A whole week

...of teaching this week! After a 4-day week, followed by a 3-day week, this is going to seem like a long one! Oh well...only 2 days next week :)

Yahooooooooooo! I've lost 5% of my body weight! I thought for sure that I'd lose nothing or even gain something, especially after eating out a couple times and having a shot of Jack Daniels with honey for my sore throat. When I got sick, I stopped exercising, too. The gal who weighed me told me to be careful this week because it sometimes takes a few days for our indiscretions to catch up with us. When I hit 10% weight loss, I'll be almost at my goal weight, so I'm not going to let up now...

Short week...

Tomorrow is the last teaching day this week...Thursday is Veteran's Day and Friday is a furlough day (without pay)...one of five this year. I'm looking forward to this because I really want to get a little ahead on lesson planning and homework before the holidays are upon us.

Good news! I lost another pound! That brings me up to almost 7 and allows me to fit into a couple pairs of pants that had gotten too snug. I am looking forward to having those same pants get baggy! My weight hasn't been this low in some time, and it feels good!

Off to do homework...

Market of Choice

We spent an hour here today, slowly walking through each aisle and marveling at the selection...and the prices! Yikes! A 6 oz container of cultured coconut millk (like yogurt, I presume, since it was located in the yogurt section) that was priced over $2.00! I'd be afraid to try it for fear that I loved it. Very nice wine and cheese selection...fresh sushi....and a dessert section that we had to walk past quickly.

Interesting place...and a nice break from my reading...over 100 pages assigned this week! I'd better get back to it!

November...

...already! Oh my gosh...did we skip October?

The first nine weeks of school is over, and Friday was grading day. Actually, I got my grades finished Thursday night, so I was able to spend Friday morning with lesson planning activities. I got most of it finished up (which reminds me, I need to write a letter of support for a local Rotary student of the month). This means that I get to spend most of my weekend working to get ahead in this week's homework...yippee!

Last night, we went out to dinner with Kevin's girlfriend's family...parents John and Karen and brother Brandon. A very nice family and it was great to meet them and talk about the old days of HP. John and Karen both work there, though they started after we both left.

An extra hour of sleep tomorrow...or perhaps I'll use that hour to send out Thanksgiving invitations and begin to plan dinner. I'm not sure what we'll do with the menu this year...perhaps I'll see if I can lighten some of the menu items, but there are a couple that one just doesn't mess with...like rolls with BUTTER and stuffing (though I'll use whole wheat bread in it) that contains BUTTER!

One final thanks to the powers that be for allowing Kevin to get through the whole football season unscathed. We are really enjoying having him home for dinner for a couple months!

Yahoo!

I've lost 5.6 pounds in 3 week on Weight Watchers...and Bill is losing weight along with me! We're eating healthy and smaller portions, too...and not starving ourselves. Hopefully this is a lifestyle change for us.

If you want a low-cal snack that is tasty...take a couple tablespoons of Frito-Lay bean dip, a couple tablespoons of fat free sour cream (I like this a lot, and thought it would be awful!), and a couple of tablespoons of salsa...layer them like a dip. Cut mushrooms into slices and use them as your "chips"....SO yummy! And you're welcome :)

Is it worth it?

I got home Friday night and turned in an assignment that was due and then decided to look at what was coming up for the next week. I broke down in tears as I realized that I would need to get the paper due Saturday done on Friday night so that I could do lesson planning all day Saturday and start next week's class work on Sunday. Kevin had an away game Friday night and I wanted to go watch it, but felt immense stress about all my looming work. I finally decided to stay home and do homework and watched as Bill and Ashlee (Kevin's girlfriend) left for the game.

The good news is that the paper came together quickly and I was able to upload it to my class web page without some of the issues I'd experienced in previous terms. I looked at my watch and decided that I could still make most of the game. I drove the hour north and walked in only half an hour late. Philomath lost, but I'm still so glad I made it.

I've been looking at friend's Facebooks posts of weekend activities...trips to see fall leaves, people cheering on their college teams, the mention of a harvest moon (though I don't know how they saw it through the rain and clouds), home projects (heaven knows our landscaping could use some TLC). I guess there is something to be said for making progress toward a goal, but I think I need more balance in my life.

Is a master's degree worth all this? Can I make it through six more of these classes? I'm starting to wonder...

A Busy Week...

Monday found me in Portland working for the state of Oregon. I was one of about 50 people who was looking at the new Common Core State Standards to see how they matched up with Oregon. I got up at 4 to get to Portland before the traffic hit and got home about 6...long day!

Tuesday was my weigh in for Weight Watchers. I'm hoping to shed at least 20 pounds. Tracking the points is a bit tiresome and I'm evaluating this program in terms of things I can live with long term. We're finding some great lo-cal recipes this way! I just made a white chicken chili recipe that is awesome! Even Kevin loved it. It was supposed to make 8 servings. After Kevin and Bill helped themselves, there was about 3 servings left.

Speaking of Kevin, his team won their first football game last Thursday! Kevin recovered a fumble and had a great game!

Class is, as usual, kicking my butt. Though I didn't like having to go to a 4 week end-of-summer class on campus at OSU, I had the equivalent of 1 week of homework in an online class during that 4 weeks...and I got an A. This class is the first in a series of three that culminate in my capstone project (which will be presented during my oral comps).

Speaking of which, I'd better get back to it...