I bought a giant container of oatmeal the other day, as I have been eating it from time to time lately. Really healthy for you and goes well with some of my fresh produce. Monday I decided I wanted to make some no-bake cookies. Didn't have a whole lot of chocolate on hand, so they are more peanut buttery - but I really enjoyed it. Plus, they are less unhealthy without the chocolate. Yum yum. Hannah was impressed. I'm not a very good baker, but these did not require any placing in the oven. haha Yummy little snack.
After the already scheduled day off on Monday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), started seeing some reports of a tropical depression that was expected to develop into a cyclone by midnight. None of the reports sounded too bad, though. The strongest wind predicted for where I live was 40mp , which was nothing compared to the 120mp they were predicting last time. Also, predictions of heavy rain. I woke up about 1:30am to some rather heavy rain and thought, "Oh maybe it is going to get closer this time." Not quite. Woke up at 6am to find that public schools were closed on Tuesday and to take precautions in case. The predictions as to what exactly would happen kept changing. Looks like our 3-day weekend just turned into a 4-day weekend.
Perfectly clear day on the island of Tutuila. Sounds like Manu'a (the outer islands) may have faced a little bit of the strong winds, but nothing major. Ended up being one of the clearest days we've had in a while. Wait, didn't we cancel school because of an impending cyclone? Precautionary, I guess. One nice day it turned out to be.
I decided to head out of the house around 11, stopping at the shopping center where I grabbed a chai tea latte at the Koko Bean Cafe. I saw a few of my football boys, and they came over and chatted with me for a while. They asked what I was up to, and I told them I might go head to Nu'uuli Falls. "By yourself?", they ask. "Yes, by myself. You guys know I do that a lot." They were contemplating joining me as they didn't think I should really walk by myself. Sheesh. haha I encouraged them to come along, though. I wish more of my students would get out and enjoy the beautiful island around them.
I figured I should eat a little something before heading out, so we moved over to Carls Jr., where I enjoyed a little serving of sweet potato fries. Then, off I went to Nu'uuli Falls with Isaiah and Filipo. Like I said it was really enjoyable for me to see some students actually going on a little nature walk and having fun. They all usually just talk about how bored they are on the weekends, minus doing chores.
Did the double Insanity workout that was on the schedule for Monday before sitting down working on a bit for school, catching up with some of my friends back home, and relaxing for the rest of the day.
Wednesday back to school, we went. Hannah and I had asked our field director to be our guest speaker this week. She gave a really nice presentation talking a little about what her current job is, a little about her family, asked all the students to introduce themselves, discussed her college experience, discussed a list of interests she has and the 6 jobs she has had since she graduated from college 4 years ago. Her big take home message was it is okay not to know what you want to do and encouraged them to try things out. Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm not sure what life has in store for me after this school year is complete. I'm really glad she came in and shared this with our students. She also thought it was cool how we were asking various community members and friends to come and share with our classes. She even helped us brainstorm a few more ideas.
Got the Insanity Cardio Abs in right after school. Then, I headed to church Wednesday night, where I ended up being recruited to be on kid duty during the sermon. That meant taking 9 kids between the ages of 1 and 7 back into the little kitchen and playing quietly. I think I learned I do not want to have 9 kids, at least not that close in age. haha Smooth sailing for the most part, a few criers, a few accidental hits, toys all over the floor, but hey we all made it back out safe and sound. :-) I do enjoy playing with the kids.
Thursday 6th period was actually rather decent. Some talked too much, but I was actually happy with most of them. Not a battle with them Thursday. 4th period however wasn't really paying attention to a single thing I said, so I decided they could just copy the notes and then do an assignment. Not worth my breath to try to explain things when only 2 out of 40 are actually listening to me. Switched my original lesson plan out to accomodate for this. 2nd period was fantastic, and we actually ended up having a really good discussion about the guest speaker series and how Wednesday went. They also asked me more questions about my plans, which are undecided. We didn't get through as much of the news article as some of my other classes, but this was perfectly fine. They were curious and asking questions, and we were having a nice conversation about it. I encourage this type of thinking any day. Interested, curious, asking questions. Yay!
Finally, I unintentionally participated in a little bit of a Workout Marathon Thursday after school. So, my Zumba class doesn't start until 4:30, and school releases at 3pm. I walked to McDonald's quick for a little ice cream cone because it sounded good, plus I only had a little bit of rice and a banana for lunch. Breakfast was great - yummy biscuit (I swear these wheat ones we get at school are some of my favorites) with some bananas.
So a little walk in before coming back to my classroom. I've been getting my Insanity workout in before Zumba class, but since today was just the Cardio Recovery, meaning lots of muscle stretching and holding poses, I decided to throw in some Cardio Abs before class with the intention of doing the Recovery stretches after I made it home from Zumba class. Nice Zumba workout as usual, and then when I asked Peteru (the instructor) for a ride home, he asked if I didn't mind coming to a class he was leading at 6:30 in Otttoville. He figure I'd be up for another workout. You betcha. Off to Ottoville we went, where he was leading a little bit of a tae-bo and Zumba combo workout to the Mormon church group in the village. Family event - there were kids, moms, grandmas, dads, uncles, etc.
I was the only palagi here, so I'm rather sure they all realized I was there. Part of the Zumba posse up front, thank you very much where some could follow me if they couldn't catch Peteru's every move up on the stage. There were some kids up front who kept smiling at me and trying to stand close to me as we worked out. haha, cute kids, so I gave them each a high five throughout and then talked to them a bit afterwards. Man was I sweating up a storm by the time we finished this session. Not much air flow in the gym we were in, which made me sweat more. It was fun to Zumba with a different crowd and add in the little tae-bo influence at the beginning before doing some of the regular songs I know every move to.
Finally, after arriving home feeling fantastic, I knew I still wanted to do the Insanity Recovery workout. Just a half hour of holding poses and stretching well. I almost thought about skipping it or doing it Friday morning instead, but nope that would not fit well with my goal and schedule. My muscles were a bit tired so it burned even more at some points but good feelings. Also, since I was already rather warmed up, I continued to drip sweat through these stretches. I don't usually too much while doing the recovery workout, but think I may have sweated gallons today. haha Thus, completed the workout marathon on Thursday, January 24th. Like I said, unintentional. The regular plan was simply Insanity Recovery and regular Zumba. Added a few more.
Side note I want to mention. Not sure if I posted this photo from my trip, but it is currently the background on my computer and I am really digging it. I took this photo on the island of Savai'i the night I spent in the air-conditioned hotel in Saleloga. I love the clouds and all the shades of blue.
I had some energy to work on this blog post, do some reading, and then I may eventually go to bed. haha Woot! Must be all the endorphins talking. Hope you all have a nice Friday and enjoy your weekend. Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment