It's New Year's Eve Eve! I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I have been invited to two different parties. The Carlsons are throwing a small gathering where we will play games and stuff. That sounds like a really fun, relaxed time. But Joe Dickson is also throwing a kareoke bash at his house. I would dress up for that one. I'm hoping to go to both, if the Carlsons' party starts early enough (I'm hoping for around 7.)I'm preparing a lot to go to Joe's. I am wearing my little black dress, really cool heels, and a necklace that Mom is loaning me. It's beautiful and probably worth something (she got it when she was young and it was expensive then.) I am also getting my hair done and a manicure. I got new makeup that I can wear at the party and into the new year. I want to start the new year off right. I also have sparkling grape juice for me to drink at the party.
Kris has a Wii Fit and I've been doing that a little. It isn't the best workout tool, but it's better than nothing. According to the Wii scale, my BMI has gone down in the past week. This is a very general measurement. But I do believe I am a little smaller than last week. I have lost about a pound a week since the end of the run. Stephanie confirmed that my arms are more toned. We will be doing measurements the second week of January. Last time they were pretty much the same as the time before, but it was only three weeks since the last time.
Weird dreams: I dreamt that there was some kind of a war and subs were being bombed so much that they covered the ocean floor. I was also in a movie house where they were playing a movie about Al-Quaida attacking a fleet of civilian airplanes. I walked out of the film and was followed by a stream of other people who had lost loved ones in 9-11 (my cousin was in the World Trade Center.) In another dream, a friend of mine was homeless and lying around. A cop came up and asked him what he was doing and my friend said he was just going to sleep. So just some random things.
Well, I'm off to the gym. Hanging up now....
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Merry Merry!
Well, Christmas has come and gone, but the Spirit still hangs in the air. They're still playing Christmas carols at the restaurant we went to tonight. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The candlelight service was beautiful, as always. Jeanne's message went along with what I said in an earlier post. When she talked about the spirit of Christmas, and the feeling of the presence of God, she simply said, "Look around you." The community of good souls is what makes Christmas special. God rest ye merry.
We set off for Kalamazoo at around 12:15 AM and got there around 1:30. We went to bed with visions of ham with apricot glaze in our heads. I got up Christmas Day to the sound of rain. I really wanted snow but rain was what we got. I put up the tree while Dad and I watched "A Christmas Story." That is, we started halfway through it and saw the next half. The tree was really pretty. I like to use only glass ornaments on it, which doesn't weigh it down much. We had a wreath and I wound a sparkly garland around it and we hung it outside. It looks good. Mom informed me on the way back to Kalamazoo that I would be making Christmas dinner (really, just the ham.) I was a little nervous about it as it was a new recipe, but it went well. It was delicious. We also had salad, rolls, broccoli, and apple pie. I didn't stuff myself. One of everything. One slice of ham, one serving of broccoli, one bowl of salad, one roll, and one medium-sized piece of pie. Then we did presents. The folks liked what I got them--the DVD of "Up" and a picture from the show. I had all my loot to open and they had a few things. My dad surprised my mom with a canister of pirouettes. They are yummy! Tube-shaped cookies with chocolate swirled through them. We used to eat them all the time in Bloomington. They are her favorite.
Today we went out to dinner and saw "The Princess and the Frog." IT WAS AMAZING. A real must-see. It was visually stunning and the songs were great. The story was wonderful and there was even one un-Disneylike element (one of the most endearing characters dies.) It definitely is one of my favorite Disney movies. We then went to dinner at the Field Stone Grill. I had beef marsala over penne pasta. It was also amazing.This is what I meant when I said the restaurant was still playing Christmas music. It wasn't too loud, just drifting through the background. It was just enough to remind us all that the Spirit is still here.
Worked out with Dad at his gym today. I wore my new workout pants, one of my Christmas "gifts." I felt pretty hot. I worked on the Arc Trainer and then did tri's and back. It was fun to try out their machines. Dad did the leg press and other machines (not sure which ones.) He also walked and did cat-cow. I watched him on the track and he moves pretty well. Maybe not as fast as he should, but not meandering like I thought he did before. It felt good to work out. I will have time to go tomorrow too. I have to find out when the new "semester" starts--I want to do the Step class if we're back in session.
