Breathing Room.

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

Holy cow.

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.

Impulsive? Never!

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!

Wordless Wednesday

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

No more farmer's tan for me!

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...

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

So about those drunk teachers...

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!)