When students show improvement

Thursday, I again fell asleep before updating this blog. Super busy evening after school. But I did have 2 related moments that made me smile. I think I may have posted something similar already, but when my students are succeeding, I am ecstatic! I have a group of 5th graders who are truly excelling and listening to them play makes me so happy. I love listening to them get better and better. I had a moment during their class that I thought to myself "I must be crazy because I'm enjoying the sound of 5th grade band kids right now...."

Then later in the day I had a private flute student. She has come so far. When she started she was a timid player and now she is doing so well. We are starting to work on strengthening her tone and it's just so enjoyable to hear the player she has become now!! 

Thankful for students that don't drive me crazy!!

Post Dinner party

Well, my Pampered Chef party went off just as well as I was hoping!! Everyone seemed to have a good time, and my consultant made some sales. The whole thing went so well that I collapsed into bed after doing a little cleaning up! I am thankful for my friends, yet again. They were such wonderful company. It was also fun to bring together some different groups of people. My consultant and one friend are Teachers with me, then I had two of my swimming/triathlon friends, then mixed in many of my sailing friends. Couldn't ask for more!
I am also pretty happy that my black bean chocolate cookies went over fairly well. I wasn't 100% sure about them, but people seemed to like them!!

Pre Dinner Party Excitement

My mom was someone who could be quiet, or the most social person you can imagine. She truly loved having a good time. That included going out to a regatta party, having a few friends over, throwing a holiday dinner, or hosting the annual "onion soup" party at Put in Bay. I like to believe I am pretty similar to her!! So tomorrow, I am hosting a pampered chef party. And what I am excited about most is having people over for a dinner party!! I know part of the deal is the consultant will make a dish, and so I made some apps and a dessert, and am supplying drinks. But as I am getting ready, I realized how happy it is making me to have friends over  for a little party! I am busting out the good china (since I try not to use disposable plates if i can help it) and maybe even the good silver.
Tonight my final thought before heading to bed is maybe I should throw dinner parties more often!! (and we will see if I still feel this way tomorrow at this time! 

Sometimes practice goes by quickly

After a pretty intense workout yesterday, my body was feeling a little sore today. Legs stiff from the hills and upper back stiff from swimming sprints. But still headed to swimming practice tonight to hopefully stretch out. Coach bob kept us moving all night. There was no downtime in the workout, so although it was a little exhausting, it was definitely a workout that you couldnt keep looking to see how much time. So I have to admit the tough workout wasn't bad. Made practice move quickly. Even the 8x25 fly at the end went quickly!!

Now bedtime so I can get up and do a bike trainer workout in the morning!!

Friends who encourage

I think I might have written about this already, but today I'm again thankful for friends who encourage and push me. This morning I joined the CSU tri team practice. I am not a runner, and was way behind everyone, and suffered on the hill repeats, but I made it, and had friends supporting me and encouraging me the whole time. It's a lot harder to walk when you know people are watching you!! (I had to walk a little but found it in me to get back to running after a few seconds each time!)

While I was running down one of the hills (let's face it, I wasn't thinking much while going up...!!) I thought why on earth did I think I wanted to do this, but then realized it's all for the feeling after, and my friends told me I could do it!! So although it's completely my choice, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been running in and out of "the pit" downtown at 830 this morning!! Thanks ladies!!

Wonderful sunshine!

Had a nice Saturday. Swam this morning, then went to a friends pampered chef party. When I realized how close her new house is to mine, I thought, hey the sun is out, it's warming up, I should bike there!! My only hesitancy was the possibility of ice on the roads, but after getting some confirmation that I should do it, just be careful, I bundled up and headed out the door! The two things I didn't consider were the intense wind, and the fact that it would be mostly uphill all the way to her house! Plus I took my hybrid comfy bike since it has slightly bigger tires than my road bike. Made for a tough ride there, but really enjoyable. I should have gone for a further ride when I was leaving, but decided to just head home. Gotta love Cleveland weather, it's gonna be back down to single digits later this week!!

Anyways, I'm thankful for the short break in weather. Nothing beats a little sunshine and temps above freezing! 

Re-newed excitement

My friends and I have spent a fair amount of time during this "off season" and cold winter months planning out our race season. For me this includes sailing, triathlons, running and swimming... a lot going on! And I will admit lately I have had a hard time getting motivated to work out. Sure, I will head to masters swim practices, but I have not been motivated for 5am workouts yet, and have not spent as much time on the bike trainer as I should be.
Tonight I headed to the Cleveland Triathlon Club winter/spring meeting. While seeing mostly all new faces, we heard a speaker who is the author of a book about the internal workings of doping in the pro cycling ring. The book sounds fascinating, and is now on my must read list! (The Secret Race by Daniel Coyle and Tyler Hamilton)

But also, there was a social aspect of the night. After the meeting and book reading, we got our membership cards and headed next door for food and drink. Met some new people, and hung out with old. And in listening to other people, I think I have found some of my motivation back. Being around all these other people who are decidedly more crazy than I am, I am excited and feel guilty at the same time about the upcoming season. Excited for everything to come, guilty that I have been so lazy lately! But with both of those feelings in there, hopefully I can get some more workouts in regularly and not just wait for someone else to say "hey lets go!!"