I have decided to go out for "Enchanted April" after all. It is such a wonderful script and I really want to work with Mary. I know some of the people who are planning to try out and it would be great to work with them. This means I won't do the Zumba class, which is all right. I will still do Interval and Step. And there is another class I want to try that is a combination of Pilates, cardio, and weights. That sounds fun. I would do those Monday, Friday and Sunday, work out with Stephanie Wednesday, and work out on my own one or two more days. This could be a really good workout regimen.
We had to cancel Dami on Wednesday because they were going out of town early. I didn't get to give her her Christmas present. She says she collects "weird" things so I have something for her. It's a stuffed astronaut my grandfather got when he bought Intel stock. It has the "Intel Inside" logo on it. It's pretty neat, and right now it's just taking up space on my shelf. So I think she'll really like it. I have a lesson on antonyms planned. So far the lessons have been going really well. I haven't had a chance to start on the language arts segment of our studying, but I will once we start up again. The lesson I planned should only take a half hour or so; I have left the rest of the time for language arts.
Ageesh stood me up two weeks ago. I called him and left a message on his voice mail. The next Friday was a Christmas party I wanted to go to, so I called and cancelled. Again, I got his voice mail. I'm concerned. I hope we are able to reconnect. He may have told me he was going out of town and I just forgot. Or he may be flaking. I don't know. I hope we keep meeting because I need the money.
The Christmas party was for people at my church and friends. It was a caroling party--not the kind where you go out in the snow, but the kind where you sit around the piano and sing in a cozy house. Sing we joyous, all together...heedless of the wind and weather because we're not out there. The hosts (Dick and Joan Witter) set up a book with carols numbered 1-70ish and what you do is you call out the number of the song you want and you do that carol with Dick accompianing on the piano. He also had me sing "Christmastime is Here." This is our little tradition. We are going to sing it next year for the family Holiday Concert.
Well, I better shut up for now. I've got an early day tomorrow.
Hanging up now....
We set off for Kalamazoo at around 12:15 AM and got there around 1:30. We went to bed with visions of ham with apricot glaze in our heads. I got up Christmas Day to the sound of rain. I really wanted snow but rain was what we got. I put up the tree while Dad and I watched "A Christmas Story." That is, we started halfway through it and saw the next half. The tree was really pretty. I like to use only glass ornaments on it, which doesn't weigh it down much. We had a wreath and I wound a sparkly garland around it and we hung it outside. It looks good. Mom informed me on the way back to Kalamazoo that I would be making Christmas dinner (really, just the ham.) I was a little nervous about it as it was a new recipe, but it went well. It was delicious. We also had salad, rolls, broccoli, and apple pie. I didn't stuff myself. One of everything. One slice of ham, one serving of broccoli, one bowl of salad, one roll, and one medium-sized piece of pie. Then we did presents. The folks liked what I got them--the DVD of "Up" and a picture from the show. I had all my loot to open and they had a few things. My dad surprised my mom with a canister of pirouettes. They are yummy! Tube-shaped cookies with chocolate swirled through them. We used to eat them all the time in Bloomington. They are her favorite.
Today we went out to dinner and saw "The Princess and the Frog." IT WAS AMAZING. A real must-see. It was visually stunning and the songs were great. The story was wonderful and there was even one un-Disneylike element (one of the most endearing characters dies.) It definitely is one of my favorite Disney movies. We then went to dinner at the Field Stone Grill. I had beef marsala over penne pasta. It was also amazing.This is what I meant when I said the restaurant was still playing Christmas music. It wasn't too loud, just drifting through the background. It was just enough to remind us all that the Spirit is still here.
Worked out with Dad at his gym today. I wore my new workout pants, one of my Christmas "gifts." I felt pretty hot. I worked on the Arc Trainer and then did tri's and back. It was fun to try out their machines. Dad did the leg press and other machines (not sure which ones.) He also walked and did cat-cow. I watched him on the track and he moves pretty well. Maybe not as fast as he should, but not meandering like I thought he did before. It felt good to work out. I will have time to go tomorrow too. I have to find out when the new "semester" starts--I want to do the Step class if we're back in session.
