Saturday

Okay yesterday I went to a singles mixer thing and donated a toy to Toys for tots. I also gave to of Carmela's cards to these ladies in the bathroom. That's all I can think of but that seems pretty good. Now today Ill have to find something to give.

12 days of giving

So I found this 12 days of giving on another blog and thought it was kind of cool. I then decided I should challenge myself to do it. I mean it is the season of giving besides it makes me a better person. So I'm starting a little late in the game but I figure better late than never. I'm trying to think of something I gave or did yesterday that will count but the only thing I can think of is I let one of the other teachers use my lesson plans for next week because she hadn't done hers and was super stressed about it. So maybe that's not the biggest thing I've ever given but it's a start. Today Ill do better.

New Discovery

So I hit the button that said "next blog" at the top of my blog and ironically it takes me to the next blog in blogworld, I guess I'm not really sure. But, the next one is some health guy who I think might be a personal trainer. I had to laugh though, I'm wondering if he hits on his button he'll have the chance to get to enjoy my awesomeness. :O

Ooops!

I think I may have entitled more than one post this same title but really when you think about it statistically your life is full of those ooops moments. So last year I started this blog as a way to keep track of losing weight and stuff. Sadly almost a year later I actually weigh more, but thats okay. It's okay cause I actually like having a blog and even if no one reads it I think people do. :) All of that is beside the point though. I don't even remember what this post was supposed to be about but I did get the chance to change my background and now my blog looks smashing so I guess it was worth it.

Fear

I've discovered something about fear in the past two days it either immobilizes you or kicks your butt into gear. On Friday, I found out that my principal doesnt want me to come back to my school next year, yes the school that I have been at for five years and never had any problems. In fact the principal has never even seen me teach but apparently I'm not good enough anymore. I don't understand it at all but my principal is a bad bad person and there's evidence of it not just me saying that, in fact I said it before all this happened. Anyhoo, back to the story. Before this happened I had really been thinking about applying to teach at an International school in Spain year round. But, fear kept freaking me out, I kept thinking if I dont get hired then thats it game over my dream of living in Spain will be dashed and their won't be anything I can do about it. If I didnt apply though then there wouldnt be the possibility of that dream being crushed forever. Well I have a new kind of fear now, the kind that is motivating me to apply and take a chance. Yes, theres a chance that I wont get hired but there's also a chance that I will. Nonetheless I am scared but I think that's okay cause I know what to do with that fear. So here I go jumping in with both feet.....1,2,3!!!!!!!!!!

Kids say the darndest things

So yesterday it was one of my kids birthday. His Dad brought our class cupcakes, like you do. The entire class was super excited and that resulted in a resounding round of applause. It's very weird but this year my kids don't cheer for things but instead clap, how very dignified we are. Anyhoo, back to the kid and the cupcakes, he told his Dad "I love you". Well another student overheard this and she replied "yeah, you have to because he's your dad". Me being the super awesome teacher I am totally burst out laughing. My kids crack me up. I think that's honestly one of the best parts of being a teacher is all the funny things they say. I love my job!

a hodge podge of stuff

First of all, my throat hurts. So not cool. I think it's a combo of my allergies, thanks houston and all the dust from packing my apartment up. That's right I'm moving next weekend so much of this weekend has been spent packing box upon box of stuff. I can't believe I have so much stuff, where did it all come from? Guess that doesnt matter now as I still have to pack it up. On top of that I'm so lucky as to have to write a paper that is due Monday. What great timing. I have yet to start on the paper being the great procrastinator that I am. So now i have to write it today, while my throat hurts and amidst more packing. Oh well once it's done it's done and then I dont have to worry about it anymore. One more check on my to do list. This picture also has nothing to do with anything really but this is my last week to live with Aerin so I figured I'd post a lil blast from the past!

The exploding meatballs

All of those of you who know me well know that I am not a cook. This is mostly by choice as I figured that I didnt want any guy to marry me just because I'm a good cook, so far the plan is working better than I expected. However, I do have to eat and since I dont live with my parents or my Grama anymore that basically means I have to cook. I'm actually getting better at it, a point which this story will not illustrate. The other day I decided that I would make this meatball bake thingie that I found in my weight watchers recipe book. Now I have made this before and it was successful, even Aerin said it tasted good. So I thought all right I can do this. So I started off and everything was going splendidly. That is until the meatball incident. I had to cook some meatballs in the oven so I put them in a pyrex casserole dish and put them in the oven. When the time was up I pulled them out and set the dish on the burners on the stove. I started scooping the meatballs out onto a plate because I needed to cook more in the dish. That's when it happened, right there mid meatball scoop the entire pyrex glass dish exploded....yeah thats right EXPLODED! I'm amazed that i didnt pee my pants. Glass and meatballs were everywhere, then it occurred to me that I had forgotten to turn the burner off on the stove after I finished cooking the pasta, thus creating the exploding meatball dish. Needless to say the meatballs had to be thrown away, I dont think glass is a good suprise to find in your meatball. I then had to clean all the glass up. I'm really lucky that i didnt get impaled by a flying shard of glass or my eye poked out by a flying meatball. So dear readers, take this to heart and be very careful when you're making meatballs, cause you never know when one might EXPLODE, or at least the dish they are in.

