

2010-07-23T13:03:00.008-05:00

I made these fun little coasters for my friend's housewarming party yesterday. And besides the fact that I couldn't find a needle and thread (seriously?) to do an invisible stitch (hello!? am I the only one who's never heard of an invisible stitch? how cool!) they still turned out cool. You'll have to imagine though cause I forgot to take a picture. They were cute.

In other news, E & I had a pretty awesome (read: really REALLY filling dinner) the other night: Hummus Quesadillas and a Southwest Salad. Okay, so E's salad was just a regular salad with some cucumbers. He didn't want to throw on the beans (who doesn't like beans...really...) or the avocado, or the salsa. And his "hummus quesadilla" didn't have any hummus either. Haha, oh well. Mine did, and it was pretty good. I'll admit, I've never bought an avocado before, and frankly, I wasn't that impressed. Maybe I got a dull one, but it didn't seem to have much flavor. I got the recipes from a new blog I found, Feed Me I'm Cranky. Which really, is so true. :)

Yes, we have dinner on the coffee table.

I've taken the doggies to the dog park three times this week - twice to run. Boy was it H-O-T! Seriously, the amount of sweat was ridiculous. Last night we ran (only a mile) and I swear they almost killed me when they took off after a squirrel. Fortunately I was quick enough to stay on my feet. I really love running with my girls though, it's a motivator (they're full of energy, so I really should take them), and it distracts me from what I'm doing (I'm making sure not to trip on them, watching out for squirrels, etc.). Overall, I like it.

It's my break day from P90X. Thank you! This is the end of week 5, sweet! I have triceps, in case you were wondering. I've never had triceps before.

Okay, so that's not my triceps, but still...

This weekend I will attempt to make my first dress. I'm excited, and nervous. And really excited about going to Joann's this afternoon to find some cute fabric. I'm a nerd. It's cool.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Currently Reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (for the umpteenth time).

The Poor Man's Vacation

2010-07-12T11:34:00.008-05:00

As a kid my family and I went on float trips every summer, multiple times each summer. I loved them. I don't know what it is exactly about floating down a river that's so relaxing and fun, but if you've never been, go. Seriously. What's not to love? Water. Sun. Camping. CHEAP. Smores. Seriously.

The group (minus me) getting ready to bus to the drop off point.

So, some friends and I went on a float trip this past weekend, and besides the sunburn I'm still feeling, it was pretty awesome. It started out interestingly enough. We couldn't find the place (bad Google Maps!), our campsite was taken by people who weren't supposed to be there, there was no grill for our hot dogs/hamburgers, three of our friends couldn't make it, they were out of kayaks, um...oh, my brother's car got rear-ended on the way there....then he also had some front bumper issues when we tried to leave. BUT, besides all that, we still had a great time. It was the perfect weather for a float trip, the river was great, the drunks were funny (as usual), and I've decided we need to make it an annual thing. Next time we're bringing along a couple dogs, cause I know they'd LOVE it.

In P90X news? So far....I'm doing it. If you look at my workout widget to the right, I've been updating it each time I work out, which is almost everyday (minus Friday - my rest day - and Saturday - the float trip). This is week 4 for me on the program, meaning it's recovery week. Last night I did a painful session of Yoga X - painful because there are parts were you have to rest on your shoulders/back, which right now is pretty red and irritated (thanks sun!). Today I'm going to try and do both Core Synergistics and Kenpo X. I don't like to get off schedule, at all. If I get off, I get off bad, and then I just give up. Silly? Probably. But true.

Oh, and get this. Last week I burned over 6000 calories. That's like, a lot. I never burn that many calories. And yet? I gained 2 pounds. WHAT?! All I have to say is that better be 2 pounds of pure muscle. I know I didn't eat any more than I usually do, so what gives? I told myself at the beginning of my "P90X Journey" that I wouldn't mind if I gained weight, but let me rephrase that, I won't mind if I gain muscle, but I'd still rather be slimmer than I was before I started. I want to lose some inches, gain some muscle tone.

I'll leave you with some cute pictures from our wedding. Fortunately after one of our dogs chewed up the wedding picture CDs the photographer was able to make us another copy. Yay for backups!

Little T-monster (my nickname for the baby) comforting me after mascara found it's way on my dress.

I feel like we look photoshopped, but it's just so pretty! E & I at my parent's farm.

I really like this shot of me & my bridesmaids. And it was even one of those silly ones where the photographer said, "Pretend like she said something really funny," but it worked. Who'da thunk?

Currently Reading: Umm...I haven't perused my bookshelf yet, but it better not be too interesting, I've got stuff I could be doing, right? :)

Ouch.

2010-06-27T18:15:00.004-05:00

When I first started really running a couple years ago I got shin splints. Then I didn't stop running for longer than a day or so, so they never had the chance to heal. Therefore, every time I ran I felt sore afterward. I remember the first time I wasn't sore later I wondered what I was doing wrong.

The reason I'm telling you this? I'm sore. P90X makes me sore. Everywhere. But I like it.

Today was Plyometrics. I really like this workout (however if you would've asked me 2 hours ago when I was in the middle of it I wouldn't have said that). It's SO much like the bootcamp workout that I did at the gym last year, it's nice, I already know the moves, I know I can do them, and it definitely gets your heart rate up.

So far my least favorite workout is Yoga X. I like the weights workouts, because I never do weights, so I like the guidance, and I like that I imagine I'm already seeing results. I'm sure I'm not, I just never paid attention to my arms before, but I can imagine, right?

I'm making this brown bread recipe tonight and I'm excited. I LOVE bread. Off to the grocery store to get some yogurt (and diet coke of course).

Currently Reading: Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (yeah I know, I already read chick lit for this summer, but it was only $6 at Barnes & Noble, I couldn't pass that up!) Read Stay by Allie Larkin last week - really good!

Updates in pictures (and a few words)...

2010-06-24T08:45:00.017-05:00

Even my parent's beagle had fun at the wedding. All I'll say about our wedding is that it was exactly how I wanted it and I loved it. For more on the wedding, check out my Aunt's post here. I should be getting the pictures from our photographer soon, so maybe I'll say more then. :)

Our trip to Canada was great (besides that basket of fish and chips, which was just a greasy mess). Gorgeous, but wet. I'll take Missouri weather any day - even days like yesterday when the heat index was 105 degrees. Ew.

Tennessee was awesome. Really. Beautiful. The Smoky's are gorgeous. That falls behind us, Ramsay Cascades, was beautiful and worth the hike that made my butt sore the next day (all uphill...until you turned around of course, then you had to fight to stay upright all the way back down). Need an idea of how gorgeous? Let me show you:

Both of these are along the trail. Now for some mountain shots...

Left: The Smoky's being Smoky. Right: Erik after we encountered a bear on our hike. No joke. Needless to say we abandoned that trail and got on a nearby road and ended up running for a couple miles. This shot was taken shortly before we encountered two more bears. It was interesting. And fun :)

After our trips we had to puppysit for my brother and his girlfriend. Now, when I say had to, I really mean GOT to. She's so freakin adorable. See below for evidence.

Last week I started P90X. This is my hope. I hope that I can blog through my P90X experience, which will make me keep up with blogging a bit better. If I really impress myself I might even post pictures. Yesterday was my first experience with Kenpo X and I wasn't too impressed - it wasn't as fun as the hype made it sound. However, I am sore today - so some progress had to've been made, right? Today I have to do legs and back. I'm really hoping blogging through this will make me actually stick with it. Here's hoping!

Oh, and no more 3 month absences from blogging. At least not soon...I hope!

Currently Reading: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner (I require at least 1 chick lit book per summer, please forgive me)

You mean you're supposed to post on a blog?

2010-02-15T21:35:00.004-06:00

Yeah, you can just check me off as one of the worst bloggers this year. Seriously. My problem is I tell myself to post, then I put it off because I think I have nothing interesting to post, then I think it's been too long, then 2 months have passed. Yes, I admit. I'm bad.

Right now I'm smack in the middle of the busiest part of the school year. 7th grade volleyball has begun. Practice every night, followed by spinning or bootcamp classes at the gym. Needless to say, I'm away from home quite a bit these days. That's why days like today (thank you, Mr. President), are pretty nice.

The wedding planning has been moving along. We're now about three months from the big day. We haven't rented anything yet, but we've sure talked about it. I went to look at dresses today, but when you're looking for a pretty casual wedding dress, the pickins' are slim. That's okay though, I'm determined. Oh, and if any of you out there have suggestions, I'm all open. Seriously, I'm looking for anything...not necessarily white, could be multicolored, has to be tea length.

My goal for Weight Watchers by the wedding? Lose the poundage I've put back on since school started. I want to go on my honeymoon confident that I can get in the pool and look good. Swimsuits are my downfall. I think the same is probably true with most women, but I've never felt confident in a swimsuit. This summer was the first time I didn't feel horrible, but my goal is to feel good. Not great. I think I'll probably never feel that way (that's just how I am), but I could definitely deal with good! Feeling good would make me really excited to take a cruise through Mexico next summer. Ever been? I'm researching it for E and I and I'm excited!

I've decided to begin a different blog (which I'll link to here when I get it up) for book reviews. That way my students can read reviews (and maybe post their own?) so they can better decide what they'd like to read. I think it'll be fun! And it'll keep me reading.

Currently Reading: 10th grade Research Reports (oh yeah!)
Today's Mileage: 3.5 miles on the treadmill

Lack of Motivation

2009-12-31T11:11:00.003-06:00

That's what I'm blaming on my sad lack of posting lately. It's what I'm blaming everything else on, so why not, right? That's why I haven't been able to finish a book I've had out from the library for a month now. That's also why I haven't been running very much (AT ALL) lately. Oh, that's also why I'm not tracking. Bad Kate.

To break my lack of motivation spell, I'm hoping my new year's resolutions will help keep me motivated. Here they are:

1. Log 50 miles a month. That'd be 600 miles in a year. Not a lot...but I'm afraid if I set more it just won't happen.

2. Drink less diet coke. I was going to try and give it up completely, but I'm thinking with my lack of motivation (nice excuse, huh?) that just won't happen.

3. Continue to try and stop biting my fingernails. I'm much better now, but I hope it goes away completely...eventaully.

4. Track my meals again. All of them. Need to get back on track before the wedding in May.

5. Do these things. Seriously. Especially numbers 1 and 4.

Maybe since they're written down I'll be better. And maybe since I plan on logging my mileage at the end of every month to prove to myself that I can (and will) do it.

What are we teaching kids these days?

2009-11-11T23:06:00.003-06:00

Every year the DECA chapter at the high school where I work puts on a Veteran's Day Assembly. It's really great. They make biscuits and gravy, kids interact with them, they invite a special speaker, the choir sings, the band plays. It's nice.

Not this year.

Okay, okay...the band was good. I'm sure the food was good. The choir sounded great. But the speaker? What were they thinking? They obviously didn't ask for a copy beforehand (which I wouldn't think they would...but maybe they will in the future).

The speaker was a veteran who teaches at a high school where our Superintendent used to work. I guess they're buds. I'm guessing that's how our speaker got the invitation.

His speech started out okay. I guess. It was all over the place though. He talked to the kids about jobs - mainly just advertising the two careers he's held: a teacher, and a member of the military. Okay...but what does that have to do with Veteran's Day? Then it got worse.

He told the kids about two students he had in the past. The first was Suzy. "Suzy is what we would've called a hippie in my day. She has red hair, piercings all over, and tattoos." (Holy crap! Lock her up!) Then he went on to say how Suzy would not stand during the Pledge of Allegiance. "Suzy works in fast food now. She has a boyfriend. She'll probably work in fast food in 10 years, and have a boyfriend; maybe the same one, maybe different." Apparently not saying the pledge leads to all sortsa horrible crap. Who knew?

The second student? He signed up to serve our wonderful country. Now he's had his education paid for and is an upstanding citizen. Be like Tyler, not like Suzy. "Suzy wanted to be her own person. Tyler is serving his country. Are you going to be like Suzy, or Tyler?"

What's wrong with being a unique individual?

Then an Army recruiter got up. His speech was short. Seriously, it was like 1 minute. He was nervous. But in this nervous speech? "If someone comes into my country and blows up buildings, I want to be able to return the favor." Uh...what? So now it's a good idea to promote revenge? Nice. Real nice.

Seriously. The entire ceremony completely missed the point of Veteran's day. I felt bad for the Veterans. They deserve better. So do my students.

Review: Masquerade

2009-11-03T22:58:00.001-06:00

Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The second book in the series seemed just as good as the first. It didn't summarize everything in the first book (thank you!!) like some series books seem to do.

In this book Schuyler is trying to find out more about the Silver Bloods and throughout all the twists and turns in the story readers are trying to figure out just who the bad guy really is. My gut feeling from the first book seemed dead on, on both counts...so don't expect this story to throw you for a loop.

However, it was still good. It stayed away (mostly) from the mushy romantics and kept me interested. And just like all good series (unfortunately, I really am a sucker for series), it left me wanting to read the next one, which I promptly started about 1 minute after finishing.

View all my reviews >>

The Million Dollar Dog.

2009-11-02T23:36:00.009-06:00

We'd been looking for a house. Mom and Dad wanted to move, Mom said she wanted to live out in the country and the road by our house was just getting to busy with all the traffic. So that Saturday morning we all piled in the Geo and drove down the road.

Of course, I thought we were going to look at a farm. Let me just tell you now, I was in no mood for this. The last thing I wanted was to move. Especially out in the country!

When we pulled in the driveway Mom and Dad told us we were there to pick out a puppy. Maybe it was because we weren't expecting it, or maybe it's just because no one can resist an adorable fuzzball, but we shot out of the car and made for the puppies! They were cute, of course, and so tiny. I wanted one of the fat little fuzzy guys, but of course my brothers chose the skinny one. That day we welcomed Buck into our family.

