I really try to squeeze in exercise whenever I have a little extra energy. Lately I joined a gym, but sometimes I just go for walks. Sometimes it's easier for me to walk early in the morning. Last fall, I got up early one day to go for a walk. I popped my airpods into my ears and cranked up some music, pulled on a jacket and clipped on Leo's leash. We took off out the door and down the hill. We were gone for 40 minutes, stomping and frolicking around the park in the dark.
When I got home, Jeremy was wide awake and waiting for me. I had been in such a hurry to get on with the walk that I forgot to shut off the alarm. I was going off for so long that the police showed up. I hadn't shut the door all the way, so they let themselves in and were looking around, calling out to see if anyone was home....Jeremy was in such a deep sleep, that he didn't hear the alarm or the alarm company calling his phone. Finally, he heard a call from the neighbor go through...the neighbor who was watching the police go into the house....and listening to the alarm. When he opened the bedroom door, he was in quite a state of shock to see two cops in the living room. He wasn't mad, but it wasn't the best way to start the day..... This week, two Joplin cops were killed in a shootout. It was very sad....because things like that don't really happen here, and especially not around the corner from our house. When I heard about the shootout, I thought of those cops showing up to our house that morning, not knowing what they would find once they got inside...they were just responding to a false alarm, but it could've been something really scary and they showed up to serve and protect. It was a sad week for the JPD, and I am thankful to the men who show up to keep us safe every day.
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We rarely get a day like today....74 degrees, sunny, low humidity, light breeze. After a few chores, errands and yard work, I declared that I wanted to spend the afternoon reading in the sun with a glass of rose and some charcuterie snacks.
So I ran to the store, got the wine and the snacks, changed into a sundress, and plopped down into a red banana chair, which promptly closed me up inside. Spent a couple of hours rotating from the daybed to the banana chair: sun/shade/sun/shade...soaking up the relaxation. I found a really cool poetry book over the weekend, I've been inspired to write a poetry book lately....Is it weird that I am interested in writing poetry and making art that nearly no one will see or read? I also looked at another book that a student gave me about being a witch.--embracing your inner female witch. And manifesting everything you want to happen in your life. Its funny that she got me the book...on the weekend of the Spring Equinox and a full moon.... On the field trip this weekend, I leaned in to rumors that 'Mrs. Mitchell is a witch'...someone suggested that I put a hex on them...and we had a good laugh about that. All in all, it was a lovely day and I am so glad to have had it. List from 2016:
---Ride in a hot air balloon ---Ride in a sea plane ---Visit Spain, Germany, France ---Go scuba diving (again!) ---Take a road trip to Santa Fe ---Stay in a really cool place in Palm Springs ---Go on a hike and camp in the mountains ---Visit Michigan and drive up the coast looking at Lighthouses ---Go to New England and eat lobster for every meal ---Go to New York City in spring (again, but after flowers bud) DONE: —road trip to Santa Fe —ride a hot air balloon —visit Michigan and drive up the coast looking at light houses —go on a hike an camp in the mountains (in Taos) Still need to do: —sea plane —visit Spain, Germany, France —scuba (again) —Palm Springs —New England —NYC I have a post percolating about how the algorithm knows me.
Does it know me better than I know myself? If I give everything a 'star' rating, can AI predict what I will like or not like? I recently read the Reality Bubble and the author talks about how the algorithm that tracks your actions across all of your internet activity knows you better than your friends or family. To test that theory, I started putting in star ratings on Movie Lens, and then watching the movies it suggested for me based on all the movies I had rated so far. I have now rated 300 movies and the top choices for me to watch are Valkyrie and Run Lola Run. Previously, after about 150-200 ratings, it suggested:
I loved the Anthropocene Reviewed book in which John Green gives ratings to all of the things in his life.....the entire book is a tribute to the good/bad and why they deserve between 1-5 stars, in his opinion. I recently downloaded the app: Likewise, which allows me to give ratings to podcasts, books, and tv&movies, and will perform the same sort of suggestions as to what I might like. I wish there was a way to tie it into my Goodreads account, because I've rated hundreds of books on there. Is it bad that the internet knows so much about me? What kind of information does my online persona reveal about me? Today I am taking my first overnight trip with students. I've got 19 teenage girls signed up to go to Kansas City for two nights, and boy are we all so excited.
