Can't Sleep Enouzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Okay, I think I need to go to the doctor and the gym. I am exhausted. Doesn't matter how long I sleep. Doesn't matter what I do. I'm tired. I don't know if this is some kind of depression, but I'm tired.

I'm gonna try more regular gym trips (struggle) and more water to see if that helps.

Later.

Sunday, UGH Dishwashing, Double UGH WalMart!

Yep, I had to do both WalMart and dishwashing today. We have a tendency to let the dishes go during the week which can be both annoying and gross. Since my sister is going through student teaching and I'm teaching students with the full endorsement of the State, we are a little bit ragged around the edges.

Although, I am feeling a little bit lazy/silly for not working out after finding out that Mr. Obama works out for about 45 minutes a day, and that's not including the love of his sporting life, basketball. I've got to get better about doing what I'm supposed to do or I'm going to find myself with diabetes. I've reeled myself in a little and am down from several years ago, but I still need to do what I need to do. While at the gym, I was talking with one of the trainer types and she was asking if I did all 4.3 miles at the same rate of speed. I asked if she was asking about intervals and she seemed surprised that I knew. I think I actually said, "I'm fat, but I can run. Yeah, I know about intervals." What a silly thing to say. But I suppose that people who've not been plagued with an insane love of food/eating/burying emotions with tasty treats, think that it's an information problem. Not so here. If it were about information, I'd be in perfect shape. I love reading about nutrition and exercise. The exercise of that information is where I'm lacking.

Okay, I've got to get ready for next week. I'll holla back soon. Have a great Monday!

A Little Warmth Is a Good Thing!

Okay, we've had a heat wave the following couple of days. Yesterday morning, standing out in the parking lot, I had an epiphany. It was over 30 degrees. It was about the first time in about a week. I know there are people in parts north who would be thrilled and probably start sweating if it got over 20. Mild winters are one of the best things about living in the South. I don't know how you guys do it anywhere north of Tennessee do it. Going outside and being slapped in the face by 20ish weather is just astoundingly difficult. (Again, I feel that I must say that if that is my worst problem and I have a warm place to leave out of and go into, my life is AWESOME!)

All that to say, yesterday and today it's been BALMY. Right now, my computer is telling me that it is 63 degrees. How awesome. That's more like the normal winter around here. I'll take some more of THAT.

Let me add this information. I'm currently listening to a local radio station (not Slacker right now) that runs ESPN Radio. The dude was talking about how just as soon as the Steelers (the Pittsburgh variety, of course) won the AFC Championship, people began going out in droves to stores to buy their AFC Champs gear. I have to affirm Pennsylvanians' LOVE for wearing their team gear. When Snoopy and I went during the summer it absolutely amazed me. EVERYBODY, men, women, and children, were wearing Steelers or, but usually and, Penn State garb. I thought people down here were outrageously UGA fans, but they have NOTHING on the people in the greater Altoona/Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. The guy said that the store (It was a Dick's Sporting Goods, reportedly.) was open after the game finished, around 10:30 and stayed open until they sold out around 2:00 a.m. They then opened the next day at 6:00 to brisk business. They LOVE their football in that area.

I'm going through a little lack-of-football depression. After the big game next Sunday, I'll go into sports withdrawal until pitchers and catchers report. I can't wait until September.

I need to go do some school work, so later!

Amazing, Historical Day!

How amazing was this? It was planning for me at school, but we watched parts of it in between was going on during classes. I found myself that about to cry when Joe Biden was taking the oath. When Mr. Obama took the oath, wow, I thought about all the people who are not here who are celebrating the moment. I think the whole world is more hopeful because of Mr. Obama. I'm not being sarcastic or facetious (I'm surprised myself!?!). I found myself feeling very hopeful.

I don't know what else to say. I hope that Mr. Obama is the President that I HOPE he can be.

God bless our new president and his family. God bless the U.S.A.!

Well, It's Almost a Weekend

Way to go Cards! Ken Whisenhunt and Kurt Warner, along with all the other guys, Larry Fitzgerald and crew. I'm watching and hoping that the Steelers are going to make it a current Steeler coach vs. former Steeler assistant Super Bowl. That's a nice story.

I have traveled over the the 'rents to check on my dad. He had some teeth pulled and has been having some trouble. I'm sure a visit from me is going to help him spring back to his normal self! Right, I know.

On the way over here I listened to my cached Slacker.com stations. First it was 40's and then the Lyle Lovett station. You can put in a person or group that you like and it will make a station for you!?! It's amazing. I can cache the stations and then I don't have to have internet/3G techno stuff. I played the BlackBerry all the way home. It's a free service. Once in a while I'll hear a commercial, but it's not anything unbearable. You can also tell it to play a song more or ban a song from the station. I can't believe how much I am enjoying it!

Exercise?!? Haven't done that in a WHILE. I've got to get back on track tomorrow. I'll go between my haircut and (wait for it, wait for it) going to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I don't care how bad reviewers say it is. I think that Kevin James is second to Craig Ferguson in degree of funniness. Yeah, back to working out. I guess that after I killed myself by doing weights last Monday, I was so devastated (read: in pain) that I didn't want to go back.

I can't think of anything else to add. I guess I'd better do some lesson plans, since my day is so crammed full of fun plans tomorrow.

Shalom to your home.

This Was a Good Day.

My semester is going quite well. I'll grade my first round of tests this weekend and then I'll really know for sure. I have a feeling that all but two in calculus are okay, 3/4 of those in trig are okay, and about 55-60% are okay in Algebra II. Of course the calculus nerds are doing well, only true "math-ers" would sign up for that. Fortunately, my trig class is relatively small and they don't have problems asking questions about things. My algebra kids, well, there are some who do really well, and then there are those who just barely scraped by in Algebra I. These kids don't seem to want to put forth the effort necessary to make up for the lost Algebra I ground AND take on the Algebra II stuff too. It gets kind of exasperating. I try to create an environment where you aren't stupid if you don't understand. I WANT the people who don't understand to tell me why so I can help. I want students who understand to help, if they really know how to do it.

I am really sleepy tonight. I've actually nodded off twice while doing this. I'm going to go get in my snuggly warm bed! 'Night all!

Mild-Mannered Wednesday

Hi! It's a really cold day here, apologies to anyone above the Mason-Dixon Line. I have outside duty for about thirty minutes in the parking lot every day. There are kids who would rather stand outside than go inside the building. That makes them tough? I'd say cRaZy. Oh, well.

I seem to be boycotting the gym. I waited too late last night. Not after the gym closed, but too late for me to get off my arse to go. Plus the cold outside.

Well, I've gotta make out some tests for my students.

Later and shalom!

Today Is a Good Day!

Well, it's Saturday, so we dined at the little diner after Weight Watchers. Oh yeah, it's time for the beginning of the year influx. Not a problem though. Most folks are very nice. Anyway, after my triumph last week, I was up a little. I felt a little heavy and bloated when I got up. I didn't run as much, thus the moral of the story: Run, run, run and watch what you eat. I slacked up on both late in this week.

I really enjoyed watching Flacco lead the Ravens to the AFC Championship. If Ryan couldn't be the first rookie to lead a team to two post season wins, Flacco will do. I like the way the helmet pads make interesting patterns in his hair. Check it out. It's interesting.

Now, I'm watching St. Kurt Warner taking the Cardinals to what looks like a surprising win. What is the deal with these home teams? Ken Whisenhunt is the shizzle. Just looking up his name, I just found out he walked on at Georgia Tech, which means he had to be pretty brilliant just to get in the school. He went on to nine years in the NFL and helped bring Ben Roethlisberger up to speed in the League as a coach with the Steelers. Pretty interesting. Anyway, Carolina may come back to win, but it's nice that Arizona has had almost three quarters of surprise.

Well, it's an exciting night here because I'm going to cut this short to work on lesson plans for next week!

Later.

One Week Down!

Well, this week has certainly been busy. Getting back to work was more tiring than I wanted it to be, but because I did my workouts last week, the standing and walking has been a BREEZE! I have to stand outside in the mornings and have had to walk while patrolling the cafeteria at lunch. This is in addition to walking the room for regular, routine teaching stuff.

May classes are, as I thought they would be, GREAT. I have two really small classes and one big, but well-behaved class. I've focused on prerequisite skills this week and it's gone great. I think I'm going to do this as a routine going forward.

I have done something everyday but Thursday. At least thirty minutes. Since the big game (college football is over, sniff) was last night, I was good with skipping the workout. And I did get back on it today. St. Tebow won, with help from his boys who, I think, were inflamed by the comments of the maroon from Oklahoma, essentially that Tebow would be the fourth best quarterback in their conference. I think they proved he'd be third at worst! Why would you give bulletin board material to the folks who have a close-to-perfect dude for their captain? He is an amazing person, even if you don't think his football ability has merit. I mean missionary trips to the Philippines (or somewhere, I may have just sent him to another country), are you kidding me?

Happy weekend!

New Day, New Semester

Today was a really good day. Of course it's not a true picture, since the clientele was mostly asleep (well, sleepy) today. I really like my classes. Today we didn't have time to do much more than go over the syllabus for each class, behavior expectations, and prerequisite skills (the beginning).

I'm going to go do my thirty minutes on the tread. Ugh!

Later, skaters!

And the Curse Continues . . .

Okay. I normally have about a 50/50 record on teams I support and teams that win. This would be expected, since I usually have an emotional reason for the team that I chose. This year I'm on a roll. Call your bookie and put your money on Minnesota, since I'm pulling for Philly. It's a certain kiss of death. All totaled, it's not that bad. Again, if this is the worst thing in my life, I've got it made!

