5 AM Wake Up Calls

Getting to school by 7:00-7:15 requires waking up around 5:00-5:15. Yesterday was rough, but today I feel much better. Dogsitting was a perfect prelude to getting up for school; every morning I woke up with three dog noses dangerously close to my nose. I'm testing out drinking a cup of coffee in the morning--it's been months since I've used the coffee pot. I find that when I really need that cup of coffee is at about 12 when it feels like I've already been at school forever and am falling asleep trying to observe my mentor teacher. It may be that I'm bored of watching the same lesson for the 3rd and 4th time. But I'm pretty sure I could have napped.

Today will be even longer. I am going in at 7, staying after for the Department meeting, and then going to work from 4-7. I've done the 12 hour days before, and I know they are just rough on me. Tomorrow is the same deal, with the option to carry over until 9 or 10 if I go to the open house to meet parents (which I think would be a really good thing for me to do). I think I probably will rein in my desire to go b/c I might not make it through the week if I do.

Last night I worked on getting some initial key points for teaching character and setting. I'm very excited about point of view b/c it has always been a favorite of mine. There's just something cool about it. Anyway, very excited for another day!

Student Teaching Ahoy!

Well, it's that time I've been waiting so long to get to. Here's what I've done with my time since graduating college

1. teach at charter school for a year (06-07)
   
2. get a full time job b/c teaching doesn't pay in the summer (07-08)
   
3. enroll in Ashland's Teacher Licensure program, begin tutoring (08-present)

So, it's been just over three years and I feel like my life has been in constant flux. My goal has always been to teach high school English--since before I entered college. That means my goal began before 2002. And NOW, 7 years later, here I am, about to begin my final assignment that will lead to my teaching license and hopefully a real job. I begin Student Teaching this fall and will be done with EVERYTHING in December.

I can't even begin to explain how exciting this is for me, and I feel as though most people around me just can't comprehend how thrilling it is. I love teaching and am so glad that I signed up for classes at Ashland and finally stopped putting off what I knew I needed to do.

My checklist of things to do is decreasing steadily. I have to finish the rest of my online course in Teaching Methods (I am down to just TWO lessons and a final project). I have to take the teaching test for content and teaching practices (I scheduled it for November 14th). And finally, I have to complete my student teaching.

I am so pleased with how well the pieces are all falling into place. My final project for the Methods class will be planning a unit on the Odyssey which I will be teaching while student teaching. School starts tomorrow, and I have planned to observe the first day of class. I can't wait to get started, and I can't wait to be done. I just hope there are job openings once I have my license.

Clean Eating Update

So, I've been inspired by bodyrock.tv and followed Zuzana's advice to follow the Eat Clean diet. For the most part, I've done a really good job of following the small portions and eating primarily clean meals. Clean meals simply means the ingredients are all healthy for you. Mostly I've been eating lots of fruits and vegetables, pitas, hummus, and meats.

I have fallen into a couple staple meals from this diet. My favorite breakfast is oatmeal with cut strawberries and blueberries. It is even better with raspberries, but they're so dang expensive, so I keep that for special occasions. Sometimes I go above and beyond and add a scoop of wheat germ. It does very little to improve the taste, but it is supposedly a super-healthy addition.

My favorite lunch is a pita sandwich. The pita sandwich is made by cutting the pita around the edges so that pita splits into two layers. I put hummus on one side, and top with sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, and lettuce. Sometimes I use a spread similar to hummus, but made from split peas. It's a nice way to mix things up. When I'm really in the mood for something special, I use the red pepper hummus spread and the pea spread. OH! and I also cooked a turkey burger to put on my pita and that was fantastic.

My favorite snack is hummus and pita. It takes no time to just grab the hummus out of the fridge and cut up a pita. This is great for when I'm really hungry, but not ready or in the mood to prepare a real meal. I probably eat more hummus than I should, but I just love the garlic. It is very satisfying.

I have two favorite dinners that I've tried. I made a dish of healthy lasagna. I made ground turkey for the meat which turned out perfect. I used half store bought spaghetti sauce with my own fresh veggie combo of tomatoes, garlic, and onions. I also sliced up some yellow squash. The noodles were made from special whole grains. Finally, the cheese concoction was made of no-fat cottage cheese and a couple of eggs. I sprinkled a light layer of mozzarella cheese too. This was the best lasagna I've ever had. I still have several servings frozen and waiting for a good excuse to eat them.

My other favorite dinner is Bok Choy stir fry. I got this recipe from the Eat-Clean book, and found it so tasty I made it several evenings in a row. The sauce is really good, light, and simple to make. It is just a mixture of ginger, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and dry sherry. I've made this stir fry with a couple different combinations of veggies and meats. Bok Choy was new to me. It is different--it really has no taste, and is kind of like celery, but without all the strings. It also seemed to keep fairly well in the fridge. I added some ground turkey to it one night, and that was good. I have some left over tofu and will probably make this stir fry again soon.

