Laundry?

Post college, I lived in an apartment for about 4 years. While I truly loved my place, I absolutely dreaded carting my laundry down 4 floors to the building laundry room. I was always needing quarters, and needed to time my loads so that I didn't run the risk of someone taking my stuff out! 

When we bought our house it came with a working washer and dryer. Woohoo!! It still makes me so happy to have my own laundry machines. I don't mind throwing a load in. I am thankful for the luxury that I realize not everyone has. And even more thankful for the ability in my life to buy the clothes that I need. 

Now if only I was thankful to fold laundry...!!

volunteering at my old Middle School

My godmother is the middle school band director at the same school i went to 14 years ago. She was teaching choir when i was there, but has now moved into band. Between her and the band director I had at the time, they created the most amazing memories I have. The two of them are part of the reason I became a music teacher, and band director. They were so influential on my life. So over my spring break this year, I thought it would be great to head back to my old school and volunteer and help out with my godmom. It was a great day. I helped with a bunch of small groups of students getting ready for solo and ensemble contest in a few weeks. And I think I made the day a little smoother for my godmother. I also know how excited she was to have me come in! 

I am thankful for the teachers that shaped me and felt wonderful to pay it back!

spring break feels nice

Spent my first day of spring break relaxing. Had a plan of some school yearbook work, and cleaning.. but that did not happen! instead, I watched netflix, relaxed, and had a great day! First time i got dressed was when i headed to swimming at 7pm! :-) Not very often i get to do that. I am thankful for netflix!

First in age group!

Sunday morning I competed in an indoor triathlon, run by our local triathlon club. I went into it with just a goal of going hard, not getting injured and seeing how i did! I always feel pretty strong about my swim, and picked a lane mate I am used to swimming with. (thanks EJ!) We had a 3rd girl in our lane, but she was easy to swim with.

After a pretty solid swim (1175 meters in 20 min, i was aiming for 1200) had a pretty solid bike (9 miles in 20 min) So it was time for the run. My least favorite part! But after a few laps around the indoor track, i settled in and felt pretty strong. I knew i just needed to keep it up for 20 min!

In the end, i pushed myself and felt pretty good. best part.... actually placed in my age group! 1st place in the 30-49 females! WOOHOO Now i realize the results aren't important, its more about how i feel, and personal times/distances. But it still feels nice to get a certificate recognizing a great performance!!

Regular Saturdays

I love Saturdays. Especially Saturday mornings. It's usually the day I get the most done. This Saturday was nothing special in the long run, but so much made me happy that I was kinda on a high all day!! 

Started with a great swim practice, breakfast at one of my favorite places, buying cycling shoes, bike workout, then my favorite 3 year olds bday! It was a busy day, but enjoyable! Super excited about my new bike shoes, can't wait to put them to good use!! Thankful for the opportunity to do things I enjoy!! 

Spring break

Today was a good day. And there's not much more to say than, I am thankful for spring break!!  I am looking forward to using the time to relax, and get some work done as well as some workouts! 

Tonight I am also thankful for friends to eat sushi with and see plays at Cleveland playhouse!!!

Running with friends

Thursday I brought in the first day of spring with a 5am 5 mile run with one of my closest friends! I appreciate her friendship and support because I know my running speed is no where near hers, but she runs with me anyways! She has helped me tremendously and as long as I keep working at it, I should continue to get faster!! 

I am thankful for her presence in my life, as well as the weather starting to warm enough to allow 5am outdoor runs!!

Lessons falling into place.

I am officially at that bittersweet time of year that marks the end so close! It's awesome because you realize how quick summer will be here, but scary to a music teacher with performances because they come up quick, and then can be stressful for the teacher trying to come up with lessons for the end of the year! I am all of the above. 3/4 of my students will have performances coming up, so it's getting into crunch time for that, but then I have 2 general music classes that I was struggling with how to end the year. And then it all worked out!!

A couple years ago a friend sent me a book about music class Olympics. I have perused it and used a game or two, but never dove into the full "Olympic" aspect. But then I realized, wait, there are enough games, I have enough students and enough time that we could really make this work!! So Tuesday I presented the new unit to my students. I randomly assigned teams and had them select countries to represent and played our first game. I also explained that after spring break they would be making posters for their countries. The kids seemed pretty into it. They picked some great countries to represent and full participated in our "rhythm relay race". I am actually really excited to continue this unit and use it as a culminating event for our year!!

Thankful my 5th graders are on board with the idea!!

