I missed food

I've been M.I.A. for a few days - sorry about that! I've been working a lot and I've been sick. I'm finally starting to feel a little more human today, just in time for the weekend!

The sore throat was getting in the way of my eating, which sucks. Luckily this morning I started to feel a lot better and I can almost eat and drink normally again.

Here are a few terribly exciting things you missed in the last few days:

My oatmeal exploded in the microwave, it was sad.

 
I put off getting gas in my car for a long time, then when I went to the gas station it looked like this so I went to the one across the street.

We got a new bulletin board in the classroom yesterday (TE is the name of my room, Toddler room E). My boss' first response was to tell me the artwork was crooked. Later (after I straightened it) she told me she really liked it.

This weekend I'm planning on relaxing and getting some miles in. I'm really looking forward to it!

I'm drinking tea

Today was not as crazy as I expected it to be. We had 11 kiddos in the room. Yes, that's eleven two year olds.

Plus, my boss still has my plan book so I didn't realize until I got there this morning that I needed to make salt dough for art. Fortunately I had just enough flour left from our last baking adventure to make enough dough for everyone.

Circle time went amazingly well, all but one of them sat through our hello song and two books before we sang the froggy song (when they get to jump).

The downside of the day is that I developed a sore throat. Like an if-I-don't-keep-taking-advil-I-can't-swallow sore throat, which seems bad. I feel fine otherwise, so hopefully it will wear off soonish.

I have a standing rule that if I go home early from work because I don't feel well I have to continue to behave like I'm sick when I get home (take care of myself). But since I stayed at work all day I got to decide if I was up for a short run when I got home.

I usually go by the "neck test" to decide if I should work out when I'm not 100%. If symptoms are above the neck (cold-like) it's ok, but if symptoms are below the neck (lungs, fever, aches) it's best to give it a rest.

Given that, I ran a couple miles and felt a lot better overall when I was done. Not my throat (that still hurts) but the rest of me is glad that I ran.

Now I'm drinking tea (which I pretty much only do when I'm sick) and planning on going to bed at a reasonable hour.

Inaugural run

It was dark when I got off work, but that's ok! I have a treadmill now!

I was dragging when I got home, but did a quick change and headed to the basement. Today was technically supposed to be a rest day, but I missed a couple of runs last week so I don't feel like I'm overtraining or anything.

I did a pre-programmed 30 minute "calorie burn" workout that had a lot of incline work and intervals. The intervals were really really slow (walking speed) though, so after a bit I started upping the speed.

2.27 miles certainly beats not running!

 In other news, Buddy somehow did this to his crate:

It doesn't affect the door closing so it's ok, but we can't figure out how he did it!

It's heeeeere!

We went and picked up my fancy (not actually that fancy as far as treadmills go) new treadmill today! It took us about an hour and a half to get it all assembled and we have agreed that if we ever move there will be professional movers involved.

"Space saver" mode:

It was late enough when we finished that my inaugural run will have to wait until after work tomorrow.

In other news, I saw this at Walmart today when I was picking up the mat for underneath the treadmill.

Emma Stone clearly needed a Joker makeover. People are crazy.

Patience is not one of my virtures

Apparently, even though the Sam's club's website told me that the treadmill I wanted was in stock at the store near us, I had to first order it online. They don't even have you pay for it online, you still have to pay when you pick it up. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

I'm really bad at making decisions, but once I do, I like to put my plan to action right away. I am not good with waiting.

So while I was very excited to get my treadmill all set up, it has to wait another day. On the bright side, all the other options I had would have taken almost a week. I guess one day isn't terrible.

It's going to look like this:

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And then I'm going to look like this:

Holding still makes me tired

The Jeep has a really impressive icicle on it.

I finally remembered to take some pictures at work.

Hats and mittens over the cubbies.

Hibernating bears and their caves.

Don't mock my giant mitten, it's really hard to cut out a huge mitten. Each chunk was painted by a different kiddo - they love seeing it all put together.

It was a really good day at work today. I had one of the preschool assistants for the day, but she was really great so everything went smoothly. Plus all the munchkins napped, which is always a win.

I pretty much have my lesson plans finished, which just leaves a quick newsletter and I'll be good to go. I'm glad I finished my plans so I don't have to worry about them this weekend.

Tonight is pizza and relaxing - the more I hold still, the more tired I feel. Tomorrow I'm bundling up for a run and looking into the possibility of buying a treadmill, both of which I'm really excited about!