I still have a sugar tooth, and it costs me. I LOVE the Bolthouse Farms drinks. I am so addicted to these. I drink the perfectly protein drinks because much of the time, I've not been eating much meat and my only source of protein is usually the hummus. The drinks are expensive, so I'm trying to limit my servings, but I don't know if I can. I know they're supposed to be all natural with no bad additives, but they contain too much sugar, so I might have to bite the bullet and stop spending my money on the drinks.

I really like the meals that fit into the clean eating diet, and I like eating more frequently and smaller portions. I have even seen immediate benefits from the diet. In a month, I have lost a solid 5 lbs. I have slipped up here and there as necessary (Wedding, NYC, Weekend fun w/ Eric), but overall I think I am sticking to it pretty good.

The downside is that I feel like I constantly have to go shopping. One day I run out of fruit, another day I'm out of veggies. It's hard to monitor how much food to get for one week, and how long the fresh fruits and veggies will last in the fridge. I throw out too much, yet I'm still running short on food. In some ways the diet is cheap (oatmeal was less than $5 from the bulk store and it is going to last me months), but in other ways it's really expensive (fresh foods and specialty items). I hope that as I continue with this diet that I will get the hang of coordinating shopping and meal planning.

Yummy NomNoms

Today I had a very successful day in the kitchen:

• Trout seasoned with green onions, salt & pepper, topped with lemon slices
• Baked Zucchini w/ Italian seasoned bread crumbs and a little dose of parmesean
• Thin sliced potatoes--cooked the same way as the zucchini
• Oat Bread--work done by the bread machine--then I made it into a loaf and baked it in the oven.

All in all it was a pretty good meal and it didn't take much food to fill us up. Now I have lunch for a couple of days.

This was Eric's favorite bread I've made so far, so it might be in the running for a weekly make for sandwich bread. It was very easy to make. I just put the ingredients in the bread machine and then did yard work. Then I made it into a loaf and made the potatoes/zucchini dishes while it rose. Then into the oven with all of it while I went grocery shopping. Yes, I am the queen of multitasking. Somewhere in there I also found time for 2 rounds of a game on Eric's phone.

The flowers we planted are beautiful and I think they will do well. Pictures to come... maybe.

My Day "Off"

HORRAY KITCHEN TIME!

1) Clean kitchen
2) Mix pita dough -- rise 1 1/2 hours
3) While dough rises: Hummus and Goddess Salad Dressing
4) Homemade baked falafel?
5) Jump for Joy!

Links for yummies:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread
http://www.recipezaar.com/Tahini-Goddess-Salad-Dressing-95888
http://mideastfood.about.com/od/maindishes/r/bakedfalafel.htm

Hummus is pretty straightforward:
2 cans chick peas
2-3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2-3 Tbsp Tahini
2 Cloves of Garlic
Water to counter thickness
Food Processor until yummy.

AND OMG the Goddess Salad Dressing--it's what they put on salads at Benevolence--YUM! I've been sneaking little tastes here and there of it with the cucumber I cut up for the salad...

Today is FANTASTIC.

More Seedlings

(in a whisper):
The first baby Lupine emerges from thr ground, still curled in its seedling-fetus position. Shh... Don't wake the baby. The other Lupines must require a longer incubation.


Life is springing in the tray of Cosmos and Holly Hock.

Look how delicate these little baby Cosmos are. One day they will be large bushes (and I will take more photos of them).

Of 5 flats of Holly Hock, I only have 3 little sprouts. I expected a quicker climb from these tall stalky plants (more like the morning glories).

Now--of all the seeds, can you believe NO Pansies will show themselves? Those little... pansies.

Good Morning Glories!

Look what I found this morning when I watered my seedlings!

It's been 3 days since I looked at my little dears and they sure have taken off!

Some of the others are showing signs of life, but are still too small for me to get overly excited about. These were quite the surprise! They're getting so big so quickly! I hope the others will be following suit in good time!

The people who know say that to start with, you should put 2-3 seeds in each little dish. Then if two plants begin to grow, it's best to kill one off so the other has a better chance to grow. I can't help but think in this situation, "Every life is precious" (kinda like one of the songs from The Life of Brian). I will hold off for now on killing any of my babies. :)

SO EXCITED!

Spring Gardening!

After realizing I bought more than 4,000 seeds, I decided to pick up a couple more 72 flat trays. I did all the necessary prep work of filling the trays about two weeks ago. Finally this week I planted the seeds!

While I was working at the kitchen table, Daisy was on the porch anxious to get inside. Meanwhile the cat is pleading to go outside. Here they are, my jealous pets:

Here's the finished product::)

Spring Special!

I bought seeds online! I have lots of flower seeds so I will share! Let me know if you want some! I can't wait to get them and start growing!

I got:

Lupines


Cosmos Sensation


Indian Spring Hollyhock


And Giant Pansies


TADA! Meijer had little greenhouse setups for < $4, so I got one of those. It has 72 little places for flowers. I hope this is successful. I figure for < $20 if it works, it will be WAY cheaper than buying the annuals at the store!

I just hope I have the Greenwood Green Thumb!