I've done virtually nothing but look at the Crackberry website and play around with my BlackBerry. I'm going to LOVE tomorrow, trying to get everything ready for school. Crackberry detox, here I come!

Happy 1st work week of the year to everybody!

My Life Has Been Transformed

Santa brought me a BlackBerry device. I love it. There is SO much I don't know about it. I have enjoyed getting to know it this week. One of my favorite things about it is Flycast. I am listening to it on my BlackBerry right now. There's a little hiccup every once in a while, but overall it's great. The sound is very good (for something this size). The channel I really like is Swingin' Pop Standards on the Accuradio menu. Right now, Nat "King" Cole is singing "Unforgettable" to me. It's simply divine. Tony Bennett and K.D. Lang were just on. Norah Jones was the previous singer. You get the drift.

I went and weighed in this morning. This is going to be amazing, but if you follow the nutritional portion of Weight Watchers and exercise, you are going to lose weight. Revolutionary, I know. I'd gained over the past couple of weeks, but today showed a six pound loss. I was very happy. My minimum of thirty minutes of exercise a day really has proven successful. I've actually enjoyed it, except for the other night when I put it off until 10 at night when it was (for me) cold.
I guess I've learned a lesson. I know that I won't lose six pounds every week, but at least I have the template in place.

I just saw a piece on ESPN about how awesome Kurt Warner is. He really is such a nice guy. I know that making multiple millions of dollars a year is not exactly a cross to bear. He has worked with children who have traumatic diseases. He is such a sweet-seeming guy. It's ALMOST enough to make me want Arizona to win today. (I proclaimed that I want them to win already, because every team I've wanted to win in the bowls has lost.) I hope it's at least a good game.

Here are my predictions for the NFL games today:

4:30 Atlanta at Arizona It depends on whether Arizona can contain Michael Turner. If they are successful, I'm afraid they'll be moving on. If not, Atlanta should be playing next week. I hope that Matt Ryan and the boys go on to play next week.

8:00 Indianapolis at San Diego It is unfortunate that Ladanian Tomlinson is not 100%. This would have made for a super game. I think that it will be a good game, but that it would be a better match if LT were his old self. I think I heard on ESPN that something has come detached. Regardless of what is detached or believed to be detached, detached is definitely bad. I predict that Peyton will take his Colts to the next level.

Nothing else.

Must go CrackBerry.

Later!

Matt

Well, this morning, I was aghast to hear my sister watching a video of Matt, the dancing guy. He was talking about how the video was a hoax. I could not believe that the Matt of "Where the Hell Is Matt" dancing video fame was disingenuous. I loved this video, as did most everyone who saw this video. I was astounded. Oh no, not this too. He talked of some company who sponsored it and that he was actually an out of work actor. Then he started talking about the animatronics. Whew! Dodged a bullet. The foundations of my very life would have been shaken. If you are one of the four people who haven't see it the video is here: original and the "hoax" admission.

Plans for this fine second day of the new year? Ummm. . . I think I'll go to the gym for a jog or maybe a jog/walk combo.

Another question. The song "Take You There" by Sean Kingston. What is this guy talking about? I really like this song, and since I'm so edgy it's been on my i-pod for ages. But it's been a favorite of my i-pod lately. (Incidentally, on a "shuffle songs" setting, does your i-pod pick certain songs or artists and get a favorite from time to time?) He talks about giving his girl a choice of going to "the slums where killers get hung" or "we can leave the slums and go to paradise." What kind of a choice is that? I know that he's trying to show off his "street cred" by saying that he can survive regardless of his environment. I don't know about all women (or as more of my students say than I'd like: womens), but I'd rather feel safe. Am I part of a sane minority? I feel crazier and crazier for having the capacity to use the powers of logic.

Well, that's all I've got right now. I'll holla later!

Peace.

I Realize I May Have Been in the Only Home in the US Watching FOX News

But, the three of us (I know, party animals, right?) who were at Mrs. C.'s on New Year's Eve, decided that Bill Hemmer decided to get hammered on satellite television. I know it was cold, but Heavens to Mergatroid, Bill get a hold of yourself and NO not there! Either he was suffering effects from a new "medication" or he was drunk as Cooter Brown. Wowsers! I don't know when I've seen anything like that.

Perhaps I was just traumatized because LSU found the combination to the lock that has been the Georgia Tech triple option. Evidently they needed a quadruple option for the SECers. And today I was looking forward to watching JoePa kick Pete Carroll's arse, but dadgumit, it was the reverse. Should I declare that I DON'T want Florida an Mr. Tebow to win NOW so that they'll have ANY chance whatsoever?

I'm tired and going to bed. I think I'll treadmill it tomorrow. Boo! And happy new year.