Thankful Thursday, 7.19

Here is a list of some of the things I am thankful for today:

1 The health and fitness blogging community

…for all of the positive feedback to the post I wrote yesterday about the “Survive on 35” challenge.  Thank you for all the emails, tweets, retweets, and positive comments!

2 Alief ISD

…the district that I work for, for its dedication to furthering our education as teachers, and providing awesome professional developments that we actually look forward to going to…and don’t fall asleep through.  Matter of fact, today’s session was riveting and I learned a lot of valuable information that will reinforce and improve my teaching!

3  Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer, for:

-         writing an extremely useful book, which helped to make my 11^th year of teaching that much more fun and rewarding, by enabling my ability to share my LOVE for reading and books with my students

-         helping me, to feel like for the 1^st time ever I genuinely instilled that same love for reading into my children (I mean, they were even asking their parents for Nooks and Kindles for Christmas this year!)

-         being a captivating speaker

She had our full attention!

          -         having a marvelously witty sense of humor

-         for making the seven hours pass like it was 30 minutes

-         for conducting the professional development session like it was all of us teachers just sitting around talking shop, and for…well…

-         sitting around talking shop with me and my two friends and co-workers, Kim and Alicia, after everyone else had already left  

-         saying – and I think it’s testament to just how down-to-Earth she is – (when I asked her to pose for a picture with me) – “I’m a regular teacher just like you!”

-         oh, yeah, and for posing for said picture with me:

Me with Donalyn Miller.  Lucky me!

4 Having great co-workers that I truly enjoy working with!

I was looking forward to seeing them today, and even got to enjoy a tasty sushi lunch with three of them – Kim, Alicia, and Michelle.  These ladies are not just co-workers, they are friends too, and I feel fortunate because I know that not everyone is blessed enough to be able to say that!  Kim and Michelle are fellow teachers – and believe me when I say they are pros and I have learned so much from hem and hope to be as least half as good as teacher as they are one day!  Alicia is our librarian and she has done a phenomenal job of stocking our library with the latest and greatest in children’s and young adult literature!  When I want a good book to read, or an honest opinion of one, she is my go-to gal.  Today’s session – and Donalynn Miller’s belief in giving kids time to actually read and enjoy books – was exactly what we all expected and more!

5 Naps

…because after staying up waaaaay too late last night, and tossing and turning all through the night for fear I would oversleep, and actually getting dressed and having to be somewhere all day – a routine I have fallen out of now that I am enjoying my summer off – I was able to come home and take a nice l o o o o n g  nap!!!  Which was a good thing, too, because on the way home I knew I would have to wait to run because the sky looked like this:

Hello, Mother Nature!

I love naps, though sometimes it seems my naps are so long and deep, they’re actually more like hibernation!  I woke up rested and refreshed and ready for my night run with Bella.

Bright eyed and bushy-tailed and ready for my run!

My Bella-bo-Bella!

Yes, I did it again!  I slept so long that I had to go for another night run.  Unlike the last time, though, this one wasn’t as late.  Here are Bella and I’s stats from our run:

She’s getting better and better at actually letting me run!

 

6 Murphy Family Reunion

Tomorrow we will be meeting my father’s side of the family in College Station (WHOOP!!!) for the annual Murphy Family Reunion.  I am looking forward to a weekend filled with family, fellowship and good food…and I can’t wait!!!  The bonus is that the reunion is in my old stomping grounds since I AM AN AGGIE (Fighting Texas Aggie Class of 2001 – WHOOP!!) and going to College Station always feels like going home!  I am so ecstatic and I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep (again) tonight because of the excitement!!!!!

I am definitely blessed to be blessed, and am thankful for all the wonderful things in my life!

Five Questions for you:

1. What things are you thankful for today? 
2. Have you ever read Donalyn Miller’s “The Book Whisperer”?
3. How long do you usually sleep when you take a nap?
4. Any AGGIES out there? What was your major and what year did you graduate?
5. Any other teachers out there?  What do you teach and what age group?

Sometimes it's the small blessings that matter the most

Before I get started, I want to update you on my to-do list for today. 

I got my tapioca fix!!! Tonight I had a hot date with my daughter.  We headed to Kim’s Teahouse for our tapioca.  It was our first time visiting, even though I’d had drinks from there before.  I consider myself a tapioca connoisseur, and have had them from tons of different places around Houston.  This is definitely one of the best tapioca drinks I’ve ever had!  The place was really cute and felt really homey with all the comfy couches and chairs and the giant television screen hanging above the fireplace.  I had the #43 – Tapioca Green Tea with Cream, which is actually Jasmine green tea, my favorite.  My daughter had the #17 – Papaya Smoothie and we both got double shots of tapioca.  Both drinks were delicious and really hit the spot.  The service was impeccable; you can be sure we will definitely be going back soon!

Take a look at this goodness:

Green Tea with Cream and Papaya Smoothie

To-Do list item #3…check!  Items #2 and #4…check!  Items #1, #5, and #6…not so much.

I originally wanted to title this post “Workout Wednesday” since Wednesday is usually when I share my workout schedule for the week.  However, something happened today and I thought this title was more appropriate.  But more about that in a minute.  Since it is “WORK OUT WEDNESDAY”, I would like to share how I’ve laid out my runs, cross training, and weights for this week, along with the modifications I made:

Work Out Schedule (July 9 – July 15)
	Run	Cross Train	Weights
Monday  7/9	2	---	Whole body (emphasis on legs)
Tuesday  7/10	3	Zumba	Legs
Wednesday  7/11	2 3	Step Wasn’t feeling it today!	Whole body Wasn’t feeling it today!
Thursday  7/12	4	Zumba, Spin	---
Friday  7/13	5	Pilates	Arms
Saturday  7/14	3	Step	Chest/Back/ Shoulders
Sunday  7/15	6	---	---

 

Speaking of which, I want to talk about what happened to me during my workout today. 

I lounged around all day (go figure!) and this afternoon we got dressed to go eat and then grocery shop.  We don’t eat out very often but when we do, it’s almost always either Vietnamese, Chinese, Malaysian food or an occasional greasy hamburger. J  We ended up leaving later than intended and ate at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants.  When we were done, it was almost five, and since our butt-kicking Body Works class started in 45 minutes, I knew it wasn’t going to happen for me today.  Neither did grocery shopping, for that matter.

What did happen was a two-hour, deep-sleep, food-induced hibernation.  I woke up after seven and my hubs had gone onto the gym without me.  That was perfectly fine by me; I wanted to run outside and take advantage of the cool freshness caused by all the rain we’ve been getting this week.

I got dressed and headed out for a quick run.  When I walked outside it was lightly sprinkling and I turned back around to leave my phone and headphones inside. As it turns out, I would be running naked today; no music, no GPS tracking. I never do that!  I was panting within two minutes of the run, despite the nice cool weather, and could feel the food bouncing up and down in my stomach.  Why did I eat so much?!?!  Because the food was sooooo good, that’s why! 

Half a mile in I was struggling so much I decided to just do the minimum two miles and head home.  I just was not feeling it!!! It was gloomy and sprinkling, I had no music to distract me, my legs were sore from lifting yesterday, and I felt so sluggish.  I was ready to just hurry up and get this run over with. 

At mile 1.5, I turned the corner and looked to my left…and saw the most glorious sunset!  And it came absolutely out of nowhere!  It was as if all of a sudden the sky had opened up and there was the sun, with its golden rays shining, its light bouncing off of the dark clouds that surrounded it.  My first thought was, ‘I gotta take a picture of this!’ then quickly realized I didn’t have my phone.  I was so bummed!  Here was this beautiful sight and no way of capturing it.  So this must be how my husband feels every time he sees the perfect scene and realizes he left his camera at home.

I watched the sun set for about a minute and set off to continue my run, feeling better.  As I ran, I realized that had been no accident.  And had I decided not to run today after all, and come out when I did, I would have missed it entirely.  It was meant for me to see this sunset.  I’m not sure this is going to make much sense but it healed me. Seeing that beautiful sight literally made the pain, the sluggishness, all the negative, go away.  I ran on about another half mile, stopped at a stop sign to wait for a car to go thru, looked up, and what did I see? A rainbow.  A gigantic, perfectly arched rainbow that crossed the entire sky!  I chuckled to myself, looked up and said, ‘You’re right, I get it. Thank you!’ and kept going.  He really got his point across.

It never ceases to amaze me how He sends us signs that come at the perfect time.  And yet sometimes we miss those signs because we’re not even looking for them.  Sometimes we walk around so blind, bogged down by the stressors of everyday life, too focused on the here and now.  It makes me wonder, how many of these “sunsets” we miss everyday.  And we don’t have to miss them if we would just be a little bit more open.  If we would just remember to look up every now and then, and really watch and listen.  If we would just look at the world around us every now and then and pay more attention.  If we could just do these things, we’d be more likely to get a glimpse of something splendid put before us that He intended us to see.  We would receive more of these small blessings, just like I did today.  And sometimes it’s the small blessings that matter the most.

I realized then how ridiculous I had been.  Here I was, healthy and fit, and blessed to even be able to run.  And what was I doing the whole time?  Complaining, thinking negative thoughts, psyching myself out and ruining the experience. Shame on me!  I ran on, newly motivated and invigorated.

I finished up my run as it was getting dark and while I stretched, I said a little prayer giving thanks.  Thanks for the beautiful sunset, the perfect rainbow, but mostly for the attitude check and the gentle reminder to trust in Him.

It's funny, but so completely true, that sometimes it’s the smallest things that have the biggest impact.