This has to be about 13 years ago. We still lived in our old house, so I can't be more than 11. Oh, and my family is weird :)

Why did we call him the million dollar dog? If only you knew. It all started with an innocent game of baseball, when Buck happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was hit in the eye with a baseball bat and for the rest of his life was blind in one eye. But did he complain? Nope! Seriously, you might think I'm a horrible person right now, but I swear he was the happiest dog alive.

Not long after the bat incident, Buck came down with Parvo (he got this while at the vet recovering from his injury). So, Mom nursed him back to health. A few years later Buck got lime's disease. Then I accidentally ran over him with the truck.

I know, I know. But picture this. We (my Granddaddy and I) were driving the red rocket (that's what we called the old farm truck) through the field. Dad had just finished building a new pond on the back of our property and we were hauling a truck full of square hay bails out to spread over the dam so the grass would grow. Buck (the million dollar dog) and Jenny (our somewhat annoying dalmation) were riding happily on the top of all those bails. What happens next? For some reason Buck decides to run off the bails, but instead of going off the back, he takes a shortcut over the cab of the truck, onto the hood, and straight off the front. Of course, I freaked. "Oh my GOD! I just killed our dog!!" I'm sitting there crying while Granddaddy shook his head saying, "Damn dog."

Buck and Jenny. They loved each other. :)

I dried my tears when Buck simply got up and ran off, still heading towards the pond. I tell ya, that dog was tough.

Well, we got Buck when I was about 11 years old, which means he was about thirteen last year when Marly & Me came out in theatres. E and I went to see the movie and I bawled at the end. You see, Buck was getting old. Poor guy hadn't been able to jump in the back of the truck for about a year - and boy did he love the back of the truck. He'd sit there for hours.

Oh yeah, he was spoiled, too. :) Right there? He's eyeing the ice cream.

He was old. We'd been talking to Mom about ending his suffering, but times were tough at the moment, what with the loss of our other favorite dog, Sneaker. It was just too tough to talk to Dad about it. He gets a little attached to those of the furry variety. Just a little ;)

When I was home this weekend Mom asked if I noticed if anything was missing. It took a moment, but when I noticed the empty dog bed in the garage I knew Buck was finally at peace. He really was one of the best dogs. A big furry lug who just loved taking walks around the farm, was the perfect size for a big hug, and loved everyone he met...well, except for our old real estate agent. I'll miss you Buck. You were one of the good ones.

Such a beautiful dog. Seriously.

Review: Blue Bloods

2009-11-02T23:15:00.000-06:00

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So I've been trying to read books that my female students seem to be in love with and I picked this one up. After reading Twilight I was wary of this one, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Unlike Twilight, which was ridiculously corny and mushy (sorry, I'm just not that girl), this was refreshing. I feel in the future this book will probably be challenged because of it's view on vampires and their ex-role in Paradise, but it's an interesting twist on the story.

I'm not going to try and explain the complicated vampire history, but I'll point out a couple things I enjoyed. I really liked how the author tied the vampire's history back to the beginning of the New World (Roanoke) and before. History's just cook, okay? Obviously, as with most teen novels, there are always sections I just kind of skim over - those would include all descriptions of designers, makeup, etc. I'm not interested, so I try not to let those interfere with my opinion on the story. So, that point aside (and the fact that some characters are incredibly shallow and will most likely end up as the "bad" guy), the plot was interesting, kept me reading, and I'll be finishing the series.

:) But then, I finish every series. I even suffered through Twilight.

View all my reviews >>

I'm lazy,..

2009-10-24T22:54:00.006-05:00

but at least I'm posting something! I think I deserve the 4-day weekend though, or at least that's what I tell myself! Thank you school.

We had parent teacher conferences Thursday after school. Those are always fun. Lemme tell you, some parents share WAY too much information. I don't need to know every detail of your personal life. It's uncomfortable. One situation that made me especially uncomfortable? The ex-wife of my spinning instructor (from the gym) came in and talked to me about her daughter who I have in Sports Literature. Their daughter's really smart, just a real good kid. Well, her Mom talked to me for at least 20 minutes and brought up how horrible the situation was with her "biological father" many times. It's just weird. I mean, I know him and he's a great guy, and he loves his kids, and they seem to have a great relationship. The worst part? She came in with one of their children and the kid had to listen to her Mom talk poorly about her Dad, which I'm sure happens often. It just sucks, for the kids, I mean...really.

In other more uplifting and fun news? A look at a couple projects we're doing? Of course!

This was dinner. How come my pictures of food never look as good as the professionals? Anyway, Bubble up pizza casserole. Easy and really yummy.

New shelves in the kitchen.

The shelves aren't done of course (well, the one with my cookbooks on it is, ain't it cute? E just built the shelf next to the dishwasher today while I was supervising the kiddos in Hermann, and although it's not painted and has no door (yet) I love it! And yes, yes, I know...we still haven't grouted the backsplash. Tomorrow?? We'll see. I love our kitchen.

Oh Diet Coke.

2009-10-08T20:31:00.002-05:00

So I attended this health seminar at my gym the other night after my bootcamp class and learned a lot. A couple interesting tidbits?

Don't wait until you're hungry to eat. My bootcamp instructor is a big advocate of eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day. She says that if you wait until you're hungry to eat your metabolism has already gone into the "starvation mode," thinking it won't be getting food for awhile, so it takes longer to kick back into action.
Everyone should eat (minimum) 9-14 fruits and vegetables a day. Woah there. And it should be a 2-1 ratio, twice as many veggies as fruits.

She also talked about soda. Now, I'm a soda drinker. Big time. I did manage to give up soda for lent a couple years ago, but it was tough. I've been hearing everywhere lately that even diet soda (Which is all I will drink, regular soda? No thanks!) actually contributes to weight problems. Something about the fake sugars they use in diet sodas triggers the brain into thinking you're hungry. Check out this article if you're interested in learning more...my ability to summarize valid points is pretty lame. :)

So, my goal is to quit diet soda. Maybe allow myself one a week. I'd like to quit cold turkey though. My little bro did, and he doesn't miss it. My problem is that I rarely drink water. I know I need to just suck it up and do it, but if I make myself do things before I'm ready, I generally wimp out. Like with Weight Watchers, I gave myself a few months to get used to the idea, so when I committed, I knew what I was getting into and I was ready for it.

(By the way, as I write this, I have a can of diet coke open beside me. Darn you addictive soda!)

Currently Reading: The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

Some finished projects.

2009-10-05T23:10:00.009-05:00

Before...
After...
Things we did to the outside (front): painted the shutters, added flowerbeds (can you say NO landscaping?), took out the dying - and ugly - evergreen bush, got a new, prettier front door.

Before...
After...

What didn't we do in the bathroom? We: plumbed for a 2nd sink, added electrical for a second light above a second mirror that we installed. Replaced the subflooring and added the tile (ew, I'm not a big fan of laying tile, but it is pretty). Painted cabinets and added new cabinet hardware. Replaced the countertop with more tile. Painted the walls. Added pictures I took (and developed) at craft camp :). Um...that's all.

Before (a different view)...
After...
I can't wait until I can show pictures of the kitchen. You'll be floored by the change. Seriously. I am. When I look at old pictures I'm like "What?!"

Oh, and here's a closer look at the amazing flower bed E's mom planted for us. I'm not joking when I say I got home from work one day and she'd planted the whole day while I was gone. She also moved two railroad ties by herself. Two! By herself! Do you know how heavy those are? Amazing.

The flowerbed:
Currently Reading: Just finished Becoming Anna, what next?

No excuses

2009-10-04T23:12:00.001-05:00

I could say it's been awhile, and that would be true. I could try and come up with excuses, but my only excuse is that instead of blogging, I've been doing one of the following: reading, playing with my puppies (yes, that's plural), working on our house, or watching recorded episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond like the amazingly awesome person that I am. I keep telling myself to update, and then I put it off. Maybe now that I've done it I won't put it off for so long anymore.

First news: New puppy.

Her name is Sadie, and she's adorable.

We got Sadie about a month ago and we've discovered the following little jewels of information. She licks. A lot. Zoe loves having a playmate. They're both adorable (that was an easy lesson). Taking two dogs for a walk is a bit more of a commitment, and therefore doesn't get done as much. We (well, at least I) love it!

Reading. Wow. I've read so many books over the past few months. Just a few: North and South, Love and War, Heaven and Hell, Beastly, The Chocolate War, The Earth Children series (again!), Olive Kitteridge, Thin Wood Walls, Home of the Braves, Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery, Peak, The Appeal, Luna, Someone Named Eva, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, whatever the name of the book I'm reading right now, and at least 10-15 others which I've forgotten the names of at the moment, so look forward to just a couple reviews comin up. :)

Work on the house. Our bathroom is officially complete. Yay! We now have a dishwasher (which we got for free) installed in our kitchen which has new countertops and backsplash. We should be done painting the kitchen and putting the grout on the backsplash by next weekend, so I'll add some pictures then. We've also got a new flowerbed (pretty!) which E's mom planted for us, and it's awesome. Some advice? Take free plants from people. At least if you're not a greenthumb like me. It's awesome, and if they like it? More power to 'em!

E, Dad, and I competed in the Sedalia Fall duathlon this morning. It was pretty good. Besides the fact that I sucked it up on the bike portion (no surprise since I haven't been biking...at all...). It was pretty cool. Second in my age group, out of what...maybe two?

I wanted another puppy, but instead I decided to blog.

2009-07-02T18:32:00.005-05:00

Why Summer's Great!

I don't have to go to work. Seriously, who doesn't love that?
The weather is generally awesome. Okay, I admit, last week when the heat index was 109 and you stuck to every surface as soon as you exited an air conditioned building wasn't that great, but come on! This week is pure Heaven. Simple as that.
I have to ability to get SOOOO much done. Now, actually doing it is another story. :)
Reading. All the time. Just finished the Harry Potter series for probably the third time. Yay for the movie comin out in a couple weeks!
Trips. So far this summer I've only gone to Minneapolis, but there are plans in the works for Minnesota again and a trip to Kentucky for E and I :)
Holidays. The fourth is one of my favorites because most of the family's in town and I always love that. :) Hello sand volleyball tournament!

Well, our bathroom is almost done. Don't hold your breath for pictures, cause we won't get the baseboards until this weekend, but I'll DEFINITELY post pictures as soon as it's done. I'm so freakin excited!

I also bought a paint sprayer for repainting the kitchen cabinets. I am NOT going to do them all by hand like I did the bathroom cabinets. Can you say brush strokes? Ugh. Paint and I aren't too friendly these days. I've painted the following in the past month: front door (three times, mind you), trim, bathroom cabinets, bathroom walls, bedroom, living room, hallway, and shutters. And, I still have the kitchen and the two bedrooms to go. I love paint, it changes a room immediately, but it does get a little old after awhile.

Today I finished our first flowerbed. The front of our house previously had no landscaping whatsoever. E and I built a flowerbed underneath the picture window yesterday, and I spent a couple hours (Ouch!) leveling out the soil, which was somewhat clay-ey (I know, not a word) and impossible, but I did get it done. I have a feeling my back won't like me tomorrow, but it looks SO much better out there. Once we actually have flowers growing maybe I'll post a picture of that, too.

The picture for today? Our adorable puppy and my pretty kitty getting better acquainted.

Okay, so Simon's still adjusting. But Zoe loves playing!

Hello my friend.

2009-06-11T01:47:00.007-05:00

Yes, I missed the internet. I welcome you back my wonderful friend.

A short update in pictures follows.

E and our new puppy, Zoe. Such cuties.

Our bathroom before.

Our bathroom now...well, a couple hours ago. Now it's grouted, too!

Oh, and we discovered a hole in the floor under the particleboard. Yay. Go figure.

So, so far we've done the following:

Installed a doggy door, yessss!
Put a ceiling fan in our bedroom, oh yeah. I am in love with ceiling fans.
Put a new light fixture in one of the guest bedrooms.
Cleaned the yard. That was some work.
Tiled/Grouted the bathroom counter.
Added another sink in previously mentioned bathroom.
Fixed light fixture so we can have a vanity light over each sink in said bathroom.
Half painted the bathroom (had to wait to fix the wall above the vanity to paint the rest)
Ripped up the really moldy particle board by the shower (and found the hole in the floor)
Umm...picked out paint colors for the kitchen, which I'm not gonna start working on until the bathroom's done.
Oh, and painted the previously ugly bathroom cabinets and put on new hardware.

Yay to fixing a house. I'm hoping we're done with our bathroom renovation by the 20th...can we make it? Seein that we'll be in Minneapolis all weekend, I'm wondering. But I'm hopeful!

Oh, and what am I reading lately? Nothing. ::Tear::

Holy Busy Schedule

2009-06-02T13:12:00.002-05:00

So I've been bad. At blogging I mean. It's been really crazy busy lately, but only in a good way.

E and I are now homeowners. We are also proud dog owners (her name's Zoe and she's adorable!). I'm also a new(er) car owner. Um...and we've been moving. And if this counts, half my mouth is now numb from my dentist's appointment.

So, needless to say, I haven't had much time to update. That and the fact that we have no internet at our new house. Next Tuesday - one week from today - we'll be online. I have to travel about 30 minutes to use the internet now, but I'm okay with it, cause we have a house!

I'll be posting pictures soon. Of the dog, the house, and hey...maybe the car.

In the meantime I've read a couple great books: Hunger Games by Susanne Collins (I think) was A-mazing! Then I read The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne Duprau (the fourth book in the City of Ember series). It was good as well, but not as great as Hunger Games. Both books are for young adults, but I think almost anyone would like to read Collin's book. It's great. Besides that I've been reading Harry Potter books again. I don't think I'll ever get tired of them.