Run to the lake

Tuesday I actually had an evening free and the sun was shining, so I decided to lace up and go for a run over to Lakewood park to check out the lake and do some hill repeats on the ramp down to a waterfront promenade. I love that lake. And honestly could stare at it for days. I love that it always looks a little different. In the summer it has different winds, waves, colors and in the winter (this winter especially) there is ice that comes and goes. 

I used to have an apartment with a view and would at least catch a glimpse daily. Now I've realized I go a few days without seeing the water sometimes. But I am thankful that it is only a mile away to get an amazing view! I am thankful that I am able to live so close to such an amazing natural wonder such as a "Great Lake" and can see it so often and appreciate it's beauty!!

sailing!

It's been a long cold winter, and to be honest, I have enjoyed it. However, it was great to get away and go sailing this weekend. I ended the season back in November at an Ultimate 20 regatta at Lake Norman, North Carolina, and it's fitting that I started the new season at the same club! I am thankful for friends who also sail, and invite me to come along to regattas and race with them. We drove down to NC (thankful for the uneventful smooth drive). Went out to dinner and laid low. Over the weekend I was thankful for sunshine! The temps weren't too bad (better than Cleveland), and we got some great racing in! Another huge plus to the weekend, was the generous club member who offered us to stay at his lake house, which was literally 2 houses away from the club. So easy to go back and forth!
We won the event, and had a really nice weekend away before driving back into the snow in West Virginia. At least the snow was clear in Ohio. Sunday Night, I was happy to have the experience. I think sometimes it's easy to forget about how much you enjoy something when you haven't gotten to do it in 4 months!

Tonight, I am happy that my report card grades are done, and we have 4 days left till spring break! The End of the year is approaching WAY too quickly!!

Whirlwind week again

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that yet again I slacked off. I need to get back in the habit of posting every day! I'm already tired tonight so I'll try to keep it short.

Tuesday, we had another dinner party/fish fry. Corey and his dad were crazy successful with fishing this past weekend and we needed people to eat all the walleye!! 10 people later and about 6 lbs of walleye, everyone was happy. I am thankful for friends helping do dishes afterwards. I have survived without a dishwasher for about 6 years now, and although there are days it sucks, it's nice to have friends help out after dinner for 10!!

Wednesday, I won't even say I was thankful for the snow day. Although I caught up on sleep, it was frustrating to lose a rehearsal day one day before a concert! So instead, I'll focus on the evening. Went to playhouse square with some friends again. This time to see Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat. I am in love with the theater district here in Cleveland. Such high level shows for cheap and beautiful theaters to see them in! Can't get much better. And I am super thankful I have friends to go with me when Corey isn't interested! 

Today, was my winter/spring concert with my 7/8th graders at one school. I have a pretty unbalanced ensemble, but some very talented kids. We had a couple songs that could have crashed, but they pulled through! Overall it was actually a great concert!! Thankful for my students!!

Organization

Spent some time today cleaning the kitchen in preparation for our little fish fry tomorrow! 

My biggest goal was to get all my new pampered chef stuff put away and find it homes! I succeeded! We have an ok size kitchen, with a fair amount of storage but some of it is slightly unusuable. (High shelves, corner cabinets) but I am happy to say that for the first time in far too long I removed everything and started over. Now just to see how long it all lasts!!

Weekends don't get much better!

Well one thing is for sure, I am bad about writing daily during the weekends. But yet again another great weekend with friends. I feel like I am getting repetitive! So I will try to focus on some newer topics. 

Friday, I had an indoor workout planned with the girls, but we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and do a run outside first. I am thankful for sunshine!! Friday was one of those "glorious" spring days! Weather was up to 45, sun was shining! It was a great change to the cold cloudy days we have had so much of. (Personally I love winter, but I won't complain about warmer weather either!)

Saturday, after a tough swim practice, I headed to a new brunch place. I am thankful for where I live. I absolutely love living on the west side of Cleveland. There is always stuff going on (saw the irish band Gaelic storm later that night) and there are endless options for GREAT food! This brunch took us to the new "jack flaps" which as the name may suggest, specializes in pancakes (and wonderful waffles). I am lucky enough to have great friends who share their food so we all got to sample a little of each other's choices! So good!!

Today was a swim meet and house stuff. Meet went well, got to travel there with the same girls I spent all weekend with, and we cheered each other on. We all did respectably and were super supportive of each other no matter whether the race was a personal best or not! Came home to relax and meal plan for the week. 

Today I am thankful for my new kitchen gadgets from pampered chef! From the party I hosted 2 weeks ago, I scored some great stuff, and got to use it for the first time tonight. Loving my deep covered baker and garlic press!! Can't wait to make some awesome meals! 