It is St. Patrick's day so we've go our green shirts ready. On the itinerary: the Plaza for shopping, KCAI, the Nelson-Atkins, the Kemper, Main event, the Kansas City Museum and a few galleries on Saturday. I slept terribly last night, try as I might not to worry about every little thing, my mind was telling me to bring random things like tampons and bandaids and henna. It might rain so I was stressing about what shoes to wear. Its always about the 'stuff' and I'm a 'stuff' and I focus on the details quite a lot.... I think we have everything ready though....I have my sub plans done...for this afternoon since we are leaving at 1:00 and for Friday and I'm also going to be gone the Monday after spring break, so I had quite a lot to prepare 'substitute-wise'. I've got some last minute packing to do today, wish me luck! So I decided to take an early shower this evening, instead of changing out of my work clothes into a comfy clothes, I wanted to get right into my PJs….but yesterday, I forgot that when I dried off, the corner of my towel flopped into the toilet and I had to use my husbands towel….so I decided run a load of towels in the washer.
Basically ALL of the towels IN THE HOUSE were in the dryer at the other end of the house because I haven’t been home to do laundry all week. I hollered for hubby to bring me a towel because I was getting into the shower and he was like: “okay! Got it!” But in a really distracted, ‘I’m busy, glad you are taking a shower but why are you telling me’ kinda way….. So I got in the shower and I kept waiting for him to bring me a towel. But he never did….so I had to dry off with a little hand towel. 😂 KC trip reminders
I have spent a significant amount of time laying awake worrying about all the things that could go wrong. But I've also been day dreaming about how fun it will be. Also, the girls that are going have helped me make it through the pandemic and I can't wait to tell them how much they mean to me. It has been a hard couple of years to be in education, but those students have made it special for me. This is the time of year I try to work backwards.
-finals—advanced classes, take photos of work for google slides, Art 1 written test on quizziz -induction ceremony—send emails, make list of kids -art room inventory new stuff -art show/competition for just high school-get judges -paint USA mural-get bus and sun and order supplies -spring conference—prep art and sub plan -art show for k-12 -sub plan next week -KC trip - reminder packing list email Only 10 more Mondays until summer! Last night we hosted a dinner party. I made red-wine braised short ribs and colcannon. Jeremy made Reuben egg rolls stuffed with: corned beef, and Swiss cheese air fried and dipped in thousand island dressing. Luckily for our snow day, I made the corned beef the day before and we had corned beef, cabbage and potatoes for dinner Friday night, and there was plenty leftover for the appetizer.
Stacey brought pastries from the Forest + Field Bakery and made Irish soda bread. It wasn't so much of a party as just a food-coma inducing meal. We picked up a local Irish Keltoi wine. The short ribs were absolutely delicious, I will definitely make them again, even though they were a lot of work. The reviews said to make them a day ahead, and I'm really glad we did because it was a lot of dishes to wash and took a long time for them to cook. I don't mind meals that require a lot of prep, but it is exhausting to do all that work and then try to relax. It was nice to just pop them into the oven and reheat....also, I made the colcannon early in the morning and I popped it into the oven to reheat too. I like to make it with cabbage and spinach. The cooked ribs made the most amazing gravy. Between the butter on the potatoes, the fatty gravy and the butter on the bread, I know I way over did it last night. The meal was very filling and rich. The only change in the recipe was using 2 onions and 1 leek....and I didn't quite use a whole bottle of wine. Oh, and I only had curly parsley but I did sprinkle it with flat leaf parsley before serving. I made the colcannon pretty much as listed in the recipe, with butter and cream and cabbage and green onions but I did add the spinach too because I like the extra color. I am planning to use the extra potatoes to make a Shepards pie. So no, I'm not Irish, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy Irish food. I like to do the same thing with French, German, Italian, and Greek dinner party menus. What are some other menus we could explore in the future? I forgot to take a pic of the food, but I did have fun setting up my table with my new dishes and even broke out the fancy silverware. A couple of years ago, I read Daniel Pink's Book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. In the book, he talks about how people are likely to make big changes in their health or habits before a big birthday....they are more likely to take up running or start training for a marathon at age 29 or 39 or 49, because they are on the cusp of a new decade.
Yesterday, I had a snow day at school and I joined a gym by my house. For a year, I've driven past this gym and felt contempt in my soul...literally thinking about the people inside being losers for working out at that given hour....didn't they have anything better to do? This year, we've had so many snow days (that feel like quarantine) that I decided I needed another place to go besides my house whenever I have a day off. It does get kinda lonely at home. But more than that, I have been feeling like I have lots of extra energy when I wake up in the morning and it will be nice to have a place that is open 24/7 so that I can go and get moving first thing in the morning. I don't have a lot of goals for my health other than I want my clothes to fit better and I don't want to have guilt when I eat junk food (because I'll be working out). Also, I want to sleep better, so I'm hoping the extra exercise will help with that. |
Mrs. Mitchell
This is my 'slice of life' blog. Archives
March 2020
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