Homework

Have you ever woken up at six in the morning just dying to do homework? Me neither, that's why I'm wondering if I'm sick or something.

This morning I got up, suddenly anxious/excited to write my ten page critical analysis of the recent Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland. It was a weird emotion...particularly weird because I've already written the paper once but decided last night that I wanted to re-write it. I've felt anxiety plenty of times in regards to homework but never excitement. Maybe this whole "secondary ed" program is rubbing off on me...

What was even weirder is that I wrote the entire thing in one sitting. I already had a bibliography and a few pages of "loose notes" (b/c that's what my professor wanted). Even so, usually it takes a couple tries for me to get it all out, but this time it just flowed. Which leads me to believe that the more you write, the easier it is. Or maybe I should always do a bibliography/"loose notes"/write a cruddy version of the paper I want to write first.

Why am I always so surprised when I actually learn something from school?...

Anyhow, I've also been thinking about the phrase "homework". I don't know about all y'all, but doing homework at home is like trying to read a book while skate boarding. It just doesn't work. There's too many distractions. I think when I'm a teacher I'll call it supplemental-work, or busy-work, or maybe work-you-don't-want-to-do-but-have-to-do-if-you-want-to-pass.

That is all.

Lake Powell!

LAKE POWELL!!!!!

We had a wonderful time! Wave runners, speed boats, tubing, skiing, hiking...it was fantastic! Here's a few pictures I snapped with the new, freaking awesome camera I got for my birthday (thank you dear).

Here are Emily and Casey, Blake's little Bro and Sis. They were a blast to have around! I love Emily's expression here!

It was early morning when Dell (Blake's dad) wanted to go solum skiing. Blake and I rolled out of bed, jumped in the speed boat, and I'm glad we did! Look how gorgeous the lake looks. I snapped these fantastic pics right as the sun was rising. They were so beautiful (and really show off Dell amazing skiing abilities) I had to include a few.

We hiked quite a distance to a land bridge from our house boat. In the picture below you can see Blake and I taking a snap shot. Below that how small Blake's grandpa looks on top of the cliff we hiked to, he's the little tiny bump at the very tippy top.

It was SO fun. I'm so glad Dell invited us. The houseboat was nice a comfy, the lake warm, the weather perfect...Ah...I'd love to go back right now!

Battle of the Bulge

My husband laughs when I say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. My "Battle of the Bulge" sometimes feels as hopeless as JRR Tolkein pitting a bunch of ignorant Hobbits against all the evil of Mordor, including an army of daemon-like Oarks, an all seeing eye, and a wizard gone wrong. Don't get me wrong, I've had success on diets but do I really want to eat celery and flavorless, cardboard-like, rice snacks for the rest of my life? NO, especially considering the fact that I'm ever so fond of cooking.

Anyhow, lately my battle has become less of a battle and more of a passive resistance...really passive. I've considered going back on one of the plethora of diets I've tried, but I'm really not feeling it. So I've decided to try a different approach. Instead of focusing on losing weight, I'm going to focus on being healthier. Rather than making a temporary diet change that lasts six or seven months, I'm going to attempt to make a lifestyle change. I guess my focus is going to be less of, I want to lose weight, and more of I want to feel good about myself and feel healtier. The following idea isn't something I came up with, actually it's the way a friend of mine (a dietitian) eats. I think I'll give it a try:

1-I can eat what I like, as long as I meet the following criteria:

a. Eat a carbless Breakfast-Since school started I haven't been eating breakfast. This wouldn't be so awful if it weren't for the fact that by lunch time I'm famished and will eat anything I can get my hands on (which is typically something unhealthy). I mostly don't want to resort to bagels and muffins (hence the carbless), I need to find something a little healthier to start my day.

b. Eat five servings of fruit/vegetables a day. If it's eight o'clock at night, and I'm craving something sweet but I've only had two servings of veg for the day I'd better belly up to a nice big bowl of the green stuff! 'Cause I can't eat my ice cream till I've met my daily quota.

c. Drink three 24oz water bottles/day.

2- It's really difficult to find time to workout when I'm at work or school from eight-seven, so I'm going to keep things nice and easy. Continue my three days/week but up my workout time from 20 minutes to 25 minutes and incorporate some weights on my elliptical machine.

So that's it! Bring on the epic battle of the bulge, I'm anxious to see what happens with these few guidelines.