I have decided to go out for "Enchanted April" after all. It is such a wonderful script and I really want to work with Mary. I know some of the people who are planning to try out and it would be great to work with them. This means I won't do the Zumba class, which is all right. I will still do Interval and Step. And there is another class I want to try that is a combination of Pilates, cardio, and weights. That sounds fun. I would do those Monday, Friday and Sunday, work out with Stephanie Wednesday, and work out on my own one or two more days. This could be a really good workout regimen.
We had to cancel Dami on Wednesday because they were going out of town early. I didn't get to give her her Christmas present. She says she collects "weird" things so I have something for her. It's a stuffed astronaut my grandfather got when he bought Intel stock. It has the "Intel Inside" logo on it. It's pretty neat, and right now it's just taking up space on my shelf. So I think she'll really like it. I have a lesson on antonyms planned. So far the lessons have been going really well. I haven't had a chance to start on the language arts segment of our studying, but I will once we start up again. The lesson I planned should only take a half hour or so; I have left the rest of the time for language arts.
Ageesh stood me up two weeks ago. I called him and left a message on his voice mail. The next Friday was a Christmas party I wanted to go to, so I called and cancelled. Again, I got his voice mail. I'm concerned. I hope we are able to reconnect. He may have told me he was going out of town and I just forgot. Or he may be flaking. I don't know. I hope we keep meeting because I need the money.
The Christmas party was for people at my church and friends. It was a caroling party--not the kind where you go out in the snow, but the kind where you sit around the piano and sing in a cozy house. Sing we joyous, all together...heedless of the wind and weather because we're not out there. The hosts (Dick and Joan Witter) set up a book with carols numbered 1-70ish and what you do is you call out the number of the song you want and you do that carol with Dick accompianing on the piano. He also had me sing "Christmastime is Here." This is our little tradition. We are going to sing it next year for the family Holiday Concert.
Well, I better shut up for now. I've got an early day tomorrow.
Hanging up now....
Monday, December 21, 2009
Had a great day at the gym today. I was going to sleep in and skip Interval, but I decided to get up and go. When I got there, however, I found out that the fall term was over and the class wasn't going on. So I decided to make my own "interval" workout. I started by walking/running on the treadmill for 15 minutes. Then I did biceps. Next I was on the elliptical for 12 minutes. After that I did chest. In between sets, I did jumping jacks, ran up and down the hall, and did mountain climbers. I was at the gym for almost an hour and a half but it was worth it, and the time went quickly. This would be a great routine to do a couple times a week. Maybe when I do weights I will do this.
I can't believe Christmas is almost here! Adam and I met for dinner and he gave me my present--the DVDs of Empire of the Sun and Terminator:Salvation. I have his present but I forgot to bring it. So we are going to meet tomorrow for lunch.
Dami's mom texted me today asking if I could come over today rather than tomorrow. I told her no. Half an hour is too short a notice for me. Instead, we are meeting Wednesday at 3. Dami is on vacation right now so she is able to meet then. If I were her mom, I would let her have a break, but she is determined to give her the best education possible. I have found that the parents I work with drive their kids very hard. The kids seem to go along with it, though, and thrive on it. I have had to cancel meeting with Karthik all the month of December and will have to cancel these next two Saturdays too. This Saturday is the day after Christmas and the next is New Year's Day. After that we should be on track, however.
Looking at this past year, I have a hard time seeing that I made any progress in any arena at all. I did finish Checking Out. I got to play a great part and I'm on my way to being in better shape. But I don't see much else that has gone on. I haven't gotten a 9-5 job, although I have created one. I guess that's something. I just don't remember doing much of anything. I wonder what this new year will bring.
I can't believe Christmas is almost here! Adam and I met for dinner and he gave me my present--the DVDs of Empire of the Sun and Terminator:Salvation. I have his present but I forgot to bring it. So we are going to meet tomorrow for lunch.
Dami's mom texted me today asking if I could come over today rather than tomorrow. I told her no. Half an hour is too short a notice for me. Instead, we are meeting Wednesday at 3. Dami is on vacation right now so she is able to meet then. If I were her mom, I would let her have a break, but she is determined to give her the best education possible. I have found that the parents I work with drive their kids very hard. The kids seem to go along with it, though, and thrive on it. I have had to cancel meeting with Karthik all the month of December and will have to cancel these next two Saturdays too. This Saturday is the day after Christmas and the next is New Year's Day. After that we should be on track, however.