Just one of those days

Today was actually going pretty well until my assistant principal decided that I needed to attend a meeting with her, the pre-k lead teacher and two early childhood ladies from the district. I'm so annoyed at what happened I'm not even sure where to start. Basically what it boils down to is my assistant principal threw all of us under the bus, just in a effort to make herself look good. She also spent the entire meeting repeating how great she was at early childhood and how she knew so much about it blah blah blah. There are so many things that I wish I would have said to her. I also hate that people from the district who arent even teachers anymore come into our school and judge us and tell us what we're doing wrong. Well if they did it so right y arent they still in the classroom? And what gives them the right to come in and judge us when in fact they dont know me, my kids or my school. All they know is what should happen in a perfect world and this is anything but close to perfect. I also think its funny how the assistant principal acts like we're doing everything wrong and she knows how to do it the right way but has she ever come into my room and tried to help me???? No, because she has too many administrative duties to perform like taking down signs she taped to the wall or making bulletin boards with stars. Sometimes people just make me want to scream. SO AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The first day of school

Yesterday was the first day of school for our kiddos which in turn means it was also my first day of school. The beginning of a new school year is always bittersweet. You're excited about the new year and all the possibilities. I get really pumped about being a really good teacher and all the cool things I'm gonna do to make my students successful. Then there's the other side, no more lazy days, no more sleeping in, no more lack of responsibility and well honestly being a teacher is just plain exhausting. So yesterday I embarked on another kindergarten journey with a brand new set of kids. Most of them I know from last year in Pre-K and a few are new. I always forget how hard it is at the beginning of the year. The kids are young, they cry, the parents cry, they dont know how to do anything and I mean anything. The kids who were in pre-k last year apparently regressed during the summer because these kids couldnt even walk in a line. So now I have to start all over again and work super hard so that I can get them trained so we can actually begin learning. I'm sure some people think its weird to refer to training my kids but seriously they have to be taught what to do when they finish their work, how to walk in a line, how to go to the bathroom, etc.... and until thats all in place I can't even begin to teach them anything about letters or numbers or learning. I guess if I've made it this many years in kinder though I can make it through one more beginning of the kindergarten year.

Dear Spain

Dear Spain,
I miss you. I'm very sad that I left you. I wish I could visit more often but you're just so far away. Maybe you could relocate a little closer? I'm sure lot's of people tell u that they miss you but I guarantee its nothing like me. I miss your sun. I miss your people. I miss the people who come to visit you too. I miss your crazy hours and chinese shops. I miss your tapas and sangria. I miss your clubs and fiestas. I miss your bocadillos that are oh so delicious when drunk. I miss your language. I miss trying to understand your language. I dream about you all the time. I can't wait to see you again.
Love,
Juli

I heart school supplies

Alas summer has officially ended, :(. I was sad to have to leave Spain and all my E.S. friends. Things Ill miss the most about summer are Spain, the swimming pool, sleeping late, being lazy, and traveling. However, with the end of summer comes a new school year and yes I am a dork and still get super excited about the beginning of the school year. When I was in school, wait I still am in school, but before I became a teacher, I loved this time of year. All the new supplies and clothes and just the general excitement. New classes, teachers, friends, old friends, teachers and classes, it was all so exciting. Now I can't wait to meet my new students, buy new school supplies, and new clothes. I even like putting my classroom back together, except for the bulletin boards. The one thing that I really dislike about a new school year other than having to wake up early is having to put up bulletin boards. BIG FAT PAIN in my butt!

Today is a normal day except.....

Wednesday July 1, 2009

Today was a normal day. Abi keeps asking me if I'm okay so I must not look well or something. We had music today in the hallway because it started raining then hailing. Then it started flooding. It was an absolute disaster, I really wanted to bang my head against the wall. I dont know how Claire and Siobhan do it. Some of us snuck out tonight while everyone else was at the party. Asheigh, Siobhan, Rach, Miaka, Claire and I walked to town. Our first stop was Casino, which is really big and nice. They had a drink special that ended up tasting like a melted sucker. I dont think it even had alcohol in it. However, on the upside they had nice bathrooms. After that we headed to Central. There was a really drunk lady and she molested Siobhan. After Siobhan and Rach got their drinks, Ash and I tried to get a drink but the guy ignored us for a while. Not cool! Everntually we did get drinks.
We hung out in Central for a while then headed to Plastico. Some of the monitors were in Plastico. Nacho was there and he told me I was the best in the world, I'm pretty sure he was drunk but ill take the compliment.
At one point we went to the bathroom only to find a guy using the toilet. It was this very drunk gay guy. Apparently he was upset with me because, well to be honest I'm not really sure what the hell he was talking about. But, he did tell us he was bery bery gay, as if we had any doubts. Another guy also informed us that he liked cheeky y cheeky.
Eventually we escaped the bathroom and headed to Katsura. It was pretty empty but we had a good time dancing on the stage in the middle of the dance floor. Eventually I got tired and decided to leave on my own. As I was walking back I was very tired, I came to a bench and thought about taking a nap on it but then I was worried the police would find me and I'd be deported, so I kept walking.

Row row row your boat gently in a cirlce

Today once class was finished some of us decided to head to the lake. The lake is really nice and you can rent row boats and row around it. It's not a very big lake so the rowing didnt seem like it would be that difficult. If you know how to row I'm sure it's super easy if you dont though it seems u spend the majority of the time laughing and going in circles. Nicola, Claire and I had a boat together and I had claimed to be an expert boater and proclaimed myself the president of the boating club. I also invented the club thats why I got to be the president. The lady that was renting the boats explained to us how to work the oars but it's not as easy as it looks. The other teachers in the other boats didnt seem to be having near as many probs as we were. We even managed to crash into this little island thingie. It was alot of fun though and eventually Claire busted out with some mad rowing skills and got us back to shore safely.

Friday June 26, 2009

Okay I'm going to try and copy some actual enteries from my journal here so that those of you who enjoy journal time can experience some of the actual stuff. However, that does require that I back track.