Well, I've gotta go register my car, paint some cabinets and the bathroom, and mow the lawn. I'll be better...I swear, once I have the internet.

All kindsa news.

2009-05-13T21:55:00.003-05:00

:)

So E and I are officially under contract.

**me doing a happy dance**

We got a good price. They're fixing the roof. We close by the end of the month. I'm so freaking excited about making this house ours. Living with E. Having a puppy. Funness.

Speaking of puppies. My brother found a puppy. Seriously. He found a puppy wandering through his neighborhood dangerously close to wandering onto a very busy road. He rescued said puppy. Said puppy is adorably cute!! I know, that was repetitive, but come on. She's cute. He's put up notices about finding a lost puppy, but I'm kinda hoping no one claims her, cause I'll take her. Come on, you can't say that's not meant to be, right?

Outside of all that fun news, I've been ridiculously busy lately (hence the lack of posts in oh...about a month). Ouch. Recently, I've:

Written my first graduate level English term paper. Ew.
Graded 50+ dual credit essays in 1 day
Found a house
Made up finals for all my classes
Baked a buncha cookies for the Senior BBQ
Ran everyday. Seriously. What's up with that? I don't know when this exercise everyday thing started, but I kinda like it.

That's enough. :) Only 2 more days of school (with kids), then 2 more days of meetings and such. Then I'm free. I love every moment of my work-free summers. And this summer will be busy. Hopefully I'll accomplish all of the following:

Fix yard at new house so a puppy can call it home!
Fix kitchen (read: add dishwasher, get new countertop, get rid of faux brick backsplash, tile floor)
Go to 3 weddings
Go to Minneapolis to visit little bro!
Float trip?
Go to Kentucky to camp/bike/hike - really looking forward to this. Here's where I'd like to go.
Buy a car.
Another Minneapolis (or northward) trip with the fam

And I can't wait.

Currently Reading: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (again!!) by J.K. Rowling

Could this be it?

2009-04-21T22:37:00.004-05:00

E and I went house hunting today. Could this be the one? It's got a HUGE yard (a little more than 1 acre) and TONS of room inside. Hmmm....I'm excited!

Hopefully soon I can post pictures of our new puppy! Once we have one that is...

A political rant

2009-04-21T22:28:00.002-05:00

So lately there's been all this news about states legalizing gay marriage. It's really exciting to think that we're progressing. Yet...at the same time, I'm so frustrated by people who seem to think that legalizing gay marriage will somehow affect their heterosexual relationships/marriages. I get it, I get that many people see marriage as their spiritual/religious union, but that's not what everyone views marriage as.

My brother sent me this link to a website about talking points for the conservative anti-gay marriage movement. I don't know if I'm just a bit close-minded in my opinion on the gay marriage issue, but it seemed like whoever came up with their talking points was arguing like a middle school/high school student would argue. The arguments just don't seem strong. I'm willing to listen to other people's arguments, but I still recognize when they're weak.

Like I said, maybe it's just because I can't possibly understand how people could condemn gay marriage (or any gay rights issue for that matter). Maybe I'm the close minded one. Hopefully not, but I'll admit it's a possibility.

:)

Currently Reading: The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov

I'm addicted

2009-04-21T22:26:00.002-05:00

To The Biggest Loser. Seriously. They're amazing. I know it's an insane way to lose weight, but probably because I'm on my own weight loss journey, they inspire me to work harder.

Speaking of working harder?

I burned 1000 calories today. 45 minutes running, 45 minutes spinning. Ouch. Trust me, I took a long hot shower afterwards.

In lieu of a better title...

2009-04-07T22:41:00.002-05:00

I've been a bad blogger. Every (other) day or so I think to myself, "Wow, Kate...you should really blog something." And then I think: You have nothing to say! Am I really that boring? One would hope not.

So what's been happening in my world lately?

I am currently hosting a German. She's here with her students who are visiting from our sister city in Germany. She's their English teacher, and she speaks very good English (obviously!) So...that's going well so far - except that I feel bad kicking her out of the living room (one of two rooms in my small apartment) so I can watch the Biggest Loser. Oh well, I'll catch it online in a day or so.
We're going to apply for a loan Friday!! Yay :) We don't have school Friday so E and I are going a couple places to get pre-approved for a loan. I'm very excited about this. Can you tell?
The Central Missouri Humane Society is in the top 10 animal shelters - voting for the 1,000,000 $$ makeover starts on the 10th (I think!) Zootoo is the best!
I'm a wonderful procrastinator. I'm supposed to be done with The Brothers Karamazov by tomorrow and I'm currently on page 487 of 735. Eeek.
Above statement shows how truly wonderful I am at procrastinating. Hello? Blogging Kate?! Read!!
Playing fetch with my cat (also currently do this) is hilarious. He's too darned cute.
I have a 5K this weekend that I'm hoping to excel in. We shall see.

Okay, I'm off to read. Seriously.

Currently Reading: The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky

Breathing Room.

2009-03-31T22:29:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I wonder how I'll ever have a family. Teaching takes so much time. Ha, then other times I feel like I must be a slow person...I take more time to do simple tasks it seems than other teachers. That has to be the reason I'm always there later than anyone else. Seriously. Maybe by the time I've been doing it for at least 5 years it'll get easier? Hopefully?

So some fun news. I'll be hosting a 28-year-old German named Annika when she comes to our small town to visit with her students. They get here Sunday night and she'll be staying on my futon (poor girl!) for two weeks. I think the best way to describe my feelings about this is anxious. I think it'll be fun, but I also love living by myself. Haha, selfish, I know. As long as I'm still able to make it to the gym, I'll be good. :) I'm just hoping I can find some stuff for us to do over our long Easter weekend. Suggestions? I was thinking of maybe taking her to Amish Country - at least that's what we call it - some weekend. It's pretty cool, and definitely unique.

I'm doing a 5k next weekend and I've got a goal I'm afraid to say out loud. My last 5k I ran in 25:45ish. That was on a dang hilly course. According to the results that was about a 8:19 mile pace. I've been running at least 3.5 miles at an 8:00 mile pace for the past couple weeks...so I'm crossing my fingers. Today I actually managed to run 8/mile, 7:30/mile, and then finished out my 30 minutes at an 8/minute pace. That should make it into the 24-minute range, right? That's my goal. I've said it now. Now I'll have to admit if I actually make it.

So E and I are looking for a house! I'm super excited (if you couldn't tell by the exclamation marks)!! That also means I'll get a puppy, which I'm also stoked for. The house hunt is exciting. I'm sure once we actively start viewing houses and discussing making offers it'll be stressful, too. Right now though, exciting. And I'm just fine with that :)

30 days left of this school year. Not that I'm counting or anything. It's crazy. I still have to finish Julius Caesar and cover Non-fiction with my Honors kids. Ouch.

Oh, and volleyball's over. YES! I love it, but it gets so busy. Hence the post title. I can breathe now.

Currently Reading: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

War & Peace

2009-03-30T23:26:00.002-05:00

Title: War & Peace
Author: Leo Tolstoy
Review: I know it's no news that this book is long, but I think since I had to read it for class it just made it seem that much longer. However, I did enjoy it. I will admit (bad english teacher!) that I did gloss over some of the war scenes, because really.

Overall I'd say the character's were pretty well developed. I think my favorite was Natasha, just because she seemed naive and innocent while at the same time somewhat deceiving. My least favorite was Mary because she was such a pushover! I mean, her Dad treated her horribly and she did nothing about it!

It's been a couple weeks since I read the book, so this review stinks. Sorry. I'm glad I was forced to read it though, cause I highly doubt I would've done it on my own.

Currently Reading: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Holy Moly.

2009-03-20T22:32:00.003-05:00

I've been a bad, bad blogger lately. If you care to hear my excuses I'll brief them real quick: teaching, night class, volleyball, and procrastination! :) That's it!

Teaching:

So the other day I had a fun experience. The bell rang, so as per usual I asked everyone to be quiet and do the bellwork on the board. One young man continued his conversation (rather loudly) in the back of the room. "---, you're still talking. I've asked everyone to stop talking." "YOU'RE RIGHT I'M STILL TALKING!" (Pause) "Fuck this school! I'm leaving!" All the students and I just looked at each other as we watched him storm out of the room. Seriously? What? Gotta love temper tantrums. And I teach mostly seniors!
I've been asked by our German teacher to host the German English teacher who is coming with the German students for two weeks in April. Eeek! I've never had a visitor for that long, and she'll be sleeping on my futon, but it should be interesting. She's 27 and single, so we should have at least that in common :)

Night Class:

Done with War & Peace. Yes, I finished it! Okay, well I skipped the two epilogues, but I figured after 1000 pages, I was good to go.
Just started The Brothers Karamazov. So far? Yawn.

Volleyball:

So after losing our first 4 games, we won 2nd place in our weekend tournament - last weekend. Go 7th graders! They were pretty excited. And they impressed me after our win, because they refused to take pictures with their shiny new plaque until they congratulated the team who'd just beat them.
Seriously. The middle school volleyball season is short - but crazy. Only 3 more games (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) and I'm DONE! Until next year, anyway.

Procrastination:

When am I not doing this? Really.

Weight Watchers:

Core foods definitely work. After my week on the "simply filling" plan, I lost 2.5 pounds. Yay! So I've decided to stay on the simply filling technique until I reach my WW (and personal) goal. Only 4 more lbs until my WW goal. Can you say heck yeah?

Yes, Really. It's Lame.

2009-03-10T22:49:00.002-05:00

War & Peace is killing my blogging lately. But, I swear, I'll be done tomorrow (can you say Thank you!!).

Until then, check out zootoo.com (I know, I know, I've mentioned it before). Central Missouri Humane Society is now ranked #1!! Only 3 more days left in the points phase of the contest and we have to stay where we are. If you like animals and feel like posting some pictures of your cute fur-balls, head on over. We in Central Missouri would love any help we could get.

War & Peace progress = page 911. Ha! What a coincidence.

Currently Reading: Do I really need to tell you?

Simply Filling...

2009-02-28T16:25:00.002-06:00

So I joined WW in May of 2008. I prepared myself for it. I told myself in the fall of 2007 that I had to do something. I was working out at least 4-5 times a week and my weight was staying the same. I have to prepare myself for life changes, and I knew that WW would be quite a change at first. Well? It worked out great! I have the summers off (oh, the perks of being a teacher) so I knew I'd be able to concentrate on making WW a part of my life while making sure I kept up my workout routine. Everything was great until about October of last year. Then my progress started to slow. I was still losing, but it was those tiny -0.2 or -0.4 amounts. I'm patient, but not that patient. I kept up with my points counting and working out and finally decided to try something different - to see if I could trick my body into losing again.

Last week I tried working out a lot more. Nope. Stayed the same.

This week? I switched to the simply filling technique. The results? Well, they're not official yet - I weigh in on Monday (my birthday, too, by the way) and I know I'm going to be excited. I've weighed myself periodically throughout the week and as of today I'm down at least 2 pounds. The last time I had a loss that big was in November of 2008. Seriously, I'm super excited. And it wasn't too bad. I mean, I'm eating a TON more fruits and veggies.

I'm thinking about staying on the simply filling foods technique until I reach goal. I'm SO close! I was thinking I could do it by May, but if it goes like this week has, I'll be there by the end of March! Yay! Then I'll get my present to myself - a massage. I've never had one, and I figured, why not? I deserve it after losing 45 pounds. I am thinking that I'm going to keep my personal goal of at least 5 pounds less than my WW goal, though. I know my body can do it, and I know I can do it. I also think I'd be more satisfied if I tried.

In other news, my graduate class is pretty good so far. Right now I'm supposed to be at least half way through War & Peace, lemme tell you, not the easiest book to get through. It's good, it just takes awhile to read.

If you have the time (and the inclination) you should also help to support my local animal shelter. If you decide to take your time to help out, my shelter's name is the Central Missouri Humane Society. We're currently in 4th place and we (ALL of us - especially the animals) appreciate anything and everything you could do to help. Zootoo is a pretty darn cool site, so if you're an animal lover/owner anyway, I know you could get something out of it. Next post will definitely include some adorable animal photos.

A Hero of Our Time

2009-02-19T23:58:00.002-06:00

Title: A Hero of Our Time
Author: Mikhail Lermontov
Rating: 3 outta 5 stars
Review: This book is similar to Eugene Onegin in so many ways...and yet, I didn't like it near as much. I always find it hard to like a book when I don't like the narrator, and Pechorin was hard to like. He is a shallow, bored, well, jerk. His goal in life is to upset the balance in other people's lives. I mean, come on, who wants to be around that?

That said, it was easier to read than War & Peace, which I'm currently stumbling through.

Breaking a plateau

2009-02-19T23:06:00.003-06:00

Here's my plan to finally break through this dang plateau I've been stuck on for the past oh....forever.

1. Stay within my points. Track ahead of time so I know where I stand.

2. Exercise like a madwoman:

Thursday: Running - 30 minutes, Spinning - 45 minutes, 30 day Shred DVD - 20 minutes
Friday: Running - 30 minutes, 30 day Shred (back to back) - 40 minutes
Saturday: Running - 30 minutes, 30 day Shred - 40 minutes
Sunday: Running - 30 minutes, 30 day Shred - 40 minutes

3. Be optimistic? :) haha, if only that's all it took.

In other news? It's the annual J-Family Women's Retreat this weekend and we're supposed to come with the following: a book to recommend, music to recommend, a movie to recommend, and supplies for the craft we'll be making (a dish towel purse??) on Saturday. I'm also bringing the Shred DVD for our workout session on Saturday.