Looking at this past year, I have a hard time seeing that I made any progress in any arena at all. I did finish Checking Out. I got to play a great part and I'm on my way to being in better shape. But I don't see much else that has gone on. I haven't gotten a 9-5 job, although I have created one. I guess that's something. I just don't remember doing much of anything. I wonder what this new year will bring.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Hanging with the Redmans and putting a hit out on Dad
Ok, so these may not be Gordy-worthy dreams, but I think they're pretty funny. In the first one, I was taking a bath listening to Lady Gaga on the radio. Richard Redman came in to tell me to keep it down because Dominic was asleep. I was embarrassed because, shall we say, the bath was not a bubble bath. Then Richard, Bridgette, Dominic and I were on a train that made frequent stops. At each stop, we got information that helped us solve a puzzle. My mom picked me up from the final stop and she was pleased I had solved the puzzle.
Mom had taken a cruise with Dad and told me it was "thirty-six hours of hell." I find this weird looking back because 36 hours is awfully short for a cruise (maybe it was a Gilligan's Island type of cruise?) We got back to her apartment, which was in what looked like a tenement, and I went to the bathroom. My dad came in while I was on the toilet and was being very annoying. I threw him in the shower and turned the water on as hot as it would go. This didn't seem to bother him. I finally got so annoyed that I made a call and arranged to have him killed. The sniper was going to shoot through the bathroom window so my mom and I agreed it would be best to move to the roof of the adjoining building. When we got to the other roof, we found Marie P. was the sniper and she was saying she just couldn't pull the trigger because she knew my dad (she does not.)
Dreams are fun, aren't they?
I feel fitter every day, despite the fact that I have hit a plateau as far as my weight goes. I think I will start doing more weightlifting at the gym and see where that gets me. I also need to start weighing myself 1x/week like I was before--I've gotten in the bad habit of weighing myself every day. Now that IS a little obsessed.
My church's Christmas Cantata is Sunday. I have had one rehearsal and will have one more Saturday, and that will be it. The Saturday rehearsal is three hours, but it still will really be touch and go. Alan wants me to sing second, which is tricky. The funny thing is I feel better suited to sing the alto part now that I have been singing alto (or even tenor) in the show. So pray, wish, burn a sacrifice, or whatever you do for me!
I saw my sister this past Saturday. She comes up from New Orleans and only gets up once a year or so. She and my brother in law recently converted to Catholicism and I went to a Saturday mass with her. It was an interesting anthropological experiment. She pointed out the advent wreath and I informed her that we celebrate advent too. I even pointed out the Mary candle so now she knows I know a little about all this religion stuff. My church will have a candlelight service Christmas Eve and then I will go home to Kalamazoo that night. Christmas I will put up and decorate the tree (I know, weird, but if I didn't do it nobody would.) We will have dinner when Mom comes home, open presents, and then watch our Christmas specials (How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.) That's our funky,backwards tradition. It's different now that I'm grown up and Margaret is so far away. I don't have a family of my own and the cousins are all spread out, and all my grandparents are gone. So this is how we celebrate. It's not bad. It would be nice to have someone to be with but that's not in the picture now. And Mom and Dad have said they don't want grandchildren anyway, so that's not a big deal. It would be good if Margaret and Doug were closer. They used to live in Grand Haven and they would come over for the day. I have some pictures of that and it made me happy to look at them. Doug had buzzed his hair and dyed it green. He went through phases like that. He didn't like to have his picture taken, so he's holding his hand up and looking away. I might scan some pics and put them up on FB.
I think I might not try out for Enchanted April. I know there are a lot of qualified actresses and I might want to put my emphasis elsewhere. I want to keep up with the choir so the Easter program isn't as daunting as the Cantata has been. Also, I just signed up for a class at the Y that meets Tuesday nights. I didn't realize it until I was signing up but I did it anyway. I want to really concentrate on getting my body the way I want in the New Year. I found a picture of myself taken in 1993 where I look really good. I would love to look like that again. It's good because it shows what I looked like once and I feel I can get back to that. I didn't rip a picture of a 120-pound, 5'7" woman out of Self magazine--this is a real picture, a picture of me.I may be a little older, but I think I can get at least within five pounds of
that. I have put it up on my fridge, and will also put up a pic of me at my heaviest (the experts say to do this.)
My two Korean boys, Paul and Beda, are going home. We had our last meeting Tuesday. It will be sad to see them go. To be honest, I will also miss the money I got from working with them four times a week. The good news is their mom is talking to an adult about me and he may be contacting me. I am also going to meet with Dami twice a week. Her mom wants me to work on language arts stuff with her. My mom says this indicates that Dami's mom is not satisfied with the work Dami does at school. I'm a little unsure about exactly what she expects of me--she wants me to work out of the textbooks and give her homework, but I'm not sure how to do that without either replicating the teacher's work or stepping on the teacher's toes. We shall see. I will continue with the vocab work and that's something I can control at least.
Well, I'm going to dig out that 180-lb picture and stick it up next to the hot one. Hanging up now....
Mom had taken a cruise with Dad and told me it was "thirty-six hours of hell." I find this weird looking back because 36 hours is awfully short for a cruise (maybe it was a Gilligan's Island type of cruise?) We got back to her apartment, which was in what looked like a tenement, and I went to the bathroom. My dad came in while I was on the toilet and was being very annoying. I threw him in the shower and turned the water on as hot as it would go. This didn't seem to bother him. I finally got so annoyed that I made a call and arranged to have him killed. The sniper was going to shoot through the bathroom window so my mom and I agreed it would be best to move to the roof of the adjoining building. When we got to the other roof, we found Marie P. was the sniper and she was saying she just couldn't pull the trigger because she knew my dad (she does not.)
Dreams are fun, aren't they?
I feel fitter every day, despite the fact that I have hit a plateau as far as my weight goes. I think I will start doing more weightlifting at the gym and see where that gets me. I also need to start weighing myself 1x/week like I was before--I've gotten in the bad habit of weighing myself every day. Now that IS a little obsessed.
My church's Christmas Cantata is Sunday. I have had one rehearsal and will have one more Saturday, and that will be it. The Saturday rehearsal is three hours, but it still will really be touch and go. Alan wants me to sing second, which is tricky. The funny thing is I feel better suited to sing the alto part now that I have been singing alto (or even tenor) in the show. So pray, wish, burn a sacrifice, or whatever you do for me!
I saw my sister this past Saturday. She comes up from New Orleans and only gets up once a year or so. She and my brother in law recently converted to Catholicism and I went to a Saturday mass with her. It was an interesting anthropological experiment. She pointed out the advent wreath and I informed her that we celebrate advent too. I even pointed out the Mary candle so now she knows I know a little about all this religion stuff. My church will have a candlelight service Christmas Eve and then I will go home to Kalamazoo that night. Christmas I will put up and decorate the tree (I know, weird, but if I didn't do it nobody would.) We will have dinner when Mom comes home, open presents, and then watch our Christmas specials (How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.) That's our funky,backwards tradition. It's different now that I'm grown up and Margaret is so far away. I don't have a family of my own and the cousins are all spread out, and all my grandparents are gone. So this is how we celebrate. It's not bad. It would be nice to have someone to be with but that's not in the picture now. And Mom and Dad have said they don't want grandchildren anyway, so that's not a big deal. It would be good if Margaret and Doug were closer. They used to live in Grand Haven and they would come over for the day. I have some pictures of that and it made me happy to look at them. Doug had buzzed his hair and dyed it green. He went through phases like that. He didn't like to have his picture taken, so he's holding his hand up and looking away. I might scan some pics and put them up on FB.
I think I might not try out for Enchanted April. I know there are a lot of qualified actresses and I might want to put my emphasis elsewhere. I want to keep up with the choir so the Easter program isn't as daunting as the Cantata has been. Also, I just signed up for a class at the Y that meets Tuesday nights. I didn't realize it until I was signing up but I did it anyway. I want to really concentrate on getting my body the way I want in the New Year. I found a picture of myself taken in 1993 where I look really good. I would love to look like that again. It's good because it shows what I looked like once and I feel I can get back to that. I didn't rip a picture of a 120-pound, 5'7" woman out of Self magazine--this is a real picture, a picture of me.I may be a little older, but I think I can get at least within five pounds of
that. I have put it up on my fridge, and will also put up a pic of me at my heaviest (the experts say to do this.)
