Another Friday afternoon spent crashed on the air mattress - by the time I got home from school yesterday, I was plum exhausted. And that was even after having gone to bed around 9:30 the night before. I guess teaching just wipes me out some days.
School finished up well this week. Together we have now established our class rules & consequences (which may have to be amended - 3 warnings seems a bit lenient), class prayer, and a list of things to do when students finish early. "Should Miss Foyle hear 'I'm finished, now what do I do?' ever again?" No. Hallelujah! We're kicking into full gear. Speaking of which, I have some serious lesson planning/preparation to do this weekend as well as book report projects from summer reading to grade. Let's just say I'm glad we're reading "Despereaux" again as a class, as it is making much more sense and the students are having much more fun with it the second time around. Some of them can quote some parts - hilarious. How can you not love that?
I fixed a nice dinner, which included eating twice as many pretzels as I had intended - I figured the end of the bag should just be finished, on my own when I woke up from my nap. Nothing fancy, but it was filling, and dessert consisted of 6 decadent dark chocolate Doves (my favorite - if you bet I can't eat just one or two, you'd be right...too right). I hit the hay pretty early (around 10 p.m.), while my housemates went over to the ACE house and then stopped by the bar across the street on their way home. Why didn't I go? Well, the answer is simple enough - in order to get in my long runs for this Chicago marathon training, it is necessary to get up before the crack of dawn (aka 5 a.m.), so sleep was the main factor in my decision, considering last weekend I got up and ran after about 3-4 hours.
And so, my alarm clock woke me at 5 a.m., and I was out the door by 5:15 after filling my water bottle and having a few spoonfuls of peanut butter. :) I had checked the temperature on my computer just before I left - I was curious - and it was already 90 degrees. Again, that is before the sun. The first hour felt pretty good, not going to lie, and I was moving along at a pretty decent pace (in relationship to the heat). Then, I stopped by the house to refill my water bottle, and I was out the door again. This time, I tried another route, which to my surprise, took me a little over an hour to complete - thus bringing me to a little over 2 hours. My goal was 3 hours - frankly, that was not going to happen, so I settled on 2.5 instead. So, it was one more quick refill of the water and then 2 loops around the neighborhood area, and I was done. I keep reminding myself it will all be much better once it cools down (it is at that time when I actually enjoy doing long runs - call me crazy), but right now the only motivating factor is being able to finish that Chicago Marathon with a few ounces of self respect. Maybe it won't be a four hour marathon this time - in fact, I can practically guarantee it won't be - but it will be fun.
I showered and dressed quickly, and then I was off to Barnes and Noble. I am so proud of myself - I made it out of the store with just the one book, "Eat, Pray, Love", I had intended to purchase. (But I just realized I forgot to use my gift card my mom sent! I am so dumb. Well, no worries there because, as confessed many a time, B&N and my bank account have a love-hate relationship.) I felt a small pang of guilt as the woman at the register swiped my educator discount card and said, "I hope your class enjoys this book." Well, I don't think that's going to happen, but I sure hope to enjoy it.
And, what do you know? I was right across the way from First Watch. No, I usually don't go every weekend, but I figured it would be worth the stop today. (I actually had the same waiter. Pretty soon I bet he'll know my order when I walk in the door - but I hope not to become that frequent a customer. I don't think my bank account would like it.) And I was right - the fresh fruit crepes did not disappoint, and the muffin was a warm cappucino chocolate chip. No offense FL First Watches, but AZ sure knows how to mix up the variety. Delicious! And I got started on my new book, which I am enjoying already.
Today will be a day of cleaning. (We're renting one of those industrial carpet cleaner things, I think, and our neighbor/landlord is fixing the washing machine and moldy wall.) It will also be a day of grading and planning, which brings me full circle to the beginning of this blog.
So far today, I have eaten (muffin & crepes!). I have prayed. (Although, I do realize that I need to make more of a conscious effort with that, as school has taken up most of my free time.) And I have loved - if talking with my sister on the phone counts...or if loving the fact that I was done with my run...? We'll work on that. It's not yet noon here in AZ, after all...
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