During the "exercise" session a couple years ago. Hey, we have fun.

My family is really close. We started having this "Women's Retreat" a few years ago as a way for everyone to get together - well, all the women anyway - and just hang out for awhile. It's nice because usually those relatives who live out of state manage to come in and we have fun just being with each other. There's always a book review session - "What book have you read in the last year that you just have to tell us about?", then there's the movie review - everyone just shares what they loved (mine was Juno last year). The music thing is new, I'm still thinking on that one. But then we do a few crafts led by different members of the family, exercise a little, then go to Church Sunday morning and afterwards hit up the local DQ. I'm so glad that my family is close (both physically and emotionally). We're all a little different, but we enjoy our differentness. It's nice.

Currently Reading: War and Peace by: Leo Tolstoy

A couple ways to tell you're getting old...

2009-02-14T20:31:00.003-06:00

1. You enjoy vacuuming. "That rug needed it!"
2. You find yourself looking for recipes to try. And you don't cook.
3. A big night out means a trip to the grocery store and Applebees.
4. Did I mention I'm cooking?

What I'm cooking this week:

Diet coke bread. Yes, that's right. Yeast, Diet Coke and Flour. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Pita Pizza. Yum.
Salsa (also known as Taco) Soup. Seriously delicious.
Zesty Chicken and Rice Chili. Yay! I've been wanting to try this one out for awhile!

Pictures to follow? :) Oh yes, my Valentines day was super exciting. I've always said that E and I are pretty boring. But we don't mind. At least we're boring together.

Currently Reading: War & Peace (need I say more?)

A Doggy Update

2009-02-10T22:19:00.004-06:00

Oh yeah, that's right. My parents got a new puppy (well, he's really about 2 years old, but he's so darn cute I'm gonna call him a puppy!)!! Yay! I love animals.

Now, I might be so infatuated because I know that I will shortly be able to have my own puppy, but either way, I'm somewhat of an animal freak.

Meet Hank.

Hanks on the left (Bear is on the right).

And again...

Ain't he cute? Seriously though, he looks so eerily similar to our beloved beagle Sneaker who died last summer. *tear*

By the way, for any English teachers (or majors) out there. Here's a question. The English department and I were discussing the other day the rule about capitalization and the names of breeds. Apparently the rule is that you don't capitalize a dog's breed unless it's like "German Shepard." What's with that? It seems like they're proper nouns, right? I mean, to be a beagle you have to have certain traits...right? And, if that's true does it mean you don't capitalize the different breeds of horses? Cats? Who made up this rule?

I am now stepping away from the nerd podium.

I actually got some grading done tonight (yay me!). Although, I still have 22 (hopefully - if they all turned them in) 4-5 page research papers on historical figures. I'm not gonna stress on that one though. I've got time...right?

In other news. Anyone got advice for breaking a slow weight-loss cycle? I'm exactly (exactly!) where I was a month ago. I mysteriously had a 2ish pound weight gain a couple weeks ago. I say mysteriously because I really didn't do anything differently. At all. I worked out the same, I ate the same. It wasn't TOM. What gives? So I've lost that wonderful 2ish pound gain, but I'm kinda frustrated. I'm SOOO close. Any advice?

Currently Reading: A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov

Inkdeath

2009-02-08T22:27:00.003-06:00

Title: Inkdeath
Author: Cornelia Funke
Rating: 4 outta 5 stars
Review: I really enjoyed this series, it's very original.

In this book, the Bluejay has to decide to stay and fight the way the Inkworld is turning, or to return to the safety of his "home" with his wife and child.

SPOILER: Dustfinger does return, and I'm so glad he did.

I really like Meggie's relationship with...oh, I forgot his name. Her crush on Farid really seemed a little dramatic to me.

I definitely recommend reading all three of these books, it's a series that doesn't disappoint.

Eugene Onegin

2009-02-08T20:14:00.002-06:00

Title: Eugene Onegin
Author: Alexander Pushkin
Rating: 4 outta 5 stars
Review: Considering this was a "I had to read it" book, I really liked it. Sadly, what did I like about it most? It rhymed - which is always fun, and the story was intriguing.

Onegin is your typical spoiled, shallow guy. He's bored with life and finds it hard to get interested in anything or anyone. Tatyana is a romantic. She's intelligent, well-read, and doesn't easily fall for the drama that those around her incessantly whisper/giggle about. When Tatyana sees Onegin, it's love at first sight. She writes him a letter sharing her feelings and is....rejected!

To find out what happens later with Onegin and Tatyana, read for yourself!

"What's all this about a bomb threat?!"

2009-02-08T19:53:00.002-06:00

Yes, that's right. The middle school of my school district received a bomb threat Friday. Actually, they received the call Thursday night. That's right. The extremely intelligent prankster left a bomb threat VOICE-MAIL! Seriously. Really?

So, here's how school went on Friday.

1. It was a bea-utiful day. About 68 degrees. Beautiful. What's that mean? Crazy kids!
2. Courtwarming, which means we were running a different schedule, shortened classes with a lot of student anticipation/excitement for the pep rally.
3. Oh, did I mention a bomb threat? This meant the entire middle school students/staff had to come up to the high school.

The middle schoolers took the threat wonderfully. They were very well behaved, no one freaked out. It was nice.

The high schoolers? Drama! First of all, the administration didn't really tell any of the teachers what was going on - so we didn't know what to tell the kids when they yelled out stuff like, "What's with this bomb threat?!" in the middle of class. I mean, really. That was my biggest complaint. You have to let your teachers know what's going on so they can handle the madness and calm fears. Oh, and not appear like they're bumbling idiots or just lying to cover things up.

All in all, it was a crazy day. But...considering what went on, it turned out rather well.

Currently Reading: Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone by J.K. Rowling (LOVE these books!)
A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lemontov

25 random things...

2009-02-02T23:25:00.002-06:00

For lack of anything else...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 5 people to tag. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I should be grading (but you probably know that).

2. I've learned recently that I actually like running.

3. Cereal is one of my favorite foods.

4. I love singing.

5. The Office wouldn't be the same without Dwight.

6. I have some of the best co-workers.

7. I'm hoping to be a homeowner within the next six months...

8. And a dog owner :)

9. So far, I'm kicking my new year's resolution's butt (not biting my fingernails).

10. My family (all of them) are the best. They're always there, they're goof-balls, and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

11. If I watch Mizzou play sports, they almost always win. Or at least that's my argument to get out of watching them play.

12. The Shawshank Redemption is a must see. My favorite.

13. I really do wish Hogwarts were real. Seriously. How cool?

14. I almost always have a hard time saying "No," when people ask me to do something.

15. I used to have a teenage obsession over the Backstreet Boys.

16. If I could find a job where I could get paid to read, I would be in heaven.

17. I only have 5-10 (can't decide) more to go, and I'm so psyched about that.

18. I enjoy the outcome (but sometimes hate the process) when it comes to crafts.

19. If I could live without shoes during the summer, I would.

20. I'd like to live somewhere warmer. If only for a few years.

21. I love my freckles. I hope they stay.

22. I wish I could speak multiple languages. I'd love to teach my kids (or have someone else teach them).

23. I have a very strong sense of self-discipline. If I want to do something, I will do it. But, I have to want it.

24. I have no idea what I would be if I weren't a teacher. I can't imagine.

25. I wish I were better at keeping in touch with old friends.

So, I'm tagging Ashlee, Can I Just Say..., Laura, and Lisa Marie.

Help the....

2009-02-01T23:12:00.002-06:00

Central Missouri Humane Society.

I'm a volunteer for the Central Missouri Humane Society, and if anyone needs to win a shelter makeover, it's them. They've recently had to squeeze their hours because of budget restrictions, the shelter was partially flooded for a few days this fall, it's just sad. These poor animals (this is where I got my amazing buddy Simon) have to live in these conditions because they can't afford any better.

So, if you feel like helping out and happen to have an animal visit www.zootoo.com and sign up (please select CMHS as your shelter) and help us reach the top 20! I'd appreciate it. Then I can see what animals you have, too! :)

excited about taxes?

2009-01-29T21:05:00.004-06:00

Oh yes, yes I am. Why on earth would you be excited about taxes? Refunds of course! Seriously, sweet.

In other news? My snowday was not very productive on the "school" front. You want to know what I did? Exciting stuff. I took tons of stuff to the Goodwill a couple towns away. Woohoo.

How much did you grade? Like 15 essays. That's it. Seriously, ridiculous.

Oh, and by the way...it took me about 25 minutes to do my taxes (filing and everything) online. Sweet.

So, here's a question:

Why do I weigh about 2 pounds (sometimes 3) less in the morning than I do at night? Haha, once I reach my WW goal, I'm totally gonna stick with my "morning" weight if anyone asks. Seriously. On that note, I'm only 5 pounds away from my WW goal. A-mazing. I'm still thinking I'm gonna make my personal goal about 5 pounds less than that, because I know it's possible, and I also think I'd look pretty darn good there. We'll see how I feel when I reach goal. Let me tell you, I cannot wait for my "I reached goal" present - a massage. I've never had one and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Sorry for the rambling, random post. I can't seem to stick to one topic tonight.

Currently Reading: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke & Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin

What was your most embarrassing moment?

2009-01-25T23:13:00.003-06:00

I've been pretty fortunate in my life. First of all, my family's crazy. So I got used to being embarrassed at a young age. Heck, my kids (students) look at me sometimes like Who is this woman? Haha, it makes life interesting.

However.

Earlier this week there was an incident at school involving one of my honors students. She got two days of O.S.S. I was a little surprised, I mean, it's not often an honors student gets in that kind of trouble. Needless to say, I heard through the grapevine what happened. I. Was. Appalled. Here's the lowdown.

Setting: Spanish 2 (all grade levels)
Background: Student A - freshman girl, Student B - sophomore honor's girl
Incident: Student A was writing something on the board for the teacher when Student B came up and pulled her (Student A's) pants down. Yes, you read that right. She de-pants her. Now, not only did she depants her, but she got the underwear. In front of the ENTIRE class.

You may wonder, "What did the teacher do?"

She laughed.

Yes, I'm serious.

UGH! Seriously. When I heard about this I didn't even know what to say. Now, I'm a pretty modest person, so I can only imagine how mortified I would have been. Poor girl! Especially when your teacher laughs.

Why do I bring up this story? Well, later in the week when Student B got back from O.S.S. she was joking and laughing about it in class. What is it with kids these days? I know, I'm only 24, but it seems like this kind of thing happens a lot more now.

In other news? I started my Russian lit (AHH!) class Wednesday. It's been like a year and a half since I've taken class, but I'm kind of excited. Of course, we have to read an entire book by Wednesday (which I haven't started), but I'm hoping it'll be good. I'll let ya know!

Currently Reading: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

Inkspell

2009-01-19T22:34:00.001-06:00

Book Title: Inkspell
Author: Cornelia Funke
Rating: 4 outta 5 stars
Review: Yes, this book took me forever to read. No, it wasn't because it wasn't good. It was good. Very good.

Meggie reads herself into Inkworld (at the end of the last book? or at the beginning of this one? good question). So, Mo and Resa are read in as well. A cute little relationship develops between Meggie and Farid. Mo is confused - he doesn't seem to know if he's the same person he was in "his world" or if he'll fit into Fenoglio's world of Inkspell. Like the previous book, the bad guys seem to get out of everything, but you know, I think it makes it seem more realistic. I still hate them though.

I'm holding out hope for Dustfinger in the next book.

Currently Reading: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

I beat my dad!

2009-01-19T22:09:00.003-06:00

Go me. So yesterday Dad, E, K and I ran in the "Resolution Run" 5k in CoMo. My goal was to break 26 (get under 26). And. I. Did. It. Seriously though, that freakin course was h-a-r-d! The course started by going uphill pretty much right away - and it was a hill. Seriously. I guess it's better to start with a hill than to end with one though. Unfortunately there were like 6 hills altogether. Really guys, who made up this course?

In other news? I'm boring. I've continued with the 30-day Shred. Ouch. Seriously though, I was an idiot. I did the 30-day Shred and decided to do another speed interval run and spinning class the next day. Talk about sore. Ouch.

Slow anyone? Why in the world did I not watch The Office before?

Who's excited for the inauguration tomorrow? Speechless. That's what I am. I'm just so thoroughly excited and hopeful that I can't think of anything to say. GObama :)

Currently Reading: Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

The 30-day bandwagon.

2009-01-15T00:29:00.003-06:00

I'm impulsive. Seriously impulsive. About stupid things. Example?

Tonight I'm sitting on my couch watching TV and looking at reviews for Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred video and all the sudden, I have to get it. I mean. What. Is. The. Deal? It's my day off from the gym. I just did spinning and speed interval running yesterday and I still convinced myself to brave the -15 (windchill) weather, drive to Wtown (30 minutes away) to get a stupid workout DVD.

Seriously Kate.

The verdict?

I will be sore tomorrow. However, happily, level 1 was not terribly difficult - unless you consider being a complete upper body wuss like I am. Most of the workout was fine, but man, my arms are weak! So, my resolution is to do this 30 day Shred. I probably won't do it IN 30 days exactly, because I'm out of town at my bf's house on weekends, and that's a little unrealistic since vball practice and my graduate course starts soon, but I will do it. Trust me?

Another Texas picture for the road...

What did I have to show E in Texas? The monster soda bottles. Yes, I'm a nerd.

Looking for Alaska

2009-01-13T23:32:00.004-06:00

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review: Read this. If you're in high school (or have been...recently), read this. At times - as a teacher - I thought the language was a bit rough, but it's realistic, too.

Pudge is starting life at a new school. He's convinced his parents to send them to his father's alma mater - a boarding school far away from home. Once he leaves his old self behind he meets some very unique friends, the scholarship kids, the Colonel and Alaska. Not only are these new friends nothing like he's had before, they turn his world upside down.