Today we almost died, that might be a slight exaggeration but we could've. Simon drove us down to L'Esplugai to catch the train and of course we left late. Simon tried to make up for this by turning the van into a race car. So not cool. The bus ride to Cerdanya was so so so long. I feel like we're in the middle of nowhere. It is very pretty though. When we got here we saw Nacho first. Then I got to see Carlos and the first thing he does is make fun of my suitcase. Nicola and I are sharing a room with 4 other girls. They all seem nice. It's kind of surreal being here. It's like I'm at E.S. but I'm not. We had a meeting and afterwards we had to play games with the monitors. But this one game we played was we had to put an orange between our foreheads and then dance without dropping the orange. Now I'm already not in a good place self-esteem wise but this really didnt help. I got paired with an M.P. who looked much younger than me. He also didn't talk much so we just stood around awkwardly with me trying to make small talk. It also didnt help that I felt super gross from all the traveling. After the games we went out. We started at a bar actually correct that we started by getting lost and walking in a big circle. We finally made it to the bar. We had a couple of drinks there then headed to Plastico, which for some reason always makes me think of Barbie. It was smaller than Cuatro but more people were there and I didnt notice as many rat tails. It was a good drunken night. Nacho and Carlos kept chanting "mon" every time they saw me. I kept telling them this is a new year. On the way home I was walking with Carlos. We had a nice drunken conversation about Prades and Mon and english and spanish. I heart Carlos.

Prades vs. Cerdanya

It's the blog you've all been waiting for a comparison of Prades and Cerdanya.

Good things about Prades
1. Everything is all in one place.
2. We get our own staff room with a refrigerator and couches.
3. Its only an hour from Tarragona.
4. Its cheap.
5. Lots of places to go to get away from people.
6. The scenery.
7. Port aventura day which means no teaching and going to the beach.
8. Cava Festival
9. trips to L'Esplugai and Xenon
10. Lots of excercise.
11. You can do your own laundry.

Good things about Cerdanya
1. Internet in our rooms
2. Nicer rooms
3. Tvs in our rooms
4. Town is only 10 minutes away
5. Selection of bars, stores, clubs and restaraunts.
6. The scenery
7. Crossaints every morning for breakfast
8. Clean towels every other day.
9. The pool is normal temperature.
10. Coke machine in the lobby
11. Some else washes and folds your clothes for you.


So all in all they're both good. I really am enjoying Cerdanya for all the reasons listed above as well as all the people here. I think thats what really makes a place is your company. I dont know if ill come back to Cerdanya next year. I like it but I feel like Prades is my home. Guess we'll see next year.

ooops has it been that long????

Okay so I've been a shit blogger lately but actually I've been a shit journaler as well. After Sitges we headed to Prades where I got to stay on camp despite my illegal status. But since I am an illegal I got to stay upstairs in the directors apartment. Its actually pretty cool and I've always wanted to see what it looked like well this time I got to sleep there. Prades was much the same. It was good to see the familar faces and places though. I am sad that Ill be missing Cava Fest but I guess it just wasnt meant to be. More to come later as I have to get ready for english activities now.

San .....oh no watch out!

In the past three years that I have been coming to Spain I have yet to celebrate San Joan, well this year was the exception. Nicola and I had safely arrived in Barcelona the day before and traveled to Sitges which is where Rachael lives. Sitges was going to have fireworks at the plaza, pronounced platha, for those of you who have never been here. We of course came prepared for a night of drinking because well thats just what u do. We went to the store and got wait for it wait for it, sangria in a box. Yes, folks it does exist and it´s delicious. It´s smaller than the boxes of wine in the states but big enough to help you have a good night. The only thing missing is a large straw, think large alcoholic juice box. We headed to the plaza with some of Rachaels friends and a box of sangria for us each.

The night´s festivities were to begin with a fireworks display. Now I´m all for a good fireworks display but this wasnt just a display it was like being in a war complete with shrapnel, smoke and burning ash floating down from the sky. It was crazy. Rachael´s friend actually got hit with some shrapnel and I was on the lookout for any burning ash looking for a place to land. The fireworks were cool looking but by the time it was over, we were all a bit tired of being ready to duck and cover.

After the war was over we decided to head to a local gay bar, which by the way Sitges is super gay, literally. The bar was super packed and the bartender was so cute. It was so sad. I mean here´s this super hot guy who I could dance around naked in front of and he wouldnt so much as flinch. I spent most of the night trying to devise ways to turn him straight. I never came up with a really good plan and it´s prob better because we hung out with him at the beach the next day and that could´ve been awkward.

One day I might get the hang of this

So on Wed. I boarded a plane and left for Ireland. Well for some reason I can't travel anywhere without some kind of ridiculousness happening. The flight was from Houston to London and took 9 hours, nothing really exciting happened except for the part where I thought we were gonna die. We hit alot of turbulence and all I could think of was the Air France flight, obviously we survived it. We get to London and I have to make my way through the airport so I can get on my plane to Ireland.
First I had to go through customs and through security again, which I dont get because I never left the airport. So I hand the lady my landing card and passport and then the grand inquisition begins. Now I do the same thing every summer but I have never been interrogated to this extent. She asked me the most random questions after asking where I was going then she asked me my friend in Irelands name and how I met him and where he lived and if he had a job and where was his job. Then she proceeded to scold me because I didnt have a copy of my itinerary that showed when I would be returning to the states. Reluctantly she let me through. Then I had to go stand in this other really long line. After a while I realized that I was gonna miss my flight to Ireland. So I went to the front and told the one person working this. Well she informed me that my flight had already closed and I would have to fly standby. She told me to go to gate 86 and talk to them. Well with her accent I heard gate 6, luckily the lady was really nice at gate 6 and sent me on my merry way. Once I got to the gates that were in the 80s I randomly walked past one and the man asked for passenger Todd, I was so excited I was practically yelling, "thats me". I boarded the plane and of course I was the last one.
Once we got to Dublin I really had to go to the bathroom so I went and all of the sudden I have a bloody nose. So I stay in the stall until it stops bleeding. Once I leave i keep sniffing and wiping at my nose so Im sure everyone was thinking I had just snorted some coke in the stall.
Next task was to get the bus to Belfast. Somehow I managed this without incident. Once I got off the bus though that was a different story. I had arrived at the city center and I was supposed to be at a hotel, well I didnt know where it was and by this point I hadnt slept in 24hours so I figured Id just call Richard and let him know. Well then I couldnt get his phone number to work, I tried all kinds of combinations, it just plain didnt work so I tried sending a text. After that all I could do was wait and hope Richard found me. Which amazingly he did, so I have to assume that he realized what an incompetent traveler I am, but then again he has heard about my adventures to Spain before.

