I'm just not that into

...movies where single female characters make conscious decisions to pursue, sleep with and break up the marriages of males in the film.

We saw "He's Just Not that Into You" tonight at Town Center. It was a good chick flick for a Saturday night of light entertainment, but not sure I would pay $10 again to see it. We rarely go to movies during prime time of the weekend, so the talking/moving around and general rudeness of the teen population was a bit disappointing.

They're so good during the day at school - why do some of them turn into jerks while out in public?

I thought the film itself was just interesting enough to keep my attention, but overall, the story and characters were a bit thin - they were more like general stereotypes than well-developed individuals.

•••

Mitzi and I ran all over town today, not with our feet (unfortunately) but in the car. The plan was to get up, head to the high school, run laps around the halls. The athletes do this all the time when the weather is bad.

We got there, and I had everything I need EXCEPT my running shoes. Kinda needed those to get a 10-mile run done.

So, we went back to Mitzi's got cleaned up, and headed out to drum up donations for the silent auction. People must have felt sorry for us, since we were out driving and trudging through the three inches of snow on the ground.

We got a bunch of gift cards to local bars, and for a spa day - it was a great day all around for fundraising. Hopefully the items will draw some bids at the auction.

We spent about four hours soliciting donations today, so I'm glad we had some success. It's really hard to do when you have doors slammed in your face.

If you're in the KC area - join us at Red Robin on Monday, March 23 from 5-10 p.m. They'll be items up for bid, and 10 percent of food and drink purchases will be donated to Team in Training - get a great meal for a great cause!

The bad news about today was that because I'm an idiot and forgot my shoes, we did not get the run in. We've switched our Sunday rest day and Saturday long run day. So, you can find me on the stinkin' treadmill at Gold's Gym for about two hours tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too crowded.

Why won't the weather cooperate?

Last night, I ran 3.5 miles, and it was almost 7 p.m. when I was done. Today, when I left school, it was B E A utiful outside - sunny, no wind, car thermometer said 68 degrees.

This Saturday morning, the team is running 10 miles, and what's the weather forecast? SNOWY, windy, 30 degrees.

Seriously?

And, it's not just the I-don't-want-to-run-in-the-cold part that bothers me. I work in all day long in a classroom that's in the middle of our building, with no windows. I never know what the weather is like, or get to enjoy the nice days until after 5 p.m.!

Come on weather gods, give us some nice weather on the WEEKEND for a change.

Last Friday, some of my students and I traveled to Emporia State on the big yellow twinkie for their journalism regional contest. We had 13 students who qualified for state! So, those students will compete in May at KU. I'm so excited for them, and so happy that my students are so passionate and dedicated to what they do. All those wins makes our frozen bus ride worth it!

Seriously, when we trooped off the bus, most of us couldn't feel our feet - the heater wasn't working, and some of the windows wouldn't go all the way up and stay. Twenty degree temps and those bus factors makes for a bunch of student-cicles. I had brought along a book to read on the bus, but I gave up because I couldn't turn the pages wearing gloves, and I was so cold I didn't want to take my gloves off!

Just watched LOST - now it's time for bed. So, this one's short and sweet, but it IS an update...Who's watching LOST? What do you guys think? I can't decide what the hell is going on with Ben and Widmore. It's frustrating!

Adorable little French girl tells us a story...or, KITTENS, the French version

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Lose it!

While I was at Crop A Ganza a couple weeks ago, Kat told me about a new app she downloaded for her iPhone, called Lose It. It's a food and exercise tracker that you can use on the iPhone like a food journal.

I am not one to carry around a paper calendar, or notebook or journal with me everywhere I go, and that's one reason the iPhone is such a great tool for me. I always have my calendar and a way to make notes anywhere. So, I might actually get into this Lose It app.

Since I was sick last week, I didn't exercise AT ALL. Starting to feel a bit doughy around the edges. I've never been someone who has major weight issues - I'd just like for my clothes to not be tight...

And, since I'm training for a marathon, I'm not going to be cutting major calories any time soon - need some of that food for fuel.

But, I like Lose It because you can track what you eat and drink, and you can add whatever exercise you do, and it lets you know how many calories you consumed, and what you have left in your budget for the day. You set a goal weight/date, and it gives you options like "I want to lose a pound a week" or "1/2 pound a week" or "maintain" etc.

There are a lot of brand-name supermarket foods and restaurant foods that you can choose from, with calorie information already entered, or you can enter your own foods. Since Adam cooks at home a lot, I'm entering information based off the Nutrition Facts label, and the app stores the info, so I'll always have those to choose from in the future.

Now, obviously, it's at best, a guesstimate of caloric content, etc., but it's still pretty motivating to look and see how many calories you have left for the day, or the fact that running 3.5 miles means I've added 300 calories back IN to my budget. It does make me see how much of a difference exercise can make in your daily life.

I like that I can pick and choose from foods already entered, and that I'm not having to do this with pencil and paper. I've been using it for just about a week now. Check back with me in a few months to see if I've stuck with it!

And, no, no one from Lose It paid me to say anything about their app, I promise!

•••

I did managed to get a run in this afternoon. I was dreading it since I haven't worked out for a week, but it felt really good. Mitzi came over and we ran around the neighborhood together. So, I feel like I'm back to making progress on the marathon training front.

In fundraising news, I've raised almost $1,900 so far! Just got donations today from Terri Wenzel, Thane Chastain and the Barbieri family! We are planning a silent auction to raise money, so if you know of anyone who would be willing to donate items, pass their names along to me...


Back to Biggest Loser.

Spotted in the high school parking lot

It's been a while since I shot this photo, as you can probably tell, since there is snow on the ground.

But, I found it while I was looking through photos on my camera phone, and it made me laugh (again) so I thought I'd post it.

That sticky note hanging from the dashboard? It says "NO SPEEDING" and it's underlined about three times.

Somebody's mom cares about them! Or, somebody's mom cares about insurance rates not getting any higher...

This and that

I'm home sick again today. Thankfully, it's not flu sick like all of my friends have been tweeting about lately. Just your garden variety run-of-the-mill head cold and cough. Sore throat, lack of voice, etc.

My mom's been couging for what seems like weeks now. Did I get this from her? I hope not, because I don't want to be coughing for weeks!!

I thought I would go to school today. I really planned on it. I even set my alarm for 5:15 like I do every week day.

At 5:16, I decided that wasn't happening. I've figured something out about my body - it will power through just about any stressful or busy time in my life, but as soon as that time is over, my body says: "Sweet! Now we can get sick, since we're done with all the important stuff."

This typically happens around yearbook deadline time, newspaper production nights, the end of a semester (which is GREAT because then I'm sick on my vacation time...). Please read the sarcasm into that last comment. We had a yearbook deadline last week, plus about a million pages of proofs that had to be sent back on Monday. I made it through that, then it hit.

Tomorrow is newspaper late night. If that wasn't the case, I might have TRIED to go to school today, but knowing it will be a 14-hour day tomorrow I erred on the side of not contaminating all of my students...

It's not easy to be away from school when you're a teacher. It's at least double the work. You have to make sure the sub has solid plans. It's not like other jobs where when you're gone, you're just gone, and maybe some shuffling has to happen, but really, everything will be okay.

Considering I slept until almost 11 this morning, I'm guessing my body was saying "Do not pass Go. Stop, and get some rest." Hopefully that means I'll feel better soon. I don't want to be sick in the middle of training for a marathon.

Last night, before bed, I finished "Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair" by Laurie Perry. A great book, and super-fast read. I highly recommend you check it out sometime.

The Books page

I've been reading a lot more lately than I usually do during school. I got started right before Christmas break when Adam brought home a book from the library for me. Since he was being so thoughtful, I figured I better make the time and effort to read it, especially since it was vacation time.

So, I read "In the Land of No Right Angles."
Then, I read "Friday Night Knitting Club: Knit Two."

I was excited about FNKC, because I had really liked the first one. Granted, we were still living in the pink house in Wichita when I read it, so I probably don't remember it that well. But, it was given to me by a wonderful former student, and I truly enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, the second one didn't live up to my opinion of the first. I feel like it was a little bit forced. Things just seemed to work out so magically and easily, and the language felt a little stilted to me. It's too bad, since I was looking forward to reading it, and it was given to me by my good friend Kat. (It's like I feel guilty if I don't like a book someone has taken time to choose for me. But it's not their faults - they didn't write the books!)