Pudge is your average out-of-place teen, and his voice in this book is amazing. Halfway through the twist really threw me and I didn't know if I'd want to continue reading, but Pudge and his friends reel you back in.

Sidenote: This book is hilarious. Some of my students caught me laughing while we were reading (silently) in class and wondered what in the world was wrong with me. But really, it's just funny, and true, and heartwarming, and sad, and lots of others. Highly recommend it.

Currently Reading: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

God's Cereal

2009-01-13T21:48:00.003-06:00

Yes, that is the correct price.

So, E and I went to Texas last weekend for my cousin M's wedding. Pictured above is the cereal of the Lord. He wants your money too, so pay up for that heavenly goodness. But seriously, we didn't eat it, I just found it hilarious.

The wedding was great. Adorable couple. Short service. Limited amount of people (that's what I want. not that I don't like people, I just don't like being paid attention to that much). Seriously, low key. Wonderful. And I have a new cousin now!

Needless to say, the trip to Texas was not short. 15 hours in the car (one way). You know it's funny, a lot of people commented, "If you two (E and I) can survive that trip, you can survive anything," and I thought, seriously? We've been together 5 years. If we couldn't survive that trip, I'd hope we'd have found out already. And I was right, it wasn't hard...at all! I really do have an amazing boyfriend. I'm so glad :)

Resolution Update: NO biting of the nails. This is the (almost) 2 week mark. It's hard! It's still hard! Why is it still hard?!

Simon (the amazing - otherwise known as my adorable kitty) seems to think he's a dog now. Ever since I got home from Texas he's followed me everywhere. He's even become a lap cat! It's crazy! He never did that before. And, everytime I go to bed now he thinks it's time to play fetch. Bad timing, lemme tell you. And this morning he woke me up by sitting on my bedside table and pawing my face. Apparently when the alarm goes off and I don't hop out of bed to feed him, something's seriously wrong.

Sorry about the bland update, but I'm tired, and I haven't updated in awhile (shame, shame). I'll leave you with another picture from Texas - my adorable cousins.

Currently Reading: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (I know! But, I read another book inbetween)

Sweet Success

2009-01-06T21:42:00.003-06:00

So I joined a challenge at my local gym, The Biggest Loser. They track your percentage lost over a four month period, and I'm pretty psyched because they've got some sweet prizes (can you say 1-hour massage?)! Well, when you sign up they take your weight and measurements so I compared it to my weight and measurements from when I signed up at the gym. Curious, are you?

From July 2007 - January 2009

Pounds lost: 38

BMI: Start - 30.2, Now - 23.9

Fat: Start 35.8%, Now - 29.2%

Inches Lost:
Chest: 6
Waist: 8
Hips: 8
Thighs: 2
Calves: 1

Yes, you could say I was pretty psyched about that. A little freaked that I let it get as bad as I did, but psyched that I've come so far since May 2008 (when I started WW).

In other news? My new year's resolution is going good. It's tough. But so far? No biting nails! No biting cuticles! I think it might be harder than WW. Maybe because there's not such a great benefit in the end?

Well, Simon wants to play fetch. Silly cat. I swear he thinks he's a dog.

Currently Reading: InkSpell by: Cornelia Funke

What will you do this year?

2009-01-01T23:59:00.002-06:00

Oh yes, it's that time of year again. Resolutions! I always try to make a new year's resolution and it seems like by the end of the year I always forget what it is...oops.

This year's resolution?

1. Stop biting my fingernails (and cuticles, I know, I'm bad). I WILL do this. Especially since E doesn't think I can.
2. Make and maintain my WW goal. I'm only 8 pounds away. Go me.
3. That's it!

The fewer I make, the fewer I can't keep, right?

How did I start the new year? Dad, E, K, Cousin E, and I ran in the First Night 5K in CoMo. We ran in it last year too, and boy was it easier this year. Last year's time? 30:21. Ouch. This year I was ecstatic to make my goal (to beat 27:00). My time was 26:06! Yay me!! Seriously, I'm impressed with myself. Now Dad's tryin to convince me to do a 5K in a couple weeks for Starting Block (a new sport equipment store). In the Starting Block 5K the girls start 3 minutes ahead of the guys, so I could maybe beat Dad. Ha, that'd be something.

Well, I actually have to go back to work tomorrow...so I should get to bed, on my new feather bed topper, I'm excited!! I hope everyone had a great New Years Eve and I wish everyone the best in 2009.

What are your resolutions? How are you going to keep them?

Currently Reading: The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials Book 2) by: Philip Pullman

Must Love Dogs

2008-12-29T12:44:00.006-06:00

So last night, E and I went to see Marly & Me. Cute movie. As we left the sparsly crowded theatre we saw a little boy, probably around 9, who was bawling his eyes out. Poor little guy. I will say, that movie gives you no recovery time!

A little background:

My family loves dogs. When I say we love them, I mean love them. We spoil them rotten. Treat them like they're kings. It's actually pretty horrible how rotten our animals are. Sample one:
We're a bunch of crybabies. We take the loss of our animals hard. My little brother's beagle died this summer unexpectedly and it was horrible. See here for more about how pathetic I am.
Our family German Shepard, Buck, is the best dog ever. We like to call him the million dollar dog. He has been through everything, and he's still the most loving, beautiful dog ever.
What's he been through, you ask?

When he was a puppy we were playing baseball and he got hit in the eye (yes, they eyeball) with the baseball bat). Needless to say, he's never been able to see out of that eye since.
While recovering from the eye issue, he got Parvo at the vet.
A year or so later he got lime's disease.
Then I ran over him in the truck. I know, that sounds horrible! Here's the story though. We were hauling hay out to our new pond so we had a bunch of haybales stacked up in the back of the farm truck. Granddaddy and I were driving through the field very slowly because of said hay, and because the dogs were riding on top of the hay. Well, Buck decided to run off the haybales, onto the cab of the truck and then proceeded to keep going, running off the front of the truck...while I was driving! I felt horrible, but he ended up just limping a bit.

I'm sure there's more, but you get the point. He's been through a lot.
Buck's getting old. Really old. His hips are failing him and he mainly just sits around these days in the garage. He's developed mange (or something, we're not sure what) because he sits so much. He's lost a lot of hair on his back end. The other day he tried getting up to come and get some lovin from me and it made me wanna cry.

So, basically my point here is...I'm a crybaby and I don't want Buck to get old. Which he has. I keep telling Mom they need to put him down. He's miserable. The problem is, we all love him so much. We've never had a dog long enough to put them to sleep. They've either been really healthy into their old age and just died peacefully one day, or they died tragically (see Sneaker story above). So I guess part of it is that we've never had to deal with it before. I must say though, I bawled in Marly & Me at the end. It's just so freakin sad! How do people do it?

Young @ Heart

2008-12-19T19:28:00.003-06:00

Title: Young @ Heart
Rating: 5 outta 5 stars
Review: This movie, you must see! Young @ Heart is a chorus of older folks who travel the country (and world) performing. It's sad, uplifting, sweet, cute, hilarious, touching, any other positive adjective you can think of.

This chorus is so inspiring. The average age is 80, and they show you (or me) that anything and everything is possible. Positive attitude just gets you so far. I hope that I'm this upbeat when I'm older. Seriously, stop reading my review, watch the trailer below, and go rent this movie!

Who I Admire

2008-12-18T23:39:00.002-06:00

In response to Ashley's post on those we admire, I have the following.

1. My Mom. That might sound cliche, but the woman's amazing. That's an entire post there.
2. My students. There is a student every day (usually new ones each day) who inspire me to be better. Doing random acts of kindness (thanks for the holiday cake, L, it was amazingly sweet - in more ways than one), trying their hardest (sweet little F- always the last to finish her test, but she tries so hard, is so calm, sweet, and respectful, seriously, she's amazing), and making me laugh (there are too many to count).
3. My cousin. He's going after what he wants. He's getting married to a girl he's only been dating for very short while, and while I think he's nuts, I also admire him, because I know I could never do something so impulsive!
4. My Aunt. She's lost so much on WW, and she doesn't even realize it anymore because she's kept it off for so long. It's inspiring and encouraging.

How to Procrastinate

2008-12-18T21:27:00.002-06:00

1. Put on some iTunes. This is essential for most tasks.
2. Check your email. Every 30 minutes.
3. Peruse Google Reader. You know you just have to see what others are doing!
4. Think about grading those finals sitting there...
5. Tell yourself to grade.
6. Peruse WW website. Message boards here I come.
7. Facebook. You're the devil.
8. Look up the weather. Cause really, you're that boring.

Seriously Kate, go grade! Then you won't have to grade over Christmas break. GO!

Currently Reading: Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

Bottled Up

2008-12-17T21:28:00.003-06:00

Title: Bottled Up
Author: Jaye Murray
Rating: 4 outta 5 stars
Review: So Pip is a guy with a lot of problems.

1. His dad's a jerk...and an alcoholic.
2. His mother's a pill popper.
3. He smokes way too much pot.
4. His friends are losers.
5. He has to take care of his brother.
6. When I say his dad's a jerk, I mean, he's an abusive, horrible, alcoholic.

I really like the voice in this book. Pip seems like one of my high school students. Not a specific one, mind you, but he sounds like he could be sitting in my classroom, these thoughts running through his head.

Pip's headed in the wrong direction when his principal gives him an ultimatum. Straighten up, or I call Dad. Somehow, no one's thought of this before. Seriously, if only it were that easy to get kids to think about straightening up. Anyway, I really like the adventure Pip goes on, it's hilly, rough, and scary, but he keeps plowing right through.

Christmas presents!

2008-12-15T22:46:00.005-06:00

So, here's a cute picture of E and Simon, who apparently loves cuddling with E who isn't really an animal person. If you're my sister-in-law, please don't look below the first picture, or you'll ruin your Christmas surprise, and that's sucky. After Christmas you can look. Course, by then you'll have it!

I did it! I did it! I made Christmas presents! That might seem like no biggie, but I'm such a procrastinator. And I actually did it. Yay me.

A clothespin bag - which will be filled with IKEA clothespins :)

And one for Mom, which won't be filled with clothespins...cause she already has a ton.

In other Christmas present news, I'm making a slideshow/video of our family for my little bro (and everyone else). E has helped me figure out how to record an old VHS (the only family video we have) so I can add it to the picture slideshow. How cool?! He's awesome I tell ya.

We're in the process of looking at houses for next year. I'm excited. I'm not gonna deny it. I watch way too much HGTV. So Mom sent me an A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E listing today. It's kinda sad though, cause most likely it won't still be on the market when we're looking. Hopefully we find something great though :)

We had a snow day today, and I'm praying we don't have one tomorrow. We have to have finals! And then...break! Yes! I swear, sometimes I think teachers have the sweetest deal. We get off for every major holiday. And can you say 3 months in the summer? Seriously. I may complain about grading, but the breaks more than make up for it.

Currently Reading: Bottled Up by Jaye Murray

Hattie Big Sky

2008-12-15T21:15:00.003-06:00

Title: Hattie Big Sky
Author: Kirby Larson
Rating: 4 outta 5 stars
Review: Hattie Big Sky is based on Ms. Larson's ancestor who actually went through the homestead experience.

Hattie is a strong willed, naive, hopeful, and good-natured character. As a girl, she was a great character. That said, I'm not sure this book is for boys.

Hattie grew up being shifted from relative to relative after her parents both died when she was young. She's always felt like she had no place to call her own. While living with a distant relative she receives word that her Uncle (her Mom's brother) died and left her his homestead in Montana. Hattie decides to go to Montana and prove his claim. Of course, it's rough. The weather is terrible, the political climate is strained (this takes place during World War II), and Hattie has a lot to learn.

Currently Reading: Bottled Up by: Jaye Murray

Inkheart

2008-12-10T17:22:00.004-06:00

Title: Inkheart
Author: Cornelia Funke
Rating: 4 outta 5 stars
Review: Meggie and her father have an interesting talent, they make books come to life. However, that's not always a good thing. For Maggie and Mo it's often downright scary.

In the first book of this series, Maggie discovers her fathers talent (and later her own) when she meets the always-intriguing bad guy, Capricorn, who is determined to use their talents to achieve his goals.

This book really plays on every reader's fantasy of what would happen if a book came to life. It is well written, has as many twists and turns as your favorite roller coaster, and leaves you wanting to know just what Dustfinger will start in Inkspell, which I have every intention of reading as soon as one of my students finishes it!

Currently Reading: Hattie Big Sky by: Kirby Larson

How to Play Fetch with a Cat.

2008-12-08T22:51:00.004-06:00

So not only is this incredibly cute, but I thought also hilariously funny, for a cat.

Enjoy Simon's premiere performance.

Please forgive the poor video quality.

breaking dawn & the express: the ernie davis story

2008-12-08T22:07:00.006-06:00

So, I decided since my blog is titled "Relentlessly Reading" it'd only make sense to post my book reviews here. They're also on Goodreads, but hey, I need a post! :)

Title: Breaking Dawn
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Rating: 3 outta 5stars

Review: So I'm done with the Twilight series. I don't know if it's just that I read too much, of if the foreshadowing is really that obvious in these books.

In this book Bella finally becomes a vampire. Now that's not a spoiler, you can read it in the book jacket! That said, it does take awhile to get there, and this book is the least G rated out of the four in the series. I always like Jacob and Bella's relationship the best out of all the characters because it seemed the most real, and it stayed that way in the forth book until Bella gets married and has....an unexpected surprise. However, I think Bella's relationship with Alice (Edward's "sister") is great in this book.

I also liked how all the vampires came together to "fight evil" and that they seemed to find a sort of peace with the werewolves.