Summer's Here!

For those of you who live in Texas you are well aware that summer has arrived. I think we all knew it about a month ago. For those of you who live in cooler places, you might still be waiting. School is also out which also marks the beginning of my summer. School has actually been out for a couple weeks now but I'm a lazy blogger, so I now will attempt to fill u in on all the exciting adventures in between.

The night of the last day of school I flew to San Diego. My Dad was out there visiting my brother and me coming was supposed to be a suprise but apparently my brother got drunk and told my dad. Lesson: don't trust drunks.

We had a suprise party for my Dad on Saturday and it really was a suprise, apparently my brother can keep some secrets when he's drunk. It was super fun and my Dad was totally suprised so that was really cool. After the party we went out in downtown San Diego. The bar that we went to seemed like it was a cool place but I couldnt confirm that because as soon as we got there I threw up in my hand. I know gross. So my Dad and I got a cab back to my bro's place, my Dad felt the need to inform the cab driver that I had just thrown up. I, however, didnt think this needed to be shared. When we got back to my bro's my Dad let a random cat into the house. Now I know my Dad was drunk because he doesnt like cats. So I had to get the cat out by luring it out the door with a hot dog. My Dad was not happy about this and informed me that the cat was his friend, again proof that he was a lil intoxicated.

The rest of the time in San Diego was pretty normal. I got to hang out with my BFF Josh and we had alot of bff fun moments.

Since returning home, I have been to a Chuck E Cheese bday party, had Rachel (Carmela's 4 yr old daughter) spend the night, decided that being a parent is crazy hard, taken naps, visited summer school, gone to College Station for Ninfaritas, gone to a dance recital and tonight we are grilling steaks.

Tomorrow I leave for Ireland, thus marking the true beginning of my crazy summer. Stay tuned throughout the summer for crazy stories about Europe.

Master of the Universe well at least education

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with getting or having a Master's although I guess u could day having more degrees doesnt make me anymore serious.

Last Satruday I graduated. I finally did it! YAY! I now officially have a Master's degree in Education. It's kind of funny because I didnt even really want to go to the ceremony but my Mom convinced me to and I'm glad I did. There's something exciting about hearing your name and walking across the stage and getting handed a diploma (or tube in this case), while your friends and family cheer for you. Don't get me wrong the rest of the time is insanely boring and I'm super glad that I brought my phone so I could text and play tetris. I asked the girl next to me what people did at graduations before cell phones. Afterwards we had a party at my Grama's and we all know that i love a good party especially when it's in my honor. So all in all the hard word has defintely paid off and I havent even gotten a pay raise yet....:).

A little too much Cinco de Mayo fun!

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo so of course we had to celebrate. Hata and I never let a holiday go by without a celebration, pretty soon we might start celebrating the really insignificant ones like Presidents day or Columbus day. Actually I think Columbus would like us to celebrate him by drinking probably Ol Abe and George too. Anyhoo, I've become sidetracked. The original plan was that Hope was going to come to my apt. at 7:30 and then we were gonna meet the Tuesday night drinking club at the Armadillo Palace. Which I realize that it seems kind of silly to celebrate a Mexican Holiday at a country bar but thats how we roll, i guess. :0
Of course my life being mine things would not work out this simply for me. After school I get into my car and lo and behold that air conditioner is not working so I have to drive to Alvin to once again drop my car off and get a rental. So now I'm driving a Chevy Malibu. By the time I got home I was definitely ready to drink and drink i did. I had alot of fun I dont really know about anyone else. We tried to go dancing at the Roxy but it was empty and we didnt want to be the only people in there dancing, actually i was so drunk i prob wouldnt have cared but Hope wasnt so i dont think she was down.
We ended the night at a random Mexican restaraunt so I guess in the end we did end up eating Mexican food. So this morning when I woke up I was still drunk so I had to call into work cause I wanted to keep my job and also not get on the news as the drunk kindergarten teacher.

Bored Bored Bored

It's so sad cause there's a million and one things I could be doing right now but I dont feel like doing those things. So instead I'm sitting here watching t.v. and playing on the internet and I'm still super duper bored. I can't think of anything entertaining to do. I hate boring days especially because I know that really I should be studying for my final. I still have an entire week though so that totally makes sense as to y i'm not studying. Ugh! I hate boring days!

New Orleans

I have come to decide that New Orleans seems to be a bitter sweet place for me. While I have only been there twice both times have been marked by fun things and not so fun things. This time the fun things were of course Bourbon street, Frenchman street, getting to hang out with my mom, steve, casey and company, good food, lots of sleep, the crazy religious guy and the fancy Arby's. The not so good things, my car broke and I had alot of heartburn. Now I realize the fun list vastly outweights the not so fun list but my new car breaking is worth alot of points not enough to ruin the trip but definitely enough to make me think that New Orleans just plain doesnt like me. There's really only one way to test out this theory though and that's to return. :)

Why does stuff always break?

So this week I think I have broken, well maybe not broken but injured my finger at boot camp. I'm pretty sure it's from doing push ups, I know crazy but it really happened. Then today I sat down to try and create super awesome playlists for the road trip to New Orleans and alas my ipod has broken. I can't get it to do anything. I can't even get the computer to recognize that it's connected. This wouldnt be then end of the world if my nano wasn't missing. So now i pretty much have a $300 paper weight. Awesome! I know that i could just make mix c.d.s for the road trip but that just feels so "old". Plus I've spent so much time trying to figure out how to restore my ipod that now I dont really have time to make c.d.s. AAAAAAAAARGH! Maybe tomorrow it'll work again, that would make my life.