This week is promising to be busy, but hopefully rewarding!

change of pace

Today I had the first day all week I could relax after work. Went to walk my friends dog, and then came home to have some dinner and lo and behold, a NAP! A glorious nap!! I haven't had one of those in weeks! Things have been so non stop for a while now. And next week will probably be similar. Luckily spring break is only 2 more weeks away! Today I am thankful for a different day. For a day that was not as crazy as some of the days I've had. For a split second tonight, I even debated on going to swimming. But once I really woke up, I realized "of course i need to go to swimming!" What made swim practice even better... we played a little modified Water Polo! We did a workout for the first 30 min or so, then the coach invited anyone who wanted to, to play some polo in the dive pool. Now, I know very little about the rules, but I get the basics, and we just play for fun, so of course I was one of the first people to switch pools. It's fun to change it up at practice once in a while! I was also able to get some advice from one of our coaches on an event I am swimming sunday at a meet, that is not a normal event for me. So hopefully I can make him happy! As long as I finish respectably, I will make myself happy!

Family dinners

I had all intention of catching up 100% last night on the blog, but I think I might have actually fallen asleep WHILE typing on my phone! Oops!! We had a visit from one of Corey's brothers. We haven't seen him in over a year, and he was in town for work. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for some great food and beer, then headed to a nearby bar for a bit. Although it was a late night, it was wonderful catching up with him. It makes me realize how important family and friends are. Even as I am typing this, I am realizing that so many of my posts this year have been about family and friends. Having those people near and far, sometimes next door, sometimes a phone call away can make all the difference. I have been pretty fortunate to be fairly close to my own extended family. Uncles and Aunts, cousins and beyond have been a fairly large part of my growing up. And when I lost my mom 2 years ago some of those family members became even more important to me! I also am glad that I get along with corey's family. From day one, his parents and brother seemed to like me, and we have had good times, even if its not often.

The highlight of today was signing up and starting the plans for a girls weekend in Chicago for a 5k swim! I have met some incredible girls from swimming, and we have started to really enjoy time together. Even just this weekend we have some great workouts, eating and a swim meet planned! Along with my family, these friends have helped keep me sane! Just when I thought I was going to fall asleep during a staff meeting, I rallied and hit the pool with these girls, and finished the night out with a great workout!! Can't wait to travel with them this summer!!

Busy days make me tired

I have been lazy in posting, mostly because I have collapsed into bed each night and not remembered till the next morning that I did not post. And at that time, I am usually driving and can't do anything about it! So although my goal was not to do this, I am gonna combine a few days into one post.

Sunday: during the day, I helped Corey finish his ice shanty. We endeded up having more work to do than we thought. In a way, I am thankful for the island life. When we weren't sure about our finish time, I was able to text message the airplane pilots wife and see about a later flight. Only on PIB are plane flights that easy to schedule!! She was able to bump us back 30 min and we had just enough time to pack and relax before heading home! 

Monday: made it through a school day pretty uneventfully. I feel like in order to point out a happy/thankful moment I need to explain that I really dislike lunch duty first. Now, this is not about the complaint, I recognize it's something I can't change, but I hate the loudness, the unstructured environment. On the plus side, I deal with 6-8th graders so ours is maybe a little more controlled than others, but I feel we rule with iron fists in order to keep our sanity. So.... My thankful thought is yet again about my students. To be specific, my band students. Often times when lunch duty ends I am in an awful mood, but lately, 15 min later when my class strolls on, I an able to push away the bad mood! My students help me keep my sanity after I feel like I am losing my mind after the loud lunch duty. So thank you students for helping me!

Ice shanty construction

I am not exactly the most handy person when it comes to building things, but I can get around a workshop and measure, hold, pass whatever may be needed. Corey is working on an ice shanty. So he enlisted my help this weekend. Although I probably spent more time being frustrated all of Saturday. I am trying to find the positive. So my result is that I am thankful I can be handy enough to help out when needed. I stay away from the circular saw, but at least I can help in other ways. 

Dads birthday

Friday was my fathers 73rd birthday. So I came up to the island to visit him. I believe it's his first birthday ever on this tiny island! Arrived in the evening and Corey was working on his ice shanty. But I was able to sit down and have a casual nice dinner with dad. It's nice that he enjoys cooking and is excited when he has people to cook for. If you know me well, you know that I take any good days with my dad! He and I have gone through a lot losing my mom almost 2 years ago. And I think we have learned how to best put up with each other! :-) I am thankful for those moments where I can just sit and relax with him. Unfortunatly, due to Corey's ice shanty project, I didn't get to hang out with dad as much as possible. I was needed to help with construction.