So overall? I guess I'd say it's a good read, a light read for sure. Not something I'll re-read.

Title: The Express: The Ernie Davis Story
Author: Robert Gallagher
Rating: 3 outta 5 stars
Review: So I started this book and gave it up rather quickly. The Ernie Davis story is amazing and inspiring, but the way in which this book is written is too boring to hold my attention when I have so many other books waiting for me. Sorry.

That said, I do wish more athletes today would realize that their popularity really makes them noticed by society, and I wish they would use that in a positive way, encouraging youth today to be more civil, more gracious, more intelligent in what they do.

Currently Reading: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Cute Christmas Present

2008-12-01T22:46:00.006-06:00

In an effort to save money this Christmas (might be looking for a house this summer/fall - YAY!) I'm trying to make as many Christmas presents as I can. One present I really enjoy making is the one I'm making for my brother (and therefore the rest of my family).

Last Christmas I made a slideshow for Grandmother of the whole family. I got pictures from all my aunts/uncles/cousins, etc and made a family slideshow with music selected by each family. Well, S liked it and wanted one of just our immediate family, so guess what S? You're getting one for Christmas and I'm lovin makin it!

We were so cute...

Dad

Mom

Mom and A (older brother)

Me :)

S (little brother)

Seriously, we were adorable. Any agreeing comments are always appreciated. What are you doing for Christmas presents this year? Any good money saving ideas?

Currently Reading: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

New Clothes!

2008-11-24T21:58:00.005-06:00

So, I went shopping this weekend, yay! 'Bout time. I was seriously running out of pants. It was bad. And now? I have 3 pairs of jeans, crazy! I don't remember the last time I had three pairs of jeans that fit well!

So, Mom, Memaw and I drove to Nebraska City because they have a pretty awesome outlet place with super cheap clothes. Those jeans? $10. Oh yeah.

Outfit #1 - I made myself buy this vest, cause come on, it's cute!

Outfit #2 - I like the sweater, surprisingly.

In other news, I also rocked the painted toenails tonight. Wow, I'm boring. :)

toes! The shade? CoverGirl Perfect Penny.

Currently Reading: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Choppy Sentences.

2008-11-18T22:19:00.004-06:00

Are killing me. They're. Everywhere. Can you tell I'm grading essays? Oh how lovely! Actually, the worst part is that I would rather be doing anything else :) Go figure.

So I'm catsitting a cat for a friend (of a friend). I know I'm pathetic, I can't say no.

Complaints about said cat:

1. She's ugly. Sorry. She just is. Lemme see if I can scrounge up a picture.That pictures kinda not showing how her colors don't really blend. It does show that she's obese though. Dang cat, I feed them twice a day and she still seems to be eating too much!

2. She's retarded. Seriously. She can't walk in a straight line and her eyes are HUGE, she just looks below average.

3. She sheds like you would not believe! This has to be the worst. I'm sorry, I love cats, but I cannot STAND their hair. And her favorite place to sleep while I'm at school? My pillow. Damn you Emmy.

4. She poops outside the cat box. Now, I thought I had this figured out, she likes a really clean cat box. NOPE. I cleaned it out last night and wahlah, more poop on the floor this morning.

Needless to say, someone (Me!) can't wait until Emmy's Mom gets home from Jordan in May. I should start a countdown. On the other hand, Simon absolutely loves playing with her. Dang, I might have to get another kitty...darn ;)

Note: How the heck do you spell wahlah? I can't believe I've never come across this before. Surely it's easy and I'm just slow tonight.

Currently Reading: New Moon by Stephanie Meyer (slooow reading)

To job hungs and fretting

2008-11-17T23:09:00.003-06:00

So, it looks like I'll be looking for a job for this upcoming school year. I didn't think I'd be looking this soon, but E and I talked about it and we're both ready to live closer to each other. When I originally started where I am now I thought I'd be here for four years, this is my second. However, if I can't find a job that is at least comparable, I won't move. It's too good of a job, and E and I would be fine if we waited another year...in my humble opinion. However much I want to get started on the rest of my life, I'm not going back to C-town level schools.

In other news? 10 pounds away from my WW goal!!

My Mom, Memaw and I will be going shopping this weekend in Nebraska because I'm in desparate need of some pants that fit. Dang losing weight (not really though).

Well, I really must do something productive. Seriously. Go Kate.

Currently Reading: New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Before...

2008-11-13T23:16:00.004-06:00

This is scary, but it's the "Before" picture. Now I just have to take the "After" and post it tomorrow.Hey, at least even in my absolutely horrible "Before" picture I was still a rockin' Harry Potter fan!

It's that time again...

2008-11-13T21:18:00.003-06:00

So, it's time to start thinking about Christmas presents. Ahhhh! So, my goal this year? Make (or recycle) all presents, except for Erik. Cause, really...what would he want that I could make? Any suggestions? He's so hard to buy for anyway.

Mom - making a clothespin holder
S - hmm, I made him an awesome blanket last year, maybe a family slideshow - oh yeah! Of just our family.
A - hmm...something for his new house, possibly Erik can help me think of something there.
Dad - I got a mountain biking book for $0.50 at the library book sale, maybe I can make something for his bike as well...maybe arm warmers? For riding in the winter? Haha, yeah right.
C - oh...she's crafty. This one will be difficult. I already have one idea, but besides that I'm a little stumped.
E - no friggin clue. Help.

This week at school's been great, the kids are behaving, I'm waking up early, it's just been good. I hope this keeps up! Next week's a full week, but after that, only 2 days and then break! Yay!!

Currently Reading: The World Without End by Ken Follett

My Custodian, My Savior

2008-11-12T21:36:00.002-06:00

Okay, so that's a little exaggerated, but he's pretty sweet. I was complaining (I know, gasp) about my apartment's dryer and how the fuse always blows. What did he do? Fixed it! Seriously, love it.

My coworker had her baby, c-u-t-e. Seriously, I need to stay away from babies, it's making me baby crazy. I have to wait...at least a few years. In other baby news however, two of my cousins are expecting. Yay! They'll be so adorable. Really though, I must change the subject.

In other news? I have no news. I wish I did, but I'm boring. All I've been doing lately is grading papers, goin to the gym, checkin out Post Secret, and reading. Yay!

Currently Reading: The World Without End by Ken Follett

I feel like a politician.

2008-11-06T22:57:00.003-06:00

Because in my head I'm telling myself to "hope" and that "change is possible."
Too cliche?

So what the heck am I talking about?
Well, I have these classes full of students who don't like to read (or learn really). This of course really bugs me because I love reading. I'm an English teacher, of course I love reading! So, while I'd love to have them energized and excited about reading, or at least listening while I read, it gets really frustrating.

Why is it frustrating?
The majority of the students who sign up to take "sports literature" love sports (yay, that's cool) but don't like to read (boo, that stinks). The mixture of students is also a problem. There are a lot of students in these classes (I have two sections) who do poorly in school, have very strong personalities, tend to get in trouble, and do not like school. See where I'm going with this?

The Time for Change is NOW
So, I've been frustrated with this class since, oh...about two weeks after I started teaching it. It's a lot to handle. Lately it's been...ok...and when I say okay, it's still about four times as bad as my other classes, but for Sports Literature, I feel they're okay.

Today my principal (I'm really learning to like him!) came to talk to me about the class after school. I've told the principal and assistant principal about the issue so they generally try to drop by each class period to check on things. Anyway, he sent me a PowerPoint with some really awesome tips for teaching in general, things that are common sense, but I am really glad I was able to be reminded of.

Here's what I'm hoping to implement:

Be more positive! I let them get me down, and that never helps anyone, especially them. Come on Kate!
Meet students at the door - I've been really lax on this cause I always feel busy during passing periods.
Come up with a "Classroom Code of Conduct"? The sample one is awesome!
Make students raise hands (duh) and be polite (I've been working tirelessly on this one!)
Post the agenda every day
Be more positive! It's one of my classroom rules, so it can use repeating.

Wish me luck, I really hope to turn this class around. Again. :) It's so hard some days and I'm tired of being the "bitchy" teacher. I know that it's not all on me, but I'm the teacher, and if I don't start the change, who will?

Once again, wish me luck. I will need it.

Currently Reading: The World Without End by Ken Follett

So much for that.

2008-11-04T20:56:00.005-06:00

C, A, me, and E at the Obama Rally in Columbia last Thursday

So, if I remember correctly, I said I planned on posting at least 3 times a week. HA!

But, I had something to say tonight.

1. The election results are making me a very happy American indeed.

2. I'm only 12 - yes, that's right - TWELVE pounds away from my goal weight in WW. Super excited! I think I might make my personal goal weight 5 pounds less. Cause seriously, I can do it!

3. Kids are messed up. I had to confiscate the phone of a student who decided to order a burger from the local bar 5 minutes before school was out today - during class. WTF?! The nerve I tell ya!

4. This weather is b-e-a-utiful! I am enjoying it as much as possible. Yay mild weather!

5. Sometimes it worries me that I'm getting anxious to "settle down." I don't know if it's just that I have a real "grown-up" job, and that I've had it for going on three years. Or if it just makes me anxious that E, my significant other of almost 5 years is not nearly as anxious. Does everyone go through this, or is it just me?

Currently Reading: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (SO good!)

Another Success

2008-09-22T20:54:00.004-05:00

News Flash

So, for reasons unknown to myself I voluntarily participated in another duathlon. And guess what? It wasn't that bad! In fact, it was peachy. :) The same group as last time (Dad, Cousin E, E, and K) all took part. This time I did the short course, because the long course was 5k-18bike-5k. No thanks!

This is the whole gang (from my hometown). We're so cool we all medaled!

Frustrations
I live in an apartment within a house that was built in the 1860s. It's an adorable little apartment. My only complaint? The dryer blows a fuse everytime you do laundry! Geez people.

And...
I have nothing else of importance to announce. Lucky you. See ya later! Oh, I did reach my 25 lb mark in WW, yay!

Currently Reading: Mila 18 by: Leon Uris

Water & Kitties

2008-09-17T22:28:00.007-05:00

So, my little town is flooded (or it was Monday and Tuesday). I took some pictures yesterday after school. The first one here is at the park - part of my running route. It's hard to tell because of the reflections off the water, but that's a shelter in the park that's pretty darn flooded.Flooded fifth street. This is one street over from my gym. If you click to make the picture larger you can make out the street sign at the end of the street, well, some of it.And now the kitty...Simon seems to like my pannier.Currently Reading: Borrowed Finery

Mid-Mo Flooding

2008-09-14T22:33:00.005-05:00

So, I'm old enough to remember the drastic flooding in 1993. At the time my Dad worked in Boonville and had to go a different route to make it to work. It was crazy.

However, in all the time I've lived in the Mid-Mo area, I've never seen Columbia flood like it did this weekend. We were out and about running errands and discovered that Scott Boulevard (right off the MKT trail - pictures of this bike trail were posted in July of this year on my blog) was flooded over. It was nuts. So we turned around and went down Forum only to find that Wilson's Total Fitness and MAC were flooded (two Columbia businesses).

It reminds you that nature is crazy. I know this is really pretty minor, especially when compared to some of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ike, but it's still mind-boggling.

In other news, I'm seriously considering campaigning for Obama. And if you didn't see the Palin-Clinton sketch on SNL last night, it's a must.

Currently Reading: Finally finished "The Known World", gotta find another book!

Chasing Bugs

2008-09-10T21:59:00.004-05:00

Wordless (well, not so wordless) WednesdayThe Best Card Game Ever! Rook :)

Rowdy Youngsters
Why do I have to almost have a breakdown in the classroom for certain groups of kids to get the hint and start behaving? Seriously, I don't want to say it, but "Kids these days!"

I don't know if any of you are teachers, but it seems like sometimes, kids lately just have no respect. Or less than they used to (when I was in school). They'll grown and complain about homework, say movies are boring, tell you they love you (hello? inappropriate!), stand around talking and sitting on desks after the bell's rang... I could go on and on. What the heck?

Sick Computers
Technology's great...when it works. My work computer got a virus yesterday and completely gave up on life. Luckily today they got it working again - after they deleted my profile and set it up again - but now they're afraid my flash drive (which has EVERYTHING saved on it) might also be infected! Cross your fingers for me, cause if I lose that, I'm screwed.

Weekly Weigh-In
Down over 24 pounds! Woohoo! I got a couple more comments today, too. It's nice to know I'm not the only one noticing.

Scrumptious Scrabble
Can you say nerd? Some fellow teachers and I are totally in love with a new addition to our days. Mr. S bought a travel scrabble, so we play throughout the day, passing it to the next teacher after we're through. Yay! Words of the day: aide, goat, ssss...something. Either way, F-U-N!

Bad Metaphor
Oh yeah, the post title. You were probably wondering. It was my metaphor of the evening. The cats have been desperately chasing a wasp around the apartment tonight and it reminded me of myself...desperately trying to stay sane until Friday. Nice? Lame. :) I know.

PROMISE
I'm updating. More often. At least....wait for it.....three times a week! Trying to mix things up a bit, add some pictures, different formatting, anything and everything! Stay tuned!

Currently Reading: The Known World - had to stop and read a couple books in between!

B-E-A-utiful weather!

2008-08-27T21:38:00.005-05:00

Willow River Falls (Wisconsin)

Seriously, I don't know what's going on this summer, but you won't hear me complaining. The weather lately has been absolutely amazing! I have yet to turn on my air conditioning (all summer!). Can you say lower utility bills? Heck yes!