Procrastination

I have a presentation, a paper and 2 chapters due by Monday and here I am blogging instead. I've also helped Aerin rake all the leaves off the porch, made chicken posole, cooked and omelet, sent some facebook messages and played Wii fit for 30 minutes. I actually have the presentation almost done and well the reading I just can't get into. The paper is the real problem because I have to write a lit review about Asperger's syndrome and what interventions i would do for someone with it. I have some research done but my prof is a nun and half the time i feel retarded cause everyone else in the class seems to know what they're talking about. I feel like half the time I'm guessing and while thus far the guessses have been correct, I'm just waiting for the day when they're not. I have a feeling this paper may be the day. I am also contemplating going to the gym seeing as how I'm actually motivated to, but I have the crock pot on and I dont want to burn my house down. dilemmas dilemmas

look at me go!

This morning I got up at 4:30 a.m and worked out. I only walked one mile on the treadmill but thats better than nothing, plus i think i was a lil wore out from last nights work out. Then I came home took a shower and decided not to go to work but instead go back to bed. oops! Okay Ill have to work on that part of the plan. However, yesterday as I was standing in the gym changing room I saw myself in my to small TAMU surf club t-shirt and yoga pants and well honestly i was disgusted. I looked horrible. I don't mean that in a way that i have bad self esteem and think i'm ugly and etc etc but more in a way that I dont want to look or feel this way anymore. Its funny cause really its simple to take care, eat better and workout so I shouldnt have any excuses and really I want to be able to look in a mirror again and be proud of the hard work I put in and what i accomplished. It's really funny, but I work so hard at other things in my life, so why do i let my health slip by the wayside, I mean really if I'm not healthy then being a teacher and getting a Master's degree and traveling won't matter. I think it's time I put things in perspective.
Also I have become quite the lil chef boyardee. I have been cooking lately and I have discovered 2 things. 1. I actually enjoy it. 2. People actually eat it and don't complain, I have yet to put scallops in anything though. :)

The gym and armadillos

So today I was determined to go to the gym. I mean really determined. The first problem I encountered was that I had about a million things I needed to do after school. I wasn't so sure about going to the gym and being able to complete all these other tasks. Then I found out that our assistant principal observed one of the other teachers this morning. Thus, I could be next, which means I really needed to stay after school just to make sure that everything was in order. However, logic prevailed and I decided that I wouldnt make a very good teacher if i died from being fat. Then I didnt think I had socks, this happened one other time and I worked out without socks, which i dont recommend. I decide to just suck that one up. I get to the gym and go to put my shoes into my bag when I realize that i didnt bring a shirt to work out in. So I was all set to leave when I remembered that I had a tshirt in my trunk. So I finally made it to the gym, except I looked really bad in my workout outfit and felt super fat, but I figured if anyone looked at me I could say "well at least I'm at the gym".
Once I was at the gym, I did my usual 28 minute workout on the eliptical. Then I had planned on walking on the treadmill for at least a mile. Christina and I are doing this Armadillo dash thing at the end of Feb. and I havent trained at all. So I thought after doing the eliptical it would be wise to walk at least a mile to see me how long 3 miles would take. Well that plan sucked. I was on there for .12 miles when I decided i just couldnt do anymore. I was pooped. So now I'm kind of worried. I see alot of dead armadillos on the side of the road and all i can picture at this point is me looking like one of those armadillos on the side of the road passed out from the fatigue of walking one mile. Well maybe they'll put my pic in the paper. :)

Me vs. PTO Lady

So our PTO president sits in front of the office at our school everyday making sure that visitors check into the office, students shirts are tucked in, gossiping and selling delicious treats. Now, don't get me wrong the PTO lady has been very nice to me over the years, coloring, cutting, glueing etc.... however, I think she might be trying to sabotage me. Why oh Why must she sell chocolate bars with almonds and peanut m&m's. Seriously as if all the other things in life weren't tempting enough. So today I caved and I bought a chocolate bar with almonds and I ate it, and it was good. But, what sucks is this morning I made myself get out of bed just so I could play Wii fit for 15 minutes. I did a body test and I have lost 1.5 lbs. since last Wed. and my Wii age is now down to 31, so I am making progress but I have to learn to resist the chocolate bar. So tomorrow, I'm not taking money to school, cause she doesnt take credit cards and I'm taking sugar free chocolate pudding so in case I get a chocolate craving I am prepared. I just have to remember to keep pluggin away.

Random stuff

1. We went to happy hour at Howl at the Moon friday and it was a BLAST! There was piano bar and these awesome jello shots in syringes....reminds me of a Halloween party.
2. After Happy Hour we went to Whataburger, I got a patty melt. I dont even like patty melts, it was the pic I couldnt resist it, but now I know better.
3. Becky is borrowing some of my clothes for her cruise. So in an effort to help her find some cute clothes, I pulled all kinds of clothes out of my closet for her to try on and u know what it made me sad, not cause Becky can fit in them, I'm super proud of her for working hard, but sad for myself. I have an insane amount of really cute clothes that I can't wear. That is really annoying so I'm going to try and use that as another way to motivate myself to workout and eat right.
4. Wii fit is AWESOME! I love it and everyday I play a different game and I havent played all of them but it is AMAZING! YAY WII!!!!!!!!!!