My two Korean boys, Paul and Beda, are going home. We had our last meeting Tuesday. It will be sad to see them go. To be honest, I will also miss the money I got from working with them four times a week. The good news is their mom is talking to an adult about me and he may be contacting me. I am also going to meet with Dami twice a week. Her mom wants me to work on language arts stuff with her. My mom says this indicates that Dami's mom is not satisfied with the work Dami does at school. I'm a little unsure about exactly what she expects of me--she wants me to work out of the textbooks and give her homework, but I'm not sure how to do that without either replicating the teacher's work or stepping on the teacher's toes. We shall see. I will continue with the vocab work and that's something I can control at least.
Well, I'm going to dig out that 180-lb picture and stick it up next to the hot one. Hanging up now....
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Work, eat, play
I didn't get the car done today and went to the mall instead. I have an appointment to get the car done Thursday. I'm trying to get my Christmas shopping done. We are all buying our own presents this year--that way we are sure to get what we want! Today I found some really neat boots I can wear with my skinny jeans. They are weatherproof and warm, as well as being chic.
I found a way to reach Paul--through baseball, of course. The season is over but I found a publication put out by USA Today that sums up the year and shows teams for next year. He went through and told me what players were good and bad, and what teams were good and bad. We talked about the differences between Korean and American baseball. He wants to be a baseball player for a Korean team because he thinks he's not good at English. I told him I thought his English was very good; he didn't respond to this. I think his reticence may come from a lack of confidence in himself.
Beda's lesson was hit and miss today. I went through a book of puzzles to find ones we could do. Some of them were easier than others, so I picked them. We tried some and he decided that some of them were too hard. I don't want him to feel inadequate. I will try to find him some easier stuff next time. The magazine from yesterday was really good. It's also good to have magazines with photos we can look at and talk about.
I found a good vocab lesson to do with Dami--it's about words that have roots in other cultures. In the first section, the words are defined. The next section asks the student to write a vocabulary word for each "word story", that is, a sentence about their origin. The third section draws connections between people's names and the word that comes from them: for instance, the author mentions that Vulcan is the god of fire and the student makes the connection to the word "Volcano". The student then uses the words in a sentence. There is then a short section where the student picks the best word to fit a definition. This was a lot of fun for her last time, as two of the three words were so obviously not right. Finally, she will have lists of words that require a vocab word to complete them. This is a really good book I am using: it is called "240 Vocabulary Words 5th Grade Kids Need to Know." I am having her write each word on a flash card and we are going over those every week. She did pretty well with her cards last week.
This Saturday I am going to Kalamazoo to see my sister. She is coming up from New Orleans and will be staying with my parents for a few days. I'm looking forward to her visit. Last time she came up she was vegan but she has decided not to do that anymore. She's now a plain old omnivore like the rest of us in our family. We talk on the phone every once in a while. There was a period of about a year when we didn't talk. It was right after her conversion to Catholicism and I don't know if those two occurrences were related. Mom asked her to talk to me and she said "Don't ask me that." I have no idea what was going on.
Worked out on the treadmill today. I went after having had dinner, so I just walked because I felt really full. I got my pulse up to the "athletic" level. I guess this meant that I did almost as much good as I would have if I had been running. Not as many calories burned, but a lot of work done. I weighed myself and I weighed 163, which is interesting. We weigh more as the day goes on, and I had just eaten. But I was only a pound more than yesterday. Does this mean my weight has gone down? I will find out tomorrow.
Hanging up now....
I found a way to reach Paul--through baseball, of course. The season is over but I found a publication put out by USA Today that sums up the year and shows teams for next year. He went through and told me what players were good and bad, and what teams were good and bad. We talked about the differences between Korean and American baseball. He wants to be a baseball player for a Korean team because he thinks he's not good at English. I told him I thought his English was very good; he didn't respond to this. I think his reticence may come from a lack of confidence in himself.
Beda's lesson was hit and miss today. I went through a book of puzzles to find ones we could do. Some of them were easier than others, so I picked them. We tried some and he decided that some of them were too hard. I don't want him to feel inadequate. I will try to find him some easier stuff next time. The magazine from yesterday was really good. It's also good to have magazines with photos we can look at and talk about.