In other news school is going so smoothly it's kind of worrying me. I'm used to being a little freaked out all the time and desperately needing every minute of my plan period, but lately it's been somewhat relaxing. We did get a bit of sad news this week, though. The teacher whom I was hired to replace died Friday afternoon of a heart attack. He was 35! He also has a baby boy who's turning 1 in October. Seriously, how unfair is life sometimes? Tomorrow the school is sponsoring a "hat day" where kids/teachers pay money to wear a hat and all the money is going to an educational fund for his son. I'm not a hat person, but I'll be sporting a Mizzou cap for the occasion.

Tomorrow we're doing a fun lesson that's taking full advantage of the wonderful weather, so I hope to post some pictures the kids take. Keep your eyes open.

Also, the Ride Like a Pro challenge is almost over (Friday's the last day). So far, with my rough estimates (I underestimated most of the times) I've biked over 650 miles this summer - since June. I guess they're recognizing the participants on September 13th when the Tour of Missouri comes through town. That should be cool :)

Well, after all that talk about teaching being a breeze this year, I must go finish planning part of tomorrow's lesson.

Currently Reading: The Off Season by Catherine Murdock

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-20T22:55:00.002-05:00

Get to Work!!

2008-08-18T19:54:00.003-05:00

So here I am at home when I really should be working. Today was the first day back at school with the kids and man, it was much easier than last year! It really helps when you know some of the kids and you don't have to plan every lesson from scratch. Nice :)

In WW news, I'm down over 20 pounds from May. Sweet! A lot of my clothes (work clothes) are really loose, but I don't want to buy new clothes until I'm down 2 sizes, I figure by then I'll look pretty ridiculous in most of my clothes. However, some of my current work clothes are pretty ridiculous at the moment. Good thing I have no money to buy new ones. Seriously though, I'm pretty excited about it. I might even be able to make goal by Christmas....maybe my birthday. Either one will be sweet :)

So my kitty's name is Simon. He's adorable. Enough said. Unfortunately he thinks the litter box is an awesome place to play, but...he's still cute.

Here's me forcing myself to work. However, I promise to update more frequently now that I'm back at home.

Currently reading: The Known World by Edward P. Jones

"Get a car!"

2008-08-13T22:52:00.004-05:00

Seriously?

That's what I heard as I rode my bike to the grocery store. The obnoxious yeller was hanging out the passenger side of a Grand Am. I was kinda hoping it was a student of mine so I could give them a hard time Monday.

Get a life people.

In other news? I'm the new Mom to a darn adorable kitty. His name is...to be determined. I can't decide!

Snood is the devil.

2008-08-02T13:25:00.004-05:00

Once I start playing, I can almost never stop. Why is it so addicting? Why do I keep downloading the game on every computer when I know it will only lead to many wasted hours of shooting little heads at other little heads? Oh Snood, you will be my downfall.

Holy cow.

2008-07-24T00:33:00.007-05:00

I don't know what's going on, but the closer it gets to the end of the summer, the more time seems to fly by. I feel like yesterday was Monday. It's crazy and it's freakin me out!

To DO List:

Help E pack, they move next Wednesday! Ahh!
Help E clean. This is the part I enjoy...making things neat and organized, and finally clean!
Go to Minneapolis!! We leave Friday evening and I'm super excited.
Study for the GRE - I'm nervous. Why do tests always make me so nervous?
Take the GRE (next Thursday).
Start actually planning some of my fall classes. I haven't looked at stuff for school since our last inservice day. I'm a bad teacher.
Craft Camp!
Go to Wisconsin with the family.
Make slideshow for Grandmother.
Send my transcripts to UMSL so they can complete the application process.

I'm sure there's lots more, but that's what's overwhelming me right now. And of course, I could have done a lot of that stuff earlier this summer, but no...I procrastinate.

In other news:

Yesterday was perfect for the following reasons:

Played with my adorable cousin!

Played with my other cousin's adorable new puppy!!

Played sand volleyball.

What's not to love about that day?

Currently Reading: Finished The Book Thief, looking for my next good read.

Have mercy!

2008-07-22T16:21:00.003-05:00

Why is it that the day before my WI my aunt makes homemade ice cream and invites everyone over?! Oh...ice cream.

Yum.

In other news. I woke up to the most awesome thunderstorm I've experienced in awhile. Seriously, I think I might have a problem. I love storms. For some reason they just make me feel...calm. Ahhh...it was great.

Currently Reading: Just finished "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

Down 15!

2008-07-20T12:50:00.003-05:00

So, I'm officially down 15 pounds since May - which I think is pretty sweet. The thing I really like about Weight Watchers is that it doesn't feel like a diet. And, well, according to them, it's not. You really can eat whatever you want, you just have to be aware of how much you're eating. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? I guess my problem before WW was just that I didn't know how much I should've been eating.

I read something on the WW message boards earlier this week that reminded me a bit of one of the leaders in my original location. There was one week where I lost -0.2, now I'm aware that's not much, but my leader seemed disappointed and said something to the effect of, "What'd you do wrong this week?" I mean, come on! I still lost. Seriously. I guess everyone's different and their reactions to weight loss are different, but I feel that a leader shouldn't be so severe, especially when it's still a loss.

My brother and sister-in-law are coming home! They moved to California last summer because my sister-in-law got a job with Americorps. We're all excited they're moving back, it's just weird not ever seeing them. I'm pretty darn excited about the fact that I won't have to clean out their cat's litter box anymore either :)

We went to see The Dark Knight last night, and I must say, Christian Bale does an excellent Batman. I really liked Batman Begins (2005), and this one was worth it, too. I've never been a big fan of the comic book movies, but lately they've been getting much better. So, I definitely recommend it.

Sorry for the boring entry, I felt like I hadn't updated on my WW progress in awhile...

Currently Reading: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Sneaker

2008-07-15T17:30:00.006-05:00

So our family loves animals. We're a little ridiculous really. Our dogs are a part of our family, admittedly more than our cats - even though we have plenty of those, too.

If one of our dogs get sick, we all worry ridiculously until they're better. This morning I got an email from Mom telling me that Sneaker (my little brother's beagle - pictured above when she was a puppy) was missing. Now, she'd only been missing since yesterday, but Sneaker loves her food, so it was worrisome when she didn't show up for her morning food.

I just called Dad to see if he needed me to come help look for her and he told me the bad news. She got caught in the mower (hay mower). Just writing this makes me cry, is that pathetic? She was such a cute, spoiled, funny, adorable dog. My little brother will be devastated. I gotta stop writing this because my boyfriend is staring at me while I cry, which always makes me uncomfortable. I'll miss you Sneaker.

Mudball '08...

2008-07-15T16:50:00.003-05:00

was rather dirty, fun, disgusting, exciting, painful, but overall extremely worth the mud. Our team name was the Stolen Muffins (thanks Mallory for the name!), which seemed to be a hit. We did much better than last year, actually made it into the playoff tournament. However, unfortunately one of our players (see front and center in the above picture) had to get seven stitches below his knee when he hit a rather large rock. The courts were much much rockier than last year. Turns out someone had poured gravel over the lot a few years back. Nice. :)

Either way it was pretty fun. It's good to get muddy every once in awhile.

Impulsive? Never!

2008-07-10T01:07:00.005-05:00

Is he not the cutest kid ever? My cousin Hudsyn laughing at his crazy Aunt Cathy who was dancing to entertain him.

So I've been told I'm a bit of an impulsive person. If I get an idea in my head I have to do it. Now. :) Just one of my wonderful quirks. So, I decided this past week (once again, I blame HGTV) that I needed to rearrange my teeny tiny apartment. I saw a cute futon mattress on sale and was finally able to get some decent seating in my little living room "nook". Yay! Now when people come to visit not only will they have a place to sit but they can sleep, too. Seriously, I get excited over small things.

I also painted the TV stand my big bro made for me. The bright purple that my old roommates picked just wasn't working - I wanted my apartment to look more "grown up" I mean, I am 24 years old.

Maybe I can add some pictures of my new cute living room next time I go back home.

In other news. Our sand volleyball tournament was decent. We didn't do too horribly. I got to play a lot that day which is always nice. We're gearing up for the Mudball '08 tournament coming up this Saturday, you'll definitely see pictures of that one. Mud is fun!

Currently Reading: Nothing? I have four books Mom just gave me though that look good. READ "What is the What"!! It's great!

Butt Shots

2008-06-28T01:52:00.006-05:00

So Thursday we caught up with Dad and my cousin and his girlfriend at Capen park. They meet there every week to climb rocks. Why? To show off their muscles of course!

Did I participate? No.

Did I enjoy watching, taking pictures, and generally hangin out with the family? Heck yes!

Should I suck it up and participate one of these days? Probably. :)

The climbing teachers - Dad and my cousin.

E attempting to climb (with Dad's advice).

My cousin's girlfriend climbing...as you can see, the rocks were a bit wet.

Currently Reading: Nothing?! I almost went to Wal-Mart to buy a book today. I finished The Used World by Haven Kimmel

Wordless Wednesday

2008-06-26T00:35:00.003-05:00

A little late...but I'm still up so it's technically still Wednesday for me.
This was our vball group tonight - yay!

When you get about Columbia...

2008-06-22T17:22:00.003-05:00

You might try ridin' your bike or just usin' your feet...

Just a cute little jingle they've got goin on with this new campaign - Get About Columbia

It's a very cute campaign and I really think people might be listening. My cousin and his girlfriend, E & I went on a bike ride today, it was fun. The weather has just been awesome lately and the trails in Columbia are seriously amazing. You can get almost anywhere. I was telling E he should really ride his bike to campus - using the trails - because it's less than a mile from his apartment (the trailhead) and it comes out right at the Engineering building on campus. How much more convenient could it get (he's an engineer)?

It's amazing how many more cars you see with bike racks...hopefully that means more people are biking. If I still lived in CoMo, I would be all over those trails!

I bought a new bike seat today and, W-O-W! It's much more comfortable on the bottom. :) It has what the company calls a "comfort release zone" and lemme tell ya, it works!

Well...it's popcorn night so I have to head to the folks. Oh, this could be bad...but I'm starting to really enjoy biking - it makes me really despise when I have to run. :) Haha, running's never been my favorite hobby, but it's good for you, so I do it. Maybe I'll just bike....?

Currently Reading: Just finished Peony in Love by Lisa See - need to find my next book.

No more farmer's tan for me!

2008-06-18T20:18:00.002-05:00

Today was fairly uneventful, but I feel the need to make up for my massive lack of blog updates lately, so here I am. Lucky you :)

5:30 a.m. - Alarm went off...HA!

7:00 a.m. - Realized I missed my gym's bootcamp...dangit!

9ish? - Finally rolled outta bed. Seriously. I have to start going to sleep/waking up at a normal time!

12:00 - Back to CoMo

2:00 - Biked to Rocheport (see previous posts beautiful pictures) by myself, thank you very much.

5:30 - WI - lost 3.4! Yay!

Now - Reading. Ahh...love summer.

The only thing that coulda made today better would be a good game of volleyball. Seriously, since E and K are gone, B seems to think we can't play. I mean, I know a two-man team is kinda cuttin it close, but there's always people at the courts to join up with! Ahhh...I'm having withdrawal.

The bike ride was great. I kept my pace up and was pooped by the end, but I did shave about 20 minutes off the time it took to ride it last week with E and K, so that's good, right? And of course I went sleeveless because the horribly weird looking farmer's tan is just not my cup of tea.

Sorry for the boring post, maybe I can find a cute picture to add....hmmm....I betcha it'll be a cute one!

Currently Reading: Same as yesterday

One would think...

2008-06-17T20:38:00.008-05:00

That not having a job in the summertime would lead to me having more time on my hands meaning more posting. Ha! No such thing!

Fun things so far this summer:
1. Sand volleyball baby! Seriously, I'm addicted. It's bad.
2. Housework. You say dreadful?! I say F-U-N! Details on this latest derangement below.
3. MudBall '08 here we come!
4. WW is working! I might actually meet my 15lb by July 4th goal!
5. Calling all adorable puppies and kittens - volunteering at the Humane Society
6. Oh yeah, finished that duathlon...silver medal?! Still a little bewildered by that one.

Fun things waiting for me:
1. Float trip? I love float trips, anyone wanna go?
2. Minneapolis, gotta visit the little bro
3. Firemen Volleyball Tournament on the 4th - yay!
4. Finishing the bathroom in my parents house - all that HGTV might actually have helped!

So, I thought I'd be bored out of my mind, but my parents have definitely helped to quash that - in a good way. I told them I'd help out around the house. They built our house about...12 years ago, and there are parts that either need touching up or things that just never got finished. Two years ago they added a sunroom and it is still incomplete (no floors - besides the plywood), so I figured if I filled in all the nail holes and caulked around the windows/etc. they might actually finish it. It's lookin good. The other thing that I'm super excited about? They might let me finish the bathroom in the basement! I know that sounds like a weird thing to want to do, but I watch entirely to much DIY housework on HGTV and TLC and have always kinda fantasized flipping a house. So, what better to warm up on than a basement bathroom that doesn't even have walls? We'll see how that one goes.

Last year my friends and I participated in the local Big Brother Big Sister MudBall Tournament. It was a blast. Normally I don't enjoy wearing dirt, but it was pretty darn fun if I do say so myself. Well, turns out they're doing it again this year in about a month. Stay tuned for pictures.

I just completed my orientation to volunteer at the Central Missouri Humane Society tonight. I'm excited. I love animals. Love them. Just today I watched three kitties and three dogs play around at Mom and Dad's. Seriously, if I didn't teach, I'd probably do something with animals. They're so great and cute and can always cheer you up on a bad day. What's not to love?

So, I started Weight Watchers in May...like May 5th or something. So far, great! I mean, if you're looking for quick weight loss, it's definitely not for you. But seriously, it's not a diet. You just have to watch what you're eating. I always said before I could do weight loss on my own. I mean, my Mom and Dad are pretty darn healthy people, but I just never had the discipline before. Now, oh yeah. I have WI tomorrow here in CoMo, so hopefully this past week went as well as the week before (-3lbs!) that would be sweet and would put me at -12 total. My clothes are definitely fitting better and that's always a nice feeling.