The Before

The pic on my profile is the pic right before I flew to New Orleans. I mean literally Christina and I were in a restaurant in IAH, eating before our flight. Well look how that all turned out. Please don't tell me I'll find someone better or it just wasn't meant to be or he's an idiot because none of it matters now. All i feel is broken, and its been 2 months, so how pathetic am I? Please don't say it takes time because this time it just doesnt feel like it. I know I'll never get an answer but y? Y me? Y do I have to keep dealing with this? What did I ever do to deserve it? I know I know....nothing it's not me, but y do everyday freakin day I wake up and he's the first thing I think about, the person I think about all day, and the person I think about before i go to sleep. Y does it hurt so much and y can't i just be done? Please don't answer because i can't handle anymore "you're better than him" or "he's an idiot" or

Seriously people

Okay, I know we're all busy and have other things going on but, I'm beginning to feel like I'm the only one on here. Which if y'all dont want to do it thats fine just let me know. The thing is though it seems that fear is holding you back. I realize that weight loss is not an easy thing and u may suck at it, but maybe just maybe if u start writing about those things then you'll be more motivated. Not everyday is gonna be a good day filled with smart choices and excercise. But the whole point behind this was being honest with ourselves and the best way to do that is being honest with ur friends, cause they'll call u out.
I am honestly tired of being fat, it makes me angry and want to scream. I know y'all are too because u always tell me that. Well now is the time friends to do something about it. Even if its in small, miniscule baby steps. Even if u only have the courage to write about doing the laundry at least thats a start. So are ya with me???????

Wii Fit, Cotton candy and too much spaghetti

I'm sure ur wondering how all of those things are related well there not except that I need to talk about each one. Sunday I bought a Wii fit and I'm super excited about this, not just excited but super excited. Yesterday after the nine hour hike through the biggest park known to man kind and after my nap, I decided to try it out. The first thing u have to do is create ur mii and then u have to take a body fit test. It gives u ur BMI and weight and then tells u about ur posture. Well apparently I'm obese and my wii fit age is 40. Not only does it tell me all this, it makes my character fatter and then points out that there is a difference of 13 years between me and my wii age. However, I started playing it and it's pretty fun, especially when I do really well at something like trying to hit soccer balls with my head, its alot harder than u think. Anyhoo, it can save all ur info so u can track all ur weight loss and stuff.

Next topic, cotton candy. So today, I made it to the gym which is a feat but I did it. I spent 33 minutes on the eliptical working my lil heart out. So everything was going normal when again I smelled cotton candy. It wasn't nearly as strong this time and it didnt last as long but I got a whiff of it. This is becoming a mystery and I like to pride myself in my ability to decipher clues and act like Nancy Drew. Therefore, I am going to solve it even if I have to go to the gym all the time. :)

Last topic, too much spaghetti. I made wheat pasta with spaghetti sauce. It was really good but I ate too much. I should have measured it out but I didnt so now I feel like I'm pregnant with a spaghetti baby. I guess it could be worse though, it could be a real baby. AHHHHH!

That is one BIG park

So today I found myself headed to Memorial Park with Aerin and Hope to get some excercise, sun and fresh air. I had visions of a leisurely stroll through the park complete with laughter and maybe a pretzel from a local vendor. Oh what a wonderous walk it would be. Yeah right! First of all the park is gigantic and we walked around the whole thing. Also it was not a leisurely stroll, aerin and Hope walk fast. Then to top it off my butt started hurting only on one side. There were also no pretzel vendors, alas my illusion was shattered. However, it actually turned out to be alot of fun and definitely good excercise. Eventually my butt stopped hurting and we walked a long way and got some good excercise in and some laughs. It also was a beautiful day outside and I got some much needed sun. I did have to come home and take a nap but I'll get better as we do it more.

Exciting Healthy stuff I found on the internet

I know I just blogged but I really like blogging and have nothing better to do than talk about myself. Anyhoo, I found some coupons on the internet for yoplait yogurt which I really like to eat. Also I found this thing on the biggest loser web site where u can pledge to lose so many lbs within a certain time frame and they'll donate 1lb. of food to a food bank for every pound u lose. I think thats awesome! I mean I never thought my weight loss could benefit anyone else but me, but look now I get to help those in need as well as myself. Its also gonna make me more motivated because i really want to be able to say that i did my part and lost the weight i said i would so that food banks can get free food. Anwyays here's the links to the yogurt coupons and the biggest loser. http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=rijmaef42416591&bt=wi&o=53504&ci=1&c=YL&p=f06aZDdM yogurt
http://pfpchallenge.com/AboutPFP.aspx biggest loser pound for pound challenge

Just call me yogi

Friday morning I was able to wake up, take a shower, and get to school at 5:30 a.m. At 6 a.m. we have a yoga class taught by our math lab teacher. This is only the second time we've had it as it is only on Fridays but each time I've been I really liked it. Afterwards I always feel really refreshed and calm, I also have alot of energy which is always good on a Friday, well any day in Kindergarten really. But, the feeling lasts all day, at the end of the day, I was tired but not the usual exhausted man i need a nap way. So I really like taking yoga at 6 am, yes its really early but the way I feel the rest of the day is totally worth it. We also learn how to breathe throughout the day to calm ourselves which is a really good technique especially when dealing with small children or retarded adults. Its also a good workout cause alot of the stuff is kind of hard but as I do it more I'm sure ill get more flexible and who doesnt want to be bendy? Anyways, if u havent tried yoga i totally recommend it cause i really like it.

Well I sort of did better

Today I did not want to go to the gym. However, I overcame that and made myself go. I spent 32 minutes on the eliptical which means I completed the whole weight loss program as well as a 5 minute cool down. Funny thing happened while I was working out. I was right in the middle of my workout when all of the sudden I smelled cotton candy. I looked around but nothing had changed no one had walked by or anything. However, the smell was super intense. I really wanted cotton candy, I almost stuck my tongue out in hopes of gettin some of the sweet deliciousness on my tongue, however, reason prevailed and i kept my tongue in my mouth. I knew that I couldnt be the only fat kid in the room who had noticed the intoxicating smell so I looked around at my fellow gym goers and none seemed phased by this mouth watering scent. Then I thought maybe I'm about to pass out and that's what I'll smell right before I enter unconciousness, kind of like people who have seizures and taste copper in their mouth. But, alas I did not pass out. I'm still not sure where the smell came from but I'm beginning to expect that the gym might be pumping cotton candy into the air vents just to torment me.
On the downside of the day, I have yet to go to my WW meeting. I need a buddy to go with me cause I'm like afraid to go by myself for some reason. I think I'm kind of embarassed since I had done so well and now I'm fat again. Whoa is me!

