Let the season begin!

The holidays are DEFINITELY here!  The kids are nutty at school, the cookies are everywhere and I have singing galore.  School is the biggest challenge...you don't want to crush their holiday spirit, but no, we can not have a "day off" because Hannukah started yesterday.  Nor, can we sing about Santa and his reindeer every day.  We have a concert in January that we're preparing for!  Anyway, rant over.

Life outside of school is good.  I was down 1.8% at the gym this week and feel like I'm finally making progress.  My goal is to have another good week before the insanity really hits.  (Wedding, b'day and Christmas all in 1 week!)

Saturday was my first concert of the weekend.  The Hudson Voices is a small a cappella group associated with The Rockland County Choral Society.  We sang for 3 different nursing care facilities in the area.  It was both wonderful and sad.  It's nice to bring some holiday spirit to the seniors in our area but also sad to see how many were alone.

Sunday night I made a really yummy stew with venison that was a gift from a friend.  I don't hunt myself, but I have to say that it is nice to have friends who do!  I prefer not to actually see the source of my meal...I know it's a bit wimpy but that's how I am.  Venison is great because when it's cooked well it has a nice mild flavor and is REALLY lean.  It's almost as lean as chicken so it makes for nice variety on the diet plan.

My big accomplisment for the week was getting into the gym 5 days and going for a good walk on another.  I think 6 sessions in a week is part of the reason I was successful.  I also tried another new class at the gym.  (Finally getting moving on that resolution!)  Solutions is a circuit training class for a half hour.  You get a quick strength training workout and there is someone there to assist if needed.  I did that Saturday morning followed by a half hour of cardio.  Yay!  I am hoping that along with my 2 sessions with the trainer I'll start to see even more results.

I have 4 concerts this weekend with Sing We Enchanted and will be cooking my first turkey on Sunday.  Wish me luck!!  We're having a small "holiday" dinner with some friends that we didn't see for Thanksgiving and won't see for Christmas.  It's sort of a 2nd family type thing and I'm looking forward to it as well as being terrified.  I'm doing the turkey, stuffing and a mincemeat pie.  Everyone is bringing something else to make the dinner amazing.  I'm really looking forward to trying some other peoples traditions.

Have a great week everyone and I'll check back next week with another update!

Another loss and something gained

I'm down another 1.6lbs as of this morning!!  I was nervous getting on the scale and I think I actually said "Yes!" out loud when I saw the numbers.  Yes, I talk to myself and the cat when I'm home alone.  It's dorky but it keeps Hazel and I happy. 

Hazel woke me up in the middle of the night with an upset tummy, gross!!  I hate it when I get woken up because it's so hard for me to get back to sleep.  My mind starts spinning and I can't turn it off.  Anyone out there have that same issue?  Any suggestions to make it stop??

I've been working hard the past week to stay on track with food which is my biggest weakness.  I love it!!  I've tried to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies and avoid the bad stuff.  This was made more challenging by birthday parties, leftovers and social gatherings.  But, if I keep up with the workouts some of the little slips seem to be forgiven.  So, not as big a loss as last week, but still a very respectable number.

I had another shooting lesson and I'm really starting to enjoy it.  It's amazing what success will do for your confidence level.  I'm lucky to have a very patient teacher in Officer BF.  I'm not a good student because I get frustrated easily when I don't have immediate success.  He keeps me focused and has really helped me feel more comfortable with what I'm doing.  I'll be honest, I love the Sig!

I'm working on finishing up my last paper for my 2nd graduate class.  Educational Supervision and Accountability is a real challenge and trying to write from the perspective of an administrator as opposed to a teacher is proving tough.  I'll get it, just need to keep plugging away at it.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with this degree when I finish it I'm hoping that I'll get some clarity as I keep working.

Off to finish off my school day, teach a lesson and then hit the gym.  It's rainy and gross so I'm hoping for a nice run tomorrow.

Fresh Start

So week one of the diet "take 2" was successful. 2lbs down! Now, to keep it up without losing momentum. The Biggest Loser was inspirational last night. It was so great to see how amazing everyone looked, I love makeover week!! Michael and Daris' hair, Sunshine's whole look, so much improved.

Today I taught a great lesson, went for a 3 mile jog and then made dinner. Grilled honey-ginger salmon, carrots and a whole wheat roll. Yummy and healthy! And...a new recipe to add to the list.

The budgeting is going well...I have enough money saved up for my 2 summer classes already. It'll hurt when that bill comes in and I have to watch the numbers go down.

Tonight, catching up on DVRS (This week's Glee is great!) with my feet up. I'm avoiding housework but I'll get around to it tomorrow I'm sure. If not, there's always the weekend. Dusting and laundry just have no pull when it's so gorgeous out.

6 mile mark!

I ran 6 miles yesterday! It's the first 10K (almost) run I've done and I'm a little achy today, but I finished. Now, I just have to keep up with workouts the rest of this week and I'll be onto something! I did my run on the path that runs from Nyack to Piermont and it's just gorgeous. It's so inspiring to run along the river. That, and Nyack Beach are my 2 favorite places to jog. When I hear "The Hudson" come on the ipod while I'm running it's even better.

New restuarant update: Went to the Sidewalk Bistro in Piermont last week with friends and it was a fantastic dinner! We had a salmon tartar and pizza for appetizers and I had scallops sauteed with homemade spinach pappardelle for my entree. AMAZING. The sauce had saffron infused into and was so yummy. Desserts were delicious as well, the apple tart was topped with rich vanilla ice cream and the cheese plate was a great savory dessert with grapes and apples.

I'm trying hard to get back on the diet wagon. I'm reading 'The Runners Diet" and hoping that helps me stay on track. Sparkpeople is helping with the calorie tracking...but does require me to actually do it. I actually tracked all weekend which is a big step in the right direction.

My biggest success, and a great time, was brunch with the girls on Sunday. My closest friends from HS were all in town the same day (a minor miracle!) and we got together for coffee, fruit and cake. I filled my plate with fruit, had a small piece of the apple tart and stayed "well-behaved." I focused instead on getting to be with some of the best people in the world. We've know each other more than 25 years and there's something comforting about being with people who know who that well!

Grad classes: I have finished 2 classes and signed up for 2 more. That will have me at 12 credits by the end of July, I'm looking for one more summer class to balance out the summer.

Time to get back to work...lessons and a mani-pedi this afternoon. My feet deserve it!