I have nothing exciting to tell you

It was another long day at work today. We also had kids trickling in all morning, the last one arriving at almost 11. Usually everyone is there by 9 or 9:30 at the latest. It really throws me off to have them dropping off all morning long.

I spent an hour working on my February lesson plans because they're due on Monday. I'm over halfway done, which is usually where I lose focus and can't get anything done. I'll come back to them tomorrow.

Since it is obscenely cold out and I didn't get home until it was almost dark I didn't make it out for a run today. I'm keeping my weekday training schedule a little flexible, but unless I get out early (on time) tomorrow (and in the near future) I might miss a run or two. 

In happier news, I bought salted caramel ice cream at the store today. It's delicious, in case you were wondering.

I had to turn the heat up because Buddy was curled up in a tiny ball on his bed, shivering. Now he's curled up in a tiny ball on his bed, snoring.

More snow

Today was long. We had a winter storm warning and lots of snow on the way but all ten of the kids were in attendance. Two got picked up around 11 and one in the middle of nap time so their parents could avoid the snow storm.

Another toddler room ended up combining with ours so their teachers could head home (I'm not sure how we drew the short straw) and while all of my kiddos were picked up by about 4:45, I couldn't go home until 5:30. I let my assistant leave after the last of our kids left - partially because I have more faith in my snow driving abilities and partially because she was whining a lot.

I don't know how much snow we've gotten - it's a lot. My usual 8 minute drive home took almost half an hour. I mean, I'm glad people are being safe, but if you are so uncomfortable driving in the snow that you are going less than ten miles an hour on a recently plowed road then maybe you shouldn't drive in the snow. No word yet on if work is going to open on time tomorrow. I'll find out in the morning.

In other news - look how much less scrawny Buddy is looking! 

I lost count

This has been my go-to breakfast lately.

Frozen blueberries and cereal are one of the best things ever - besides coffee of course, but that's a given.

I think a lot of people had today off, so we only had 6 kiddos in class. It was pretty mellow most of the day, which was a nice change. I had some time to fix some of the little things that my boss wanted changed after her observation last week and change up some of my bulletin boards.

I lost count of how many times I sneezed today. I think I'm on my fifth mini-cold since I started working with the kids. Give it a couple more months and my immune system will be indestructible.

Today was supposed to be a rest/cross training day but the forecast calls for more snow tomorrow so I went for a run instead. It was only two miles so I took Buddy with me. I'm officially faster when it comes to any kind of distance. He did well for the first mile, but started slowing down/getting right in front of me and stopping after that. I could have had a much better time if I hadn't taken him with me.

But then I wouldn't have this happy and exhausted dog, so I guess a slightly slower run is ok. 

Round and round she goes

I waited until it was a balmy 34 degrees to head out for my run today. I had originally planned to head over to Rockefeller State Park for my long run this week, but the snow yesterday threw that off. The park is shady and tends to hold on to snow/ice for a very long time.

Instead I headed to a park that's close to the house and has a paved path (that they apparently plow). Each lap on the path is about .33 miles so it's a little bit better than a track. With the help of a Billy Crystal audiobook, I went round and round until I pounded out my goal of 5 miles for the day. I ended up with 5.3 by the time I got home.

I picked up this Chia Bar at the grocery store the other day and snacked on it a bit during my run. It was actually pretty tasty (and a good size to take with me on a run) so I may be picking up some more of them.

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What I wouldn't give for a treadmill

Looking at the very cold week we have ahead of us I am not looking forward to making myself get out and run in it.

I really don't mind treadmills. I like having them as an option. They're really nice when you want to run a certain pace/distance/time because it does a lot of the work for you. And as long as I have some kind of entertainment (music, tv, audiobook) I can stay on a treadmill for a very long time.

I once exceeded the time limit on the treadmills at the gym. I'm still kind of proud of myself for that one.

But, treadmills are big and expensive and I don't really want to pay to join a gym just to access a treadmill.

So for now I will bundle up when I can, improvise workouts when I can't and covet the beautiful Boston Marathon Treadmill (which is worth more than my car) and all its bells and whistles.

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Surprise Snow

I looked out the window this morning and saw this:

Excuse me, but no one at work was freaking out or panicking about it snowing this weekend. This was certainly not in the forecast or I would have heard about it.