Not so good at this

So right now I am supposed to be at the gym working out. Instead I am sitting at home playing on my computer. I should have gone to the gym but I was just not motivated. I had to stay at work until 4:30 because i had student council and the gym is so crowded at 5. These are all lame excuses but nontheless im still sitting here and not at the gym. Well tomorrow is a new day right?

The Dangers of Grama B.'s house

Last night I went to my Grama B's house to give her her Christmas present as well as get mine. She had told me not to eat and I figured we would be going out to eat seeing as how thats what we always do. Well I was wrong. When I got to her house I found that she had cooked enough food for an army and it was only me, her and Ben eating. Not only had she cooked a ton it was Mexican food, needless to say she didnt try to incorporate any WW recipes into it. She made chicken enchiladas, beans, tamales, guacamole salad and chips with queso. I couldnt not eat I mean she made it for me and to be quiet honest I have been a crappy grandaughter lately so I was feelin guilty about that. Okay so next plan of action portion control. Well until she made my plate. So I ate 3 tamales, 1 chicken enchilada, guacamole salad with queso and chips mixed in. It might not be as bad as I'm making it sound but it wasn't exactly what i had been planning. Then for desert, yes theres always desert, chocolate eclairs. I'm not a big fan of chocolate eclairs but then I felt bad because she bought them just for me so heres the guilt thing again. So I have 3/4 of one. I think next time I'll offer to pay for us to go out just to avoid all this. I also skipped going to the gym because I went to her house after work and i thought we were going out to eat so i didnt want to show up stinky from the gym and i wasnt going to go afterwards, because I didnt want to revisit my dinner. So today after Student Council I'm definitely going to the gym and tryin to work off some off that dinner.

I finally did it!

I actually got out of bed this morning and worked out. Then to top it off, I went to the gym after work and worked out some more. Although I did make a discovery at the gym. I accidentally glanced at my side profile and discovered that apparently I also have boobs on my back, how gross is that. Although I think it was this discovery that gave me the drive to spend 26 minutes on the eliptical even when I wanted to give up. But, now I'm really really tired so I think I'm going to go to bed and hopefully in the morning I'll be able to get up and do it all again.

My Besties

I know this is supposed to be my blog about losing weight but really being healthy is my life so I think there's gonna be some random posts that don't directly discuss my weight loss journey. Now that I say that I'm wondering who I'm tryin to justify this too anyways. lol! Okay but this post is about my two bestest friends in the whole wide entire world. Everyone always used to tell me that u can't have 2 bestfriends, but I think it's just cause they were jealous that they didnt have 2 bestfriends. I feel super duper blessed to have both Carmela and Christina in my life. We have all been through some crazy stuff together but at the end of the day I know that they're always there for me. So to u two crazy ladies, I love you and thank you for always havin my back even when I may not have deserved it. May the triad live long and prosper and get healthier. :)

The time I skipped Weight Watchers

Okay so I was supposed to go to my WW meeting tonight. This was supposed to be my first meeting back and well obviously i punked out. Instead I'm at home drinking wine and playing Wii. I guess i didnt go because I'm insanely tired, not really sure y just feeling rather sluggish. I've also been in a funk the past couple days. I think part of it has to do with the fact that the holidays are over and i had to return to work. Don't get me wrong I love my kiddos but I'm not such a fan of the getting up early thing. 5:30 comes much quicker than one would think. I think the other part of me skipping was I am afraid of the number on the scale. It's gonna be alot and even though I havent seen it I'm a bit overwhelmed by it. I have to get over this because I will go to WW because I know that program works and I really am tired of being fat. So next Thursday, no excuses.

My latest discoveries

First of all I would like to document my progress on this crazy weightloss, healthy living adventure. It hasn't been going exactly as planned. Although I will admit I haven't done completely horribly either. Today I actually passed up a delicious piece of cake. At first it wasn't that hard but then my coworker who was sitting next to me decided she needed a second piece and the entire time all I could do was smell the sweet, sweet frosting. I think it might have been calling my name. It took all the strength I had not to reach over and swipe a huge mound of frosting onto my finger and plop it into my mouth. So the healthy eating thus far is going mediocre. The workout part has been just plain dismal. I haven't worked out once, unless u count the 30 minutes of Wii I played slightly drunk from wine. Well i guess excercise is excercise even if you are buzzing.
Now onto my discoveries. 1. I don't know what people do at night. I mean I cooked dinner ate it, called a few people and then was at a loss. I contemplated going to bed but even I think 7 pm is a bit early. So I just watched t.v. all the while trying to create little projects in my mind for myself to pursue. 2. Apparently during my first year teaching I would work out after work, so maybe that should be my new nightly event. 3. I left my fake mustaches in Carmela's mom mobile. I actually discovered this a while ago but I actually told her tonight. I like the idea of fake mustaches because we can have fake cigars and talk like we're living in the 1920's. We can also use the word "speak easy" which is almost as great as the term " day drunk".

