Work and American Idol

Well yesterday and today haven't been all that exciting. Just trying to get through the work week. On Wednesday a boy in my last class of the day (kindergarten) decided to spend the whole thirty minutes running around, rolling on the floor, and taking his shoes off. Then it took him forever and about three different people to convince him to leave. Today as my last class (second graders) was leaving, a boy came up to me and said his stomach hurt. I asked him if he needed a trash can and he said yes. He then proceeded to vomit for the next five to seven minutes. At least he made it to the trash can and to the bus to get home. I spent some time today making a backdrop for my spring program. All I have right now is a blue background and green grass! I tore strips of green construction paper to look like strips of grass. I'm hoping the whole thing comes off like a "cartoon-y" spring day when I'm done. Tomorrow I have an assembly planned for the whole school. I asked the high school choir director if she would be willing to do a 30 minute assembly for us for Music In Our Schools Month and she said yes. The best of the high school choir students will performing for us and I can't wait to see them. I hope it inspires more students to join my choir next year.

I was going to write a post last night, but I got caught up in American Idol. I can't stand the auditions and usually wait until Hollywood Week to watch. This year I didn't even start watching until the top 11. Yesterday's show was really good too. There are a lot of good singers but my favorites last night were Elise, Colton, and Phillip. Right now the results show is on, but they usually drag on forever, so I can just watch the end and see who gets the boot.

And for some more randomness... here are a few springtime pictures of tulips and my crab apple tree from my yard.

As for food, my breakfast, snacks, and lunches have been the same as they have been all this week (as pictured at the end of this post). It is what I'm eating for dinner and late snacks that are killing me. I have only been doing my stretches in the morning for exercise which doesn't help much at all. My plan is not to beat myself up too much and use my spring break starting on April 6th to really concentrate on remotivating and refocusing my efforts.

Signs of Spring

I've been wanting to write something for quite a while, but have been sick or busy again. I have another music program for basically the whole school coming up on April 20th, and I'm in the middle of figuring out all the details. After I got over my strep, I felt pretty good. Then a few days later I felt horrible again. I think it is just allergies. The pollen count for trees has been high for the past week or so. I guess I must be pretty allergic to a tree that is pollinating right now. I have no energy and spend my whole day yawning and struggling to stay awake. My throat and ears have been sore and itchy. I've also been sneezing more than usual and have watery eyes. I did well last week with the weight loss though. I'm down 4 pounds and back to being in the 180's again. I think that 189.6 counts as being in the 180's, even if just being bloated for a day pushes me back into the 190's.

I've also been taking pictures of a few things that reminds me that summer spring is here. We have had gorgeous sunny days in the 70's and 80's all last week and it is continuing most of this week.

First, there was St. Patrick's Day. I had a fun shirt to wear to school the Friday before St. Patricks' Day. I also have shamrock earrings that my aunt and grandma bought for me when they visited Ireland. Not only were my clothes fun, but the kids that had music got a treat that day. I had two visiting artists in my classroom playing songs on the piano and guitar. The kids got to listen, sing along, play some instruments, and dance.

Try to ignore the dog hair. It sticks to clothes pretty quickly.

Last weekend I decided to get some shorts and capris since I didn't have any size 14 in my stash of old clothes. I also wore green while shopping on St. Patrick's Day.

I guess I should have taken a picture of my new clothes too. Oh well.

There are tons of trees and flowers in bloom all around my yard. My husband even spent a lot of time last week working on his strawberry garden. I think that he has more strawberries than he knows what to do with once they all mature and produce fruit.

Andrew's strawberry garden. This is only a small part of it...

Daffodils that are in front of the house.

I took this in the morning (see how the sun is not up when I leave for work) of our nectarine tree.

The doxies also had a blast in the warm weather. They have been going to my father-in-law's house for play dates since he has a fenced in back yard. Benjamin found a hunk of what we thought was mud and was barking at it. He then proceeded to pick it up in his mouth and run around the yard with it. My husband was trying to get it from the dog, but failed. Benjamin ended up rolling in it and stinking to high heaven. It was a piece of poop from who knows what animal. All the dogs ended up getting bathed, teeth bushings, nail clippings, and a trim.

Benjamin, the bath time instigator.

Sebastion who was good, but still got a bath.

Lilly who also fell victim to the bath.

Since this is a weight loss blog, I guess I better talk about food for a bit. Last week I relied on premade food since I wasn't feeling well. I'm trying the same strategy this week. My breakfast is my usual.

My lunches have been soup and crackers.

Just imagine crackers with it instead of yogurt.

My dinners are from the microwave again.

I'm relying on premade snacks as well such as granola bars and Skinny Cow ice cream, but my problem lately is that I'm eating way too many snacks again.

Working for the Weekend

Well, today was my first day back at work after my illness. I had to be back today, because the FAME (Fine Arts and Music in Education) Festival is this weekend. I'm taking my after school choir composed of 3rd and 4th graders to perform. The kids in choir had to try out and their parents had to pick them up from practices, so I know that they want to be there and will do a good job. The theme this year (or so the letter sent to me told me) is Southeast Asia. We only learned five songs, but they were hard since they were at least partially in another language that isn't familiar to any of us (songs from Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, etc.) When I got the flyer with my packet a few weeks ago the theme was about seas and countries from around the world. That would have been so much easier than Southeast Asia, but the kids already were only two practices away from the performance. I guess I'll have to call and ask to confirm the theme if they send me another letter with a theme for next year. I still need to fix some props that are falling apart and bag the shirts for the performance tomorrow.

I still need to fold these shirts nicely so they don't wrinkle.

And them put the right sizes in each student's bag with their props (and fix the broken props).

March is also Music in Our Schools Month (MIOSM). I've been working hard this year to include some activities and promote music education this year. I have guest performers coming into music classes, assemblies planned for the whole school, and a bulletin board that is almost complete about how people/staff at my school participate(d) in music. It isn't just that one day that goes into any of these activities- there is a lot of prep work involved. I'm sure glad that the kids will get to experience some extra fun music activities though.

Please ignore the dog hair from hugging my doggies when I got home from work.

There have been some signs of spring recently. Here are a couple of pictures to show what we've seen here in Northwest Indiana.

Boxes and trash that was blowing around on trash day due to the very high winds.

The first flowers in bloom for the spring (please ignore the weeds next to them).

Tree branches from the high winds.

Here is a little bit better picture of my new green eyeshadow. It is also springy.

You notice my lack of posting about food. Well, I have been just eating what I want since I don't feel well. Today though I'm starting to feel some motivation to eat better. Maybe I can work myself back on plan over the weekend and set my new goals for the month.