18 Days of March:

new housemate

1) I bought a sports ball pump and 24 jerseys (12 blue and 12 yellow) to make recess a more fair and fast process when picking teams; and am in the process of buying six youth basketballs with a mesh bag (I’ve forwarded the invoice to my boss).

2) We got our 4th Mighty Nest delivery — two snack-size Duralex glass dishes.

3) I completed my first two miles on the Curve treadmill in 25 minutes and burned 535 calories, or so the machine tells me. It’s a great mix between in/outdoors for pacing.

Legos before school

4) I walked the neighbor’s kids to school every morning for two weeks, and ran back home with their dog, and they called me one morning to wake me up.

5) I’ve been working on stretching, my resume, and building power points for class. The first one is a behavioral change so I can better understand what my clients will be going through. I’ve chosen to do 10 minutes a day for six weeks and am stretching more often.

I have to build a resume as 40% of my grade, but also as something to get me a job in the future as I continue to improve my Linked-In account. I have almost weekly presentations with different partners to get me used to working with varying personalities and public speaking, so that I stand out to my clientele.

pulmonary powerpoint

6) I’ve learned that: sometimes it’s easier to copy your Facebook post to express your feelings for your Mother’s anniversary:

When you wake up feeling sad and blame it on PMS, but it’s too soon. You surround yourself with happy things.. healthy food, happy kids, fit classmates, peanut butter, a sweaty run, a paycheck, blind dogs, sunshine, a hot shower, a spicy meal, a sappy film..

Oh wait, then you remember why you’ve been feeling down all day as the memories of your mother and your last time with some of the family together plays through your mind as tears and snot drown your outfit in all the emotions you’ve been holding in all day, but trying to release. It’s three years later, but the way I’m feeling it could be the day after. I love you Mom.

7) I created a fundraiser on Facebook to buy new fitness equipment, garden supplies, and lesson materials to help the kids learn and play but had no luck raising even a dollar. I’ll have to call in the big name companies to donate and teach the kids to take care of what they have now.

leprechaun slides down and can’t climb out

8) I got to see my first leprechaun trap, something I don’t remember doing in school.

9) I ran my first 5k in five months and finished in 29:55. I still can’t curl my toe all the way or do a proper lunge, but I’m making fantastic progress otherwise.

10) I got invited to an after school lip-sync battle among kids aged 8-10 and some performances were cute, one emotionally moving, and two that showed these kids watch too much YouTube (and not the good channels).

that face your husband makes when you send food pics

11) I went to dinner at Cafe Coyote in Old Town with some staff from McGill and the teacher that organized it was sure to invite everyone from janitor to principal and even the YMCA staff of which two showed up to equal about 15. Two spouses, a boyfriend, and a roommate also joined for an entertaining evening.

Then we went to Old Town Improv Co. because one of the guys in the show used to work at the school and we were here to support him and to deliver 20 cards from 1st graders that thanked him for being kind and drew wonderful descriptive pictures of his likeness. The show was 80 minutes long and we, especially me, laughed out loud the whole time.

cute card

12) I got a certificate of completion for The Hidden Messages in Food from the IDEA Health and Fitness Assc. and learned about the traits of food, the importance of eating inline with nature, and how food affects our chakras.

13) I learned about sensory deprivation tanks, of which there are three locations in San Diego — closer than the anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota.

14) I learned about Treacher Collins syndrome which somehow led me to an episode of Mr. Rogers, a show I wish was still on TV along with Reading Rainbow and The Magic Schoolbus. I also learned about Harlequin Ichthyosis which reminds me that I have a million reasons to be grateful every day.

all the nut butters!

15) I bought seven new peanut butters, one sunflower, one almond, and one cashew. I’ve also started taking a mix of vitamins (working on my B’s and D) and the dogs take a multi and glucosamine to aid in their senior status.

16) Caleb has been gone two weeks and I just bought groceries to get me through the week before I go to Phoenix to see my dad; it has been eight months.

17) I finished one book, but am currently reading 3.5 others along with required articles and research for school and other interesting finds.

18) I talked with my dad, which makes me happy as usual, so I should find more time to do it. I can blame not visiting on my broken toe, but I didn’t break all my fingers too.

Dr. Suess at McGill

19) I’ve accumulated 20 hours with Youth to the Core and teaching the kids about basketball, peer pressure, stretching and cramps, proper nutrition, and respect.

20) I’m getting stronger, earning 11 trophies in FitNotes, so I increased my goals!

Q&A a Day: In three words, describe your spirituality: stack of books.