Lunch Break Musings

It's my lunch break. My lunches are, by contract, duty-free, so I feel no guilt at emailing a post to my blog. I'm munching on a yummy salad--lots of fresh romaine lettuce, and a sprinkling of dried cranberries, pecans and goat cheese. I made the dressing--half a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and half a tablespoon of olive oil. I love all of these flavors together.   In about 25 minutes, my kinders will start arriving for music. After the first group leaves, some of my most awesome middle school kids will come in to work on art. I think I'll make it a regular thing, where kids can come work on their projects in peace and quiet. They clean up after themselves, too.   It is raining today--the good kind of rain that keeps falling, none of this cloudy-with-a-sprinkle-here-then-nothing-else-for-hours. I like it, though I feel for the teachers of younger grades. Their kids don't get any recess time, and this makes them a little crazy. I imagine my kinders will be full of piss and vinegar. I have plans to do "Mikey the Monkey," "Animal Actions," "Race Car," and other keep-'em-moving songs.   Fourth period finally started getting the message today. At the beginning of class, I lined them up outside my door with a campus security monitor on standby and said, "If I need to send anyone to Mrs. Assistant Principal, I will!" That got their attention. As they came in I stood at the board with my maker in hand, waiting to write down names of people talking in the "lunch detention" column. I welcomed them to "The New VAPA" and told them that they won't do any fun art projects until I can trust them to do the right thing.   It was pretty quiet in there the whole period. I'll keep working on them.   I have an appointment with G. the Meanie today, and I'm actually quite excited. I whine about him a lot (and at him even more), but I actually enjoy working out with him because it's never dull. I can get a little bored slogging along on the treadmill sometimes. Having someone to talk to--who never lets me quit--is very helpful.   Last time I saw him was Friday--he had Monday off because he was going snowboarding and dammit, I really could've used a good butt-kicking that day. I was only down one pound this week. I know, I know, that's supposed to be good! But I worked really hard and was hoping for at least two pounds, maybe three.   But a light week in weight loss always makes me work harder, and so yesterday, I climbed on board the old treadmill and whipped out my two fastest miles ever. The first was 12:47, and the second was 12:34. I was so proud of myself. My two first sub-13-minute miles in my whole life! Before long, I'll be below 12 minutes.   Of course, running is still hard. I don't love it, or particularly feel wonderful while doing it. Shin splints, muscle aches (though those are getting better because I stretch every day and am way more limber than I used to be), and sometimes even a slightly upset stomach. I haven't thrown up again since that one time, but there have been days my lunch has rolled around rather unpleasantly. And yesterday, I was burping up curry spices. Eek.   In other awesome news, America's Next Top Model starts back up tonight. A whole new season of Tyra  Banks' batshit craziness. I can hardly wait. There are very few shows that make me actually sit down in front of the TV. ANTM is one of them (the other is Grey's Anatomy). And while pretty much every other reality show leaves me cold, ANTM is so absurdly entertaining. Plus, I love seeing how the girls are transformed with hair and makeup, crazy clothes, etc. It's cool seeing how pictures turn out.   But the rest of it is good, crazy fun.   I'm reading some early articles about Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." I think I might have to see this in the theater, as I am still not over Burton's quirky craziness, or Johnny Depp's unbelievable skills. Helena Bonham Carter is also pretty amazing (was she perfect for Bellatrix LeStrange, or was she perfect?).   Speaking of Bellatrix--reminds me of Harry Potter. I've been rereading the last HP book and can I just say I still love those kids? Harry, Ron and Hermione, of course, but also Ginny, Luna, dear Neville, Fred and George, and all the rest. J.K. Rowling is a genius writer, and I love how her stories grew up with the kids who read them. Book 1 is very much a kid's book. Book 7 is a lot older.   Ugh. I have to supervise detention today. At least I have the right to kick kids out if they are talking or  being rude. And I will.   Well, lunch is over. The kinders will be here soon and I really must work on this messy desk a bit. I just can't stand it.