The following are some pictures from our bike ride a couple days ago. I'm trying to take more pictures because, who doesn't love pictures?

Where we usually bike...flooded over.

A spot along the Katy Trail where they used to store explosives...or so Dad says.

The Missouri River, along the Katy Trail

Isn't this cool?! An arch (the only one) along the Katy Trail in Rocheport, MO, which used to be a railroad. It was so pretty! And nice and cool inside, which was nice.

Currently Reading: The Perfect Fit by: Louise Kean

Still Alive

2008-06-11T12:24:00.004-05:00

So...the duathlon is over and I made it! More than that, I medaled. :) Laugh all you want, I didn't believe it myself. Saturday morning we left CoMo around 6 a.m. and we got to Sedalia just in time to go. Thankfully it wasn't too hot, but there was a slight wind. When I say slight what I really mean is that it was probably around 20 mph. Try biking into that!

The first 2 mile run was good, I finished in well under 20, yay me. Obviously I wasn't going for fast, I just figured I had to finish the whole race, so I better pace myself. Then came the biking. The first four miles or so wasn't bad until we reached the turn around point. There were tractors everywhere! I guess they were having some sort of parade and I managed to get stuck behind quite a few tractors. Argh. So, after managing to worm my way through them it was time to turn around and head into the wind. Oh my, talk about a struggle. It was so windy it was hard to get going faster than maybe 15 mph going down a hill. So, needless to say that made it even more of a struggle going up the next hill. Haha, I'm sure I looked funny to passersby. About 8 miles in I passed my Dad, K, and E. K got a flat (which totally sucks because he could've been at the top!) and Dad was helping him fix it. I was pretty excited to have caught up to them, but within minutes they were ahead again.

Let me tell you. Running after biking, is not easy. Not that I thought it would be...but damn. My legs felt like jello. So, I ran what I can pretty much guarantee was my slowest two mile run ever, but I did finish! Even before E... :)

Amazingly none of us were sore the next day. Three of us medaled. Dad got bronze (in his age group), Cousin E got gold and I got silver (both in our age group). Needless to say, there weren't many 20-29 year olds.

After the race.

Nerves

2008-06-06T14:27:00.003-05:00

So, tomorrow's the big day. The duathlon that is. I'm just gonna say that after last weekend I'm extremely nervous. I discovered that nervous and an athletic event don't quite mix that well. Last weekend after the running we jumped on our bikes and barely had time to catch a breath. Well, halfway into the biking I was still breathing just as hard - probably worse - and the chain popped off my bike and I just about had a crying fit. Haha. Crying and biking do not mix well. So, today I'm trying to convince myself that no matter what I don't need to get "worked up" tomorrow. I'm just gonna go to finish. I know I'm not going to be near E, K and Dad. If I'm lucky Elizabeth and I will keep up with each other. That'd be nice.

So, in other words: This blog post is pointless unless you wanted to know how nervous I am about tomorrow. I'll check back tomorrow with the results! :)

Currently Reading: Nothing (OMG!) As soon as Erik leaves on vacation I'm reading Ender's Game.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-06-04T16:51:00.003-05:00

A loooong weekend

2008-06-02T14:32:00.009-05:00

So, my weekend started last Thursday (I'm blaming the long weekend on the lack of blog updates). I convinced E to go to STL with me to pick up my little bro and his girlfriend. We got to the airport and headed straight to the arch - I'll post my fav arch picture for tomorrow's Wordless Wednesday. It was pretty fun, it had been a really long time since I'd been. I forgot how small the tram is!

S, D & E on the tram.

Before our trip up to the top, we explored the museum beneath the arch. It was pretty cool, the layout was a bit weird, but it was interesting.

This had to be my favorite sign. Seriously.

Huh...a large cow. Who knows the purpose of this one.

All in all, it was a good time. I'm definitely glad we went. I miss my little bro, he's a good guy - and his girlfriend's not bad either. :)

So, after the Arch trip it was a family filled weekend. We had dinner with my Great Aunt Dot and my cousin Ann at Emmitts, good place that one. Then the next day it was my cousin's graduation party.

Yesterday was another story! Man. So, we decided to do a practice duathlon, so we'd know how hard it will be next weekend (ahh! it's that soon!). So, E, K and I drove to my parents hauling our bikes along. We started at about 4:30. Now, let me tell you. If you're not used to running in hot weather, you're stupid to try. I run every week, but not if it's over 85. It was 90+ and I was dying. The two-mile run wasn't bad, but then the heat just attacked you. I never was able to get my breath until we quit biking. E was a great guy and didn't leave me in the dust (he is sweet). I felt like such a weenie! I mean, I run and then bike every week, but it was HARD. Dad laughed at me and said, "Well, that road is definitely not rolling hills [which is what the duathlon course will be next week], it's a lot harder." Thanks Dad! So, now I'm really nervous for this weekend. Then again, I'm not sore at all, so that's good, right?

I think I've decided I'll be volunteering at the Humane Society this summer. I'm excited. I am a bit of an animal freak. I found out last week that I don't have to take 9 hours of education courses this summer, so it was a bit of a struggle to find something to do this summer. But when Mom suggested the Humane Society, I definitely perked up. Yay...

Currently Reading: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I ♥ summer

2008-05-28T00:03:00.002-05:00

Even though it was rainy and miserable today, I still ♥ that it's summer! No work, tons of sand volleyball. Seriously, what else could a girl wish for?

So yesterday E and I went bike part shopping. The duathlon is only weeks (ahh!) away, and I am getting nervous. Anyway, I purchased a bike rack for my car. Last time I hauled my bike I took off the front wheel and stuffed it into my tiny Geo Prism. Not a good idea. My headliner is now in tattered, wind-blown pieces. So, bike rack to the rescue! I also made sure to purchase a pump so I don't have to spend 75 cents to fill up my tire at the local gas station. Seriously? Air costs 75 cents?! Ridiculous. Also on the list: a new helmet. I was wearing my mom's ancient helmet, it was ginormous.

I'm thinking when I move in with the folks - oh yeah, it's that time of year again. I'll still be paying rent here, but I have to live with them to save on gas while my classes are in session. Anyway, I think I'll bike to town (about 6 miles) to the gym and then bike back. That should help me prepare. Especially since there are quite a few nasty hills on our road. Yay...sarcastically.

I'm going to try and make it to a Weight Watchers meeting in CoMo tomorrow, because I had to miss mine in NH this past Monday. Cross your fingers for me!

Also, I'm kinda excited about a trip to the STL Arch Thursday - hope there's no bad weather. My brother and his girlfriend are flying into STL and I'm picking them up. His girlfriend wants to check the Arch and I haven't been in years. Should be fun. Unfortunately it's $10 (!!), but if I remember correctly, it's pretty darn cool.

Currently Reading: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (last one!)

Things that suck...

2008-05-22T23:19:00.003-05:00

I used to have a list (compiled by myself and some of my friends during my freshman year in college). Our list was titled "Things that Suck," much to my mother's dismay. It was so much fun, so here's a short version:

Things that Suck...
sore muscles
being bored
annoying Jaybirds
staying on top of points (WW)
bills!
grading papers
natural disasters

but, I'm not really feeling "sucky" right now, so I feel as if I need to add the second part of the list...

Things that Rock...
thunderstorms
kittens
ice cream
a good workout
sand volleyball!
family
david cook = american idol!
music
payday
books - all types
pictures (see below)

Mom & Aunt Connie - she said they were just trying out the new camera, but who knows with those two...

What would you add to the suck or rock lists? Trust me, they're fun. And the best part is, you can always add more!

Currently reading: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-05-21T23:03:00.004-05:00

No matter how many times I see this I still think it's the most hilarious shot. My relatives in all their splendor at our annual "Women's Retreat" last year.

So about those drunk teachers...

2008-05-20T23:13:00.004-05:00

Last night was the high school faculty party - the school year is officially over. I just wish I had pictures, cause seriously. My coworkers are great, I knew that ahead of time, but, I'd never seen every single one of them drunk (except Becky and me, of course). It was a riot! We played whiffle ball - which I was pathetically sore from this morning - played something like washers but with sandbags, told incredibly stupid knock knock jokes. It was funny because some of my coworkers I don't know very well. For example, C is a history teacher and he's so shy! I mean, I bet over the course of the school year I've said like 20 words to him (and I'm talkative). But he was drunk last night and damn, he can talk. Haha. Of course, PD was the worst - he and his "partner in crime" PS. They were hilarious. The art teacher even drunk dialed the principal, who showed up about 45 minutes later. Then there were sing-alongs. Mr. M had PD play some show tunes (The Sound of Music, Footloose, etc.) and there was much loud singing. I tell ya what, they're a trip. The sights I saw...amazing.

It makes me so glad that I found this community and this job where I feel comfortable, accepted, and happy. I look back on last year - like after I attended the graduation in Chitown (just a nickname of course) and am so grateful for where I am. My old principal still looks like a Buddha - it's the stomach - still wears the same grim expression, even when congratulating the class of 2008. Erin and I were still the best dressed people there. And that's pretty bad. Erin always looks cute. But come on, even when I'm "put together" it's nothing that impressive. :)

Sand volleyball is back! Which of course means, summer is finally here! I love sand volleyball. It's a bit of an obsession. Luckily I have friends who enjoy playing too. When we started playing 3 years ago (or was it 4?) I had them out on that court at least 5 days a week. Hmm...wonder if I can do that again this summer?

WI this week wasn't that impressive. I was down, but only by .2 pounds. I didn't feel as if I'd lost any weight, but after all that working out last week I was disappointed. I think it might be that I cut back on water and of course Sunday I strayed a bit - nothing extreme though. So this weeks goal? I'm going to try and eat all the fruit/veggie servings I'm supposed to every day and also drink all the water I'm supposed to. So I'm looking forward to next Monday - here I come scale!

Currently Reading: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (yes, I finally finished the first one! yay!)

Drunk Teachers

2008-05-20T00:50:00.003-05:00

Are a riot. I was the only sober one there (designated driver), and let me tell you...much fun was had. I'll update on that later.

At the moment however, I've just purchased a t-shirt to support Susan in her fight for cancer. Do I know her? No. But reading her husband's blog I feel as if I do. Check it out, or maybe more appropriately stated "Read it and weep" - literally. Such an amazing, and touching, story.

Bingo!

2008-05-15T22:54:00.003-05:00

Or not...

Tonight the new teachers went to Bingo Thursdays at the VFW hall. Yes, this is a small town. :) And, yes, there were many "old folk." I've never played bingo, outside of a classroom game. It was fun, unfortunately I didn't win anything. I tell you what, there are sure some dedicated Bingo players. There was one lady there with about 20 bingo markers (am I the only one who didn't know they had special markers for bingo?) in her special little "bingo bag" that was embroidered and everything. No joke.

::sigh:: So, two years down. Only what, 40 more to go or so? I'm officially done with my 2nd year of teaching, and I can say for sure that there isn't a single part of me that's thinking of not continuing. I've heard so many times that most teachers don't make it past 5 years, but I can't imagine me being one of them. Which is a good thing, cause I have no idea what else I would do. None. Sure, the kids are obnoxious sometimes, but they're entertaining, too. My old high school counselor used to tell me that teaching kept him young, and I can definitely see that. Plus, I have some pretty amazing co-workers. They're a pretty energetic group.

One of the local fitness centers is having a "bootcamp" this summer three days a week. My coworker B wants me to do it with her. Ahhh! It's at six o'clock in the morning! I am so not a morning person. Period. I stay up until about 1:00 most nights, just because I'm an idiot. Seriously. My cat wakes me up many mornings when I've slept past all my alarms. And when I say all my alarms I mean: 1 alarm that sits on my dresser so I actually have to get up to turn it off, and then my cell phone which has 5 alarms - all of which I set every night. It's horrible. I never used to have this problem. If an alarm went off, I was up. But then I discovered the snooze button about 2 years ago and it's been an uphill battle ever since. Anybody have a cure for this?

Seriously, come on...

2008-05-14T21:06:00.002-05:00

I don't know why (maybe I'm just a bitch) but David Archuleta annoys me - his personality, not his voice. I'll admit, he sings wonderfully, and he will be famous. Maybe it's just because I teach kids his age, and sometimes they annoy me, too. :)

Wordless Wednesday

2008-05-14T17:30:00.003-05:00

Caught the kitty in the sink. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.
I think it's closer to her favorite plaything - hair ties!

Now I can't back out!

2008-05-13T23:42:00.002-05:00

So, I'm officially signed up for the Spring into Summer Duathlon in a couple weeks. Ahhh! Now I'm scared. I know the first 2/3 will be okay, it's that last run...2 miles...that might just kill me.

In other news?

Another boring day. Sorry folks, the end of the school year just isn't all that exciting. I am heading to my old school this coming weekend for the kiddo's graduation. Not all of them (all 10 of them that is). Two of my volleyball girls are graduating and I just love them. They are so hilarious, smart, and just...great people. So, it's gonna be a long drive, but it'll be nice to see them again and congratulate them. My only problem is coming up with a simple (read: cheap) present that will work for both of them - they're going to the same university - and that's somewhat personal. Any ideas? They're going to the University of Central Missouri, if that helps.

Well, I'm out. Before I go though, everyone should check out Baba Yetu - it's an awesome song. You can't find it on iTunes, but you can find it just by searching Google. I'd link it up for ya, but what fun would that be.

Currently reading: Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings (If crazy cooks would stop walking by my apartment when I'm reading I might actually finish it!)