Then, I started to read "A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon. Again, I had really enjoyed his earlier book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time."

But I couldn't get past page 13 of this one. It was like pulling teeth. I don't usually give up on books. It feels like losing.

So, now I've moved on to "Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair" by Laurie Perry. She's one of the bloggers I check regularly over at Crazy Aunt Purl, so I'm thinking I'll enjoy her book, even though I'm only ONE of the things she mentions in the title.

PLEASE GOD, I HOPE EVERYONE CHOSE "Covered in Cat Hair" as the one I am. 'Cause that's the one that fits.

Started it last night at bedtime, and I can already tell it's probably going to keep me up later than I should be staying up.

In fact, I need to get off this darn computer and get ready for bed so I can read a little bit.


•••

TNT Update: Went to the official Kick-Off tonight. You should have seen our team - there's a ton of people on it! I've been psyched since I decided to do this again, but the Kick-Off made it even more clear what I'm about to undertake again. To see so many people with such a passion for doing good and helping others is pretty damn cool.

I'll have to run six miles on the treadmill this weekend at the Park City Best Western since I'll be at Crop A Ganza. I think Mitzi is a little upset that she has to do the first group training on her own. I'll be sad that I'm missing the group run, but happy to be a CAG.

Don't forget to donate here.

The most productive Sunday in a long time

Man, we did a lot today. Nothing huge (except lunch with Denise, Jaime, Lexi and Denise's sister Annie), but lots of little stuff.

I started the day making French toast for breakfast. It's sort of my weekend morning thing. If I'm not getting up early to go run, and I have some time, I'll make French toast if we have eggs. Today's bread wasn't stale yet, though, so it wasn't my greatest FT effort.

After breakfast, Adam and I speed-cleaned the house. I knew that Jaime and Denise would want to see the place and all the work we've done, so we picked up and vacuumed and all that good stuff. We're definitely keeping a little bit cleaner house these days, because I feel like it took less time to do the somebody's-coming-over-hurry-up-and-clean bit.

I love having the house clean, but I hate housework. So, we're not really great at it, unless we have to be. Especially during the school year. The last thing I want to do after school or on weekends is clean!

I mean, sheesh.

We had a great visit with the Wichita crew. It's been way too long since I've seen them.

After lunch, I headed over to Mom's, dropped off the rent, then went and paid the insurance bill, then went to the car wash. My car actually looks like a black car again, not some weird dusty, salty grey color any more! And, I didn't even have to wait in line.

We've been (and still are) watching the Super Bowl. While all of that has been going on, I got my snail mail letter written for Team in Training. The letter is written, the donor form ready, the envelopes addressed. I did have to make an Office Depot run for toner. Nice that my printer was free, but I paid almost $40 for toner cartridges today. Boo. Good news, though, is that I'm up to $295 in donations. If you look at my website you can't really tell that yet, since a couple of the donations were cash ones, but they'll be on there soon. Don't be left out - donate today! (A little public service announcement...)

Hopefully, I can stop tomorrow after school and get copies made, so that we can have the letters ready to send out by Tuesday or Wednesday. Last night, via Twitter, I asked Ashton Kutcher to donate to the cause. Wonder if he will. He and Demi are busy being celebs at the Super Bowl this weekend, so I might have to retweet that some other time...What's the worst that could happen? I don't get a donation from him. Figured it was worth a shot!

After the letter extravaganza, I went through six month worth of photos on my laptop, to pick out new ones I want for Crop A Ganza. I'll upload those tomorrow so I can pick them up Wednedsay on my way home from work. I love being able to upload digital photos to the photo center - so freakin' convenient.

I even knit a few rows on a pair of socks I'm working on for Adam. Can't work on the sweater while watching football. I'm working on the sleeves right now, and there's too much counting and keeping track of stuff involved.

Whoop - time out - Steelers just won.

I'm only at school four days this week. Taking a personal day Friday so I can get to Wichita early for Crop A Ganza. Looking forward to it!

After all this post-game junk is over, I'm watching "The Office" then I'm off to bed. It's a school night after all.