Buddy woke me up at 7:15 this morning. He's lucky he's cute.

The light dusting of snow up to one inch that was forecast this morning has been upgraded to "heavy snow showers." You think?

My two mile run for the day is going to have to turn into another workout in the basement. Better than nothing!

Work in a Fishbowl

My boss came to observe in my classroom today. It actually went really well! That's not to say that there weren't kids hiding under the table at circle time and climbing on the lid of the sensory bin while we were trying to read a story, there were. But she understands that they're toddlers and that's pretty typical. We only had a couple of little things (like labeling the diaper shelves in the bathroom) that we need to change. She only had positive things to say about my curriculum, interactions with the kids and the general flow of the class (transitions), which is really the important part.

I described my job as working in a fishbowl full of unpredictable two year olds to someone the other day. The bosses are always patrolling the halls and the walls are thin. It seems pretty accurate.

Tonight I'm watching movies that Tom would never want to watch (because I already finished watching the last season of Gilmore Girls) and eating Chinese food.

Yes, I did order two things from the Chinese place so I could get free delivery. This way I also have plenty to eat tomorrow while I clean.

Tomorrow will be spent doing dishes and tidying up all my clutter that has accumulated over the work week. And then tomorrow night Tom gets home! Buddy is going to have a nervous breakdown when he sees him.

Random things about today

Well, it's a good thing I went for my run yesterday. The schedule this morning said I was leaving at four, but they stole one of my assistants and I didn't get to leave until 5:30.

A little boy in my class bit one of the girls on the nose today. Writing that incident report was fun, and a little difficult to explain. At least I was right there so I stopped it right away (it could have been a much worse injury). Kids are weird.

I totally failed to take a picture of our art project today, I'll try to remember tomorrow because some of them turned out really cute. We started talking about hibernation today so we painted caves (1/2 styrofoam cup glued to paper) for our bears (craft pom poms) to hibernate in.

One of the girls has been terrified of the man who does music with the kids every week. She usually refuses to enter the room at all and prefers to be far, far away from it. Today I took her in and we sat in the back corner of the room. She lasted about half a song before losing it and we watched for a while from the hallway. We talked about how silly the musician was and how much fun her friends were having dancing around to the music. After a while we tried standing just inside the door and after a few minutes she was standing on her own, laughing and dancing. I'm glad I could take the time to work with her, because she loves singing songs and just needed a little time to get used to how loud and crazy music can get sometimes.

In lieu of new pictures, here's an old picture of Buddy that reminds me of Falcor from the NeverEnding Story.

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She Glows

I went into today with a better attitude and also had the chance to run the kids around outside for a while. Both of these things seemed to make the day more fun than yesterday. It didn't hurt that I got to go home at 3:30.

The luxury! I went to the store! Now I have food again.

I also went for a run just in case I have to work 10 hours again tomorrow. Four really excellent miles. I wore my fancy new vest - there's no way anyone could miss me in it - it practically glows! Good thing too because it was almost dark by the time I got home.

I love when I feel like this after a run.

 

It's possible that I pre-ordered the new Brooks Transcends on a post-run high. I love new running gear!

The best laid plans

Well, I didn't end up getting to leave work until after 5:30. It was dark, foggy and raining by then. So instead of running my first official training miles for this race, I let Jillian Michaels yell at me for a half hour. That way I wasn't completely lazy. Plus, now my abs hurt.

Buddy was pretty confused about hanging out in the basement. He kept staring at the screen with this look on his face.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest/cross training day, and Thursday is 4 miles. If I manage to escape work early tomorrow I may do my miles then just in case Thursday runs late. I have a feeling I'm going to have to be a little flexible with my training plan until my work schedule stabilizes. If that ever happens.

I might have a hot sauce problem

Let's take a minute to talk about how much Cholula I've consumed in the last week and a half.

This bottle was full ten days ago.

I may have put Cholula on every dinner and several breakfasts since then. And it was delicious. I might have to look into where I can buy a bigger bottle, or add some variety to my diet.

Today was long. My assistant had to leave at 5, so I worked 7:30-6. We only had eight kids, which doesn't feel like very many anymore. I kept counting them because I felt like I was missing some.

At pickup a mom told me that I looked like I needed a nap. Her husband said, "Well, she was here when I dropped off this morning, so she probably does."