I found a good vocab lesson to do with Dami--it's about words that have roots in other cultures. In the first section, the words are defined. The next section asks the student to write a vocabulary word for each "word story", that is, a sentence about their origin. The third section draws connections between people's names and the word that comes from them: for instance, the author mentions that Vulcan is the god of fire and the student makes the connection to the word "Volcano". The student then uses the words in a sentence. There is then a short section where the student picks the best word to fit a definition. This was a lot of fun for her last time, as two of the three words were so obviously not right. Finally, she will have lists of words that require a vocab word to complete them. This is a really good book I am using: it is called "240 Vocabulary Words 5th Grade Kids Need to Know." I am having her write each word on a flash card and we are going over those every week. She did pretty well with her cards last week.
This Saturday I am going to Kalamazoo to see my sister. She is coming up from New Orleans and will be staying with my parents for a few days. I'm looking forward to her visit. Last time she came up she was vegan but she has decided not to do that anymore. She's now a plain old omnivore like the rest of us in our family. We talk on the phone every once in a while. There was a period of about a year when we didn't talk. It was right after her conversion to Catholicism and I don't know if those two occurrences were related. Mom asked her to talk to me and she said "Don't ask me that." I have no idea what was going on.
Worked out on the treadmill today. I went after having had dinner, so I just walked because I felt really full. I got my pulse up to the "athletic" level. I guess this meant that I did almost as much good as I would have if I had been running. Not as many calories burned, but a lot of work done. I weighed myself and I weighed 163, which is interesting. We weigh more as the day goes on, and I had just eaten. But I was only a pound more than yesterday. Does this mean my weight has gone down? I will find out tomorrow.
Hanging up now....
Monday, December 7, 2009
The end (for now)
Well, BT is over. We had a great run. The audiences loved it, we got a mostly positive review from the City Pulse, and Jane Zussman sent out a great review (although it came a little late.) The BEST part of the WHOLE run happened Saturday at 2. After the show, which was a good one, we were standing in the lobby for the "petting zoo." Dami came BOUNCING up to me holding a bouquet of beautiful yellow and orange flowers (no idea what they are.) I gave both her and her mom a hug. I love that whole family. She is such a sweetie and I'm so glad she came. And THEN I saw Paul and Beda and their mom--and Beda was holding a bouquet of roses for me. So my kids came and brought flowers! How cool! I was walking on air.
This week I am back at it at work. I worked with both boys today although I was scheduled to work with just Paul. I brought a kids' magazine for Beda and me to look at, and I'm glad I did, because working with him was kind of impromptu. Paul and I had a decent discussion. I think I make him nervous. I wish I could engage him more. Beda is great to work with. We always have lots to talk about. I may be working with both of them tomorrow night, depending on how it goes after they get their flu shots.
I have to plan a vocab lesson for Dami. I will look through the books I have and pick something good. Last time we did poetry words and compound words. I want her to understand how words are made. Knowing the poetry terms will help her as she moves into her poetry unit at school. She will have a jump on the other kids.
I have given Karthik the task of reading "The Jungle Book." He read ahead and I don't want to discourage this, but I need to keep engaging him. I have this month's "Stone Soup" for us to read. I might have him do some writing on his own--maybe a poem or something like that. Maybe he could even send it in.
I have good news and bad news on the body stuff. The bad news is that the scale says I weigh 162. Stephanie says this could be PMS. I also know I have been a little lax with treats backstage and late-night eating after the show. But the good news is I have some tops that are fitting better. A shirt that I plain couldn't fit into is fine now and a top that was tight across my chest and arms now hangs like it's supposed to. And the best part is my Renfaire bodice. I have two: a smaller leather one I got when I weighed about 145 and a larger cloth one. Summer 2008 I just barely fit into the leather one. Summer 2009 I didn't come close to fitting into it and just barely fit into the cloth one (this was really demoralizing, since this one was bigger.) I tried on the leather one the other day just for shits and giggles and it fit even better than it did in '08! It is comfortable now. Yay!
I know I talk a lot about body stuff and that may seem obsessive. I just want to be healthy. People say I don't look like I weigh 160 and I appreciate it. In general, I like the way I look. But I would like to be smaller overall and weigh less. And I want to make healthy eating choices and work out on a regular basis.