The Wii said I'm old

So the best thing ever happened on Saturday, I found a Wii at Target and bought it. Needless to say i have been playing the crap out of it since and my upper body is pretty tired. My right arm is so tired that it feels dead. However, when I was playing Wii sports, I discovered there's a section where you can test your skills in tennis, bowling, and baseball. Then the Wii tells you your Wii age based upon your score. I know that I am so not in shape but I'm generally pretty good at sports, especially baseball and tennis so I figured I wouldnt do too bad. I was wrong! Apparently according to the Wii I am 38. That's 11 years older than my actual age. How depressing, but now I'm super determined to prove the Wii wrong and make it tell me I'm 10 years younger than I really am. So I'm gonna practice all the time and then kick the Wii's butt. Yep, thats what I'ma gonna do.

Workout? That means excercise, right?

So no grand get healthy plan can really be lacking an excercise plan. Well, I guess technically it could but I think excercise gives you better results, besides I don't want to have the jiggly fat arm thing going on. At Thanksgiving my Mom felt it necessary to pinch that part of my arm and then it dawned on me it could be hazardous to have all that hangy fat there. Think about it what if I was jumping into an elevator at the last second and my arm fat got caught in the door. Then firemen had to come rescue me and they all of course would be hot and there I would be with my arm fat stuck in a door, not a good way to meet hot firemen. Thus, the arm fat must go along with it's friends, belly blubber, double chin, back fat (the worst), and jiggly butt.
Here's my plan, well at least for this week: I'm gonna start following the 2009 Ultimate Fitness Plan, I found it in Women's Health. This is the link http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/ultimate-fitness-plan-2009 or you can buy the magazine.
The things I like about this workout is that it provides excercise for toning, losing fat, and building muscle. Also most of it can be done at home. It also has you start out with tests so that you can track your progress every four weeks, I think this in addition to the number on the scale will hopefully keep me motivated even when the scale might not be moving.
This week I'm also going to set a goal of playing Wii tennis three times during the week. Say good bye to Jiggly Juli.

Now what do i do?

Okay, so now that I have stated what made me fat, I need a plan to get unfat (I realize thats not a word). So I have several strategies that I am going to attempt to try. The first, having to do with food. I am a big advocate of Weight Watchers, primarily because it works for me and has been the best way I have found to eating healthy. So Thursday night at 7:00pm I am going to return to my WW meetings. This means that I'll be writing down everything I eat, tracking points and trying to meet the five daily guidelines.
One of the guidelines is to drink a minimum of 48 oz. of water a day, this one is hard for me. Mostly because I'm a teacher so I can't just go to the bathroom whenever I want, so its hard to drink alot of water throughout the day because then I'll have to go to the bathroom and you can't really tell a roomful of Kindergarteners to hold on while i take a bathroom break. So my plan is to wake up in the morning and start drinking water while im gettin ready, if I force myself I can get a glass down. Then I need to drink a bottle between 9:45am and 11:15 am. My planning starts at 11:15 so I can go to the bathroom. Then if I steadily drink another bottle between 12 and 3, this will put me up to 40 oz. Then after school I'll drink another bottle which will put me at 56 oz. total for the day, I think this plan is plausible so I'll start with that.
The next guideline that is hard is getting five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I literally have to force myself to eat them, not because i dont like them but because i tend to rather eat other things. So in the morning, I'll eat a piece of fruit. At lunch, Ill have a salad. Snack time, Ill eat another fruit or vegetable. Then for dinner, Ill have salad with another vegetable.
This is just my starter plan, it might not work exactly but it might. I'll start with this plan and then decide if I need to change it or not.

When I woke up.....I was fat!

As the title of this post would suggest in fact one day i did wake up to discover that i was fat. Now I know the f word is a bad word and people who use it to describe themselves probably don't love themselves and are lookin for a compliment, but this was a reality. I didnt stop loving myself, my self-esteem wasn't shot, and I really wasn't lookin for anyone to tell me the opposite. I'm being honest and I think the most important part of this grand undertaking is about being honest with myself and thus I can admit, I am fat. If you want to dress it up and add a medical twist you could say "obese" but thats longer to type.
Thus, I want this first post to be about how this happened, I want to share my story of how I got fat.
Of course growing up I was always struggling with my weight, all throughout elementary and middle school I was always taller than most kids in my grade and I wouldnt say that I was insanely overweight, I always had a little chub goin on. The other factor is that I come from a family with weight issues. Most of my life I have watched my Dad constantly fluctuate. I wasn't too concerned with all of this in elementary school and assumed that one day i would wake up and i wouldnt be chubby anymore. That didn't exactly happen. We ate pretty healthy growing up and I was pretty active, but as i got older i ate more junk and stopped being so active. This however, isn't the point of this blog because i know my history so for now we'll concentrate on the last two years and how i got fat.
I'm not exactly sure at what moment i started gaining weight but I do remember going that by September 2007 I had gained at least 15lbs. I kept trying to recommit to living healthy and exercising and going to Weight Watcher meetings but i just couldn't get into it. Not to mention, I was now on antidepressants, started grad school and had the class from Hell. So it probably would have been a way better idea to hit the gym and workout my stress but instead i just ate everything and anything i wanted to and ignored the fact that my clothes didn't fit.
I spent most of that year attempting to start again and just failing everytime. When I left for Spain in the summer I was almost embarrassed to go because I knew that everyone was going to notice that I had gotten fat. Of course I went though and had an awesome time and lost some weight thanks, to all the walking up and down the mountain. But, as soon as i got home i fell into the same habits, ordering take out, not working out etc... So once again, I hauled my big butt into Weight watchers determined to start again and succeed. The biggest shock was when I stepped on the scale and it said 220lbs., this is the most i have ever weighed in my entire life, so not good. So the first week i lost 3lbs. and then Hurricane Ike came and i just stopped going to meetings. I think I finally began to realize that there was no point to going if I wasn't really into it.
And that brings us to here, today, right now. Where today I can declare that I, Juli Todd, am 27 years old and fat. But, I don't want to be fat anymore so I'm not going to be. I know its not that simple but really it is, because I have always accomplished my goals and why should this be any different.