Half marathon training officially kicks off today. Fortunately today's plan called for cross training or a rest day. I don't think I could have made it out for a run after work. Instead I'll do some stretching and get to bed early. I'm glad I dragged myself out the door yesterday.

Tomorrow calls for two easy miles. Totally doable.

Now excuse me while I go covet some new shoes that Brooks has available for pre-order.

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Pretty!

A Good Read

I haven't been caught up in a book in a while. Partially because I work too much and haven't been reading as much as usual, and partially because no book has kept my attention.

A few days ago I started reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. Last night I stayed up until 1am reading it and finished it right after I woke up this morning. The book is written from the perspective of a dog named Enzo. Even though a ridiculous number of bad things happen to Enzo and his owner (and the racing part is racing cars), I couldn't put it down.

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I won't lie to you, it isn't a very upbeat book, but I really enjoyed it.

Lacking motivation

Some days it is really hard to get out the door for a run. There wasn't anything I wanted that I could bribe/reward myself with so I had to come up with other motivation. This blog post helped a bit.

My other tactic is to just slowly put all my running stuff on. What's that on my wrist? Oh, my Garmin, maybe I should go for a run. This usually works because I start to feel a little silly in my running clothes sitting around the house. That, and deep down I really do want to run.

I left Buddy at home today. He looked completely betrayed when I told him to get in his crate.

It was chilly and windy out, but I had a good 2 1/2 miles on my own. Now I don't feel completely unprepared for my training to start this week.

Adventures in candy making

When we were on our road trip we picked up some really delicious salted caramels at a coffee shop in Astoria, OR. I rationed them fairly well but there were only about five of them so they couldn't last forever.

I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find a place that sells delicious salted caramels, but instead I found this recipe. Plus it has a nifty video.

My sous chef was underfoot the entire time.

They take an eternity to cool.

And I learned that when a recipe tells you to use parchment paper, you should use parchment paper and not wax paper. There was a moment I thought I was going to lose half the caramel trying to scrape it off the wax paper. But after some quick googling I warmed up a wet washcloth and held it to the back of the wax paper and (other than the corners) it peeled right off.

I do not have the skill or the patience to cut them into equal sized pieces (or to wait the recommended 3 hours before cutting them).

I deliberately did not count how many pieces I ate as I moved them to a tupperware.

Pretty sure all those years of helping my grandma make peanut brittle and poppycock helped with my candy thermometer skills. They turned out dangerously delicious and I'm proud of my first attempt at making caramels.

Reward system

We had creepy horror movie fog this morning. And black ice. Luckily I don't trust the ground anymore and do a silly shuffle walk whenever we leave the house to test how slippery the ground is.

It's positively warm out today, above fifty degrees!

I'm a lot like a toddler, I respond really well to a reward system. Sometimes I don't even follow through on the reward, but it works to get me out the door. Today I told myself if I went for a run then I could go to Target. But now that I'm home I don't really feel like driving there.

While he was very excited to get out the door, Buddy was not feeling our run today. I don't know if it was the rain/wind or what, but about half a mile in he was running next to me instead of out in front. After the rain started he dropped back behind me. But we still had to get home, so we kept trucking along, slowly.

I'm hoping to get out again tomorrow and Buddy will be pouting at home. He's really not going to like it when I get into my half marathon training long runs, he definitely won't be going on those.

Some of my new socks are foot specific.

I wonder what happens if you wear them on the wrong feet. They fared well in the rain, no uncomfortable rubbing when they got wet. I also wore my new vest today. It has lots of pockets, which is amazing and it didn't feel like I had a bunch of layers on. Plus it's highlighter green so there is no way anyone can miss me, even in the gloomy fog.

Buddy is exhausted.

He's also barking in his sleep and sounds like a guinea pig.

It's "Fwyday!"

Some bullet points, because my mind is disjointed today.

• I think the craziness of the holidays has finally blown over at work. The kids have really calmed down this week. We had 10 kids most days, but we managed to get everything done that I had planned and had a lot of fun.

• The munchkins went to town with the oobleck this afternoon, they got it everywhere, including in my eye. I even had a parent play with it at pickup and she is now planning to make some at home! 

• One of the kids was climbing on me and I asked her why she needed to climb on me. She told me "Because I like you!" Sound logic.

• I ate some pop rocks this afternoon. Buddy kept staring at me, I think he was concerned.

Now it's time to relax and enjoy the fact that my alarm isn't set for early in the morning.