Dad lost three pounds! I don't know how long it's taken him to do it, but I know he hadn't lost any weight when I talked to him last week. Part of it is he is weighing himself on different scales--there is the scale at the gym and the scale at the doctor's (the one that showed the loss.) I think he may have lost even more--he doesn't weigh himself first thing in the morning. I try to weigh myself before Interval every week, to get as close to accurate as I can.
I will really miss BT. I'm sitting here feeling like I have someplace I need to go, but I don't. Living show to show can be hard. I would like to do two shows a year or so. I did two this year--both kids' musicals. I hope to get into "Enchanted April" next year. I'm going for Rose. She is my age and has an interesting transformation in the play. In some ways, she comes the farthest. I really want to work with Mary Job--she does such good work. I'm also going to look at Light in the Piazza and see if there's a role for me. Jane Falion came to the show and sat by herself on the s.r. side. She was the only one in that section. I wondered "Who is that?" and accidentally looked right at her. Real professional. Oh well.
Tomorrow I'm working with the boys, preparing lessons, going to the gym, and getting maintenance done on my car. So for now I'll say...
Hanging up now....
This week I am back at it at work. I worked with both boys today although I was scheduled to work with just Paul. I brought a kids' magazine for Beda and me to look at, and I'm glad I did, because working with him was kind of impromptu. Paul and I had a decent discussion. I think I make him nervous. I wish I could engage him more. Beda is great to work with. We always have lots to talk about. I may be working with both of them tomorrow night, depending on how it goes after they get their flu shots.
I have to plan a vocab lesson for Dami. I will look through the books I have and pick something good. Last time we did poetry words and compound words. I want her to understand how words are made. Knowing the poetry terms will help her as she moves into her poetry unit at school. She will have a jump on the other kids.
I have given Karthik the task of reading "The Jungle Book." He read ahead and I don't want to discourage this, but I need to keep engaging him. I have this month's "Stone Soup" for us to read. I might have him do some writing on his own--maybe a poem or something like that. Maybe he could even send it in.
I have good news and bad news on the body stuff. The bad news is that the scale says I weigh 162. Stephanie says this could be PMS. I also know I have been a little lax with treats backstage and late-night eating after the show. But the good news is I have some tops that are fitting better. A shirt that I plain couldn't fit into is fine now and a top that was tight across my chest and arms now hangs like it's supposed to. And the best part is my Renfaire bodice. I have two: a smaller leather one I got when I weighed about 145 and a larger cloth one. Summer 2008 I just barely fit into the leather one. Summer 2009 I didn't come close to fitting into it and just barely fit into the cloth one (this was really demoralizing, since this one was bigger.) I tried on the leather one the other day just for shits and giggles and it fit even better than it did in '08! It is comfortable now. Yay!
I know I talk a lot about body stuff and that may seem obsessive. I just want to be healthy. People say I don't look like I weigh 160 and I appreciate it. In general, I like the way I look. But I would like to be smaller overall and weigh less. And I want to make healthy eating choices and work out on a regular basis.
Dad lost three pounds! I don't know how long it's taken him to do it, but I know he hadn't lost any weight when I talked to him last week. Part of it is he is weighing himself on different scales--there is the scale at the gym and the scale at the doctor's (the one that showed the loss.) I think he may have lost even more--he doesn't weigh himself first thing in the morning. I try to weigh myself before Interval every week, to get as close to accurate as I can.
I will really miss BT. I'm sitting here feeling like I have someplace I need to go, but I don't. Living show to show can be hard. I would like to do two shows a year or so. I did two this year--both kids' musicals. I hope to get into "Enchanted April" next year. I'm going for Rose. She is my age and has an interesting transformation in the play. In some ways, she comes the farthest. I really want to work with Mary Job--she does such good work. I'm also going to look at Light in the Piazza and see if there's a role for me. Jane Falion came to the show and sat by herself on the s.r. side. She was the only one in that section. I wondered "Who is that?" and accidentally looked right at her. Real professional. Oh well.
Tomorrow I'm working with the boys, preparing lessons, going to the gym, and getting maintenance done on my car. So for now I'll say...
Hanging up now....
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