Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

Well only two more days and I am officially done with school for the summer (minus any PD that I sign up for ).

Hard to believe that there is another one in the books! And one in fourth grade to boot! 

I have to admit that I was a little scared to take on fourth graders after having been with K and 1 for all of my teaching time. Something happened though that made me fall in love!

I loved the (semi) independence! I loved being able to read and write and create on a level that I had never been on before.

I did miss so many things- but there was a trade off of sorts :)

I even put in for transfers to four middle schools for ELA positions (I know, what is that crazy squirrel thinking- but hey, you've known me long enough to know that I'm NUTS!!!)

It is district policy that they contact you by June 15th to let you know either way. I am beginning to get the feeling that these  middle schools have already made their teams for next year.

So I am not putting all my nuts into one nest. I am considering our neighboring state- there are three counties with middle schools, all less than a half hour from where I live. 

Scary, eh? 

I watch the Jobs Posted section religiously- and I wince each time the phone rings- we'll see what they think before summer's end!

While I am playing the "waiting game" with next year's assignment, I am not waiting around for other changes.

These are just a few "changes" that have happened for me:

1. Out of the last 10 days, I have exercised (on purpose) for 9 of them.
2. I have gone 9 days with NO SODA.
3. I made a concerted effort to make healthier shopping and cooking choices for ALL of us!

Let's go through these changes one at a time

#1- My exercise includes walking. (And a "fitness hoop" that I am trying to master) I walk out my door, turn left, and follow the road and all the cul de sacs until I am back home. If I stay on track, it's about 5 miles. This is NOT my first time to say I was going to stick with this. I WANT to stick with it. I PLAN to stick with it.
The app I use says that I burn (depending on how fast I go) around 600 calories on each walk. This is what has lead to and helped with the #2.

#2 I have said for awhile that I was going to give up soda. My beloved soda. We had a "thing". I would send Littlest Little to the break room with $ to buy my soda before I was ever even thirsty in the morning!! And I would drink it all day long. Then if we went somewhere where they served it, I drank it. If I got it in a cup, I would refill it so that I would be sure to have some when I came home.


And then I looked at the calories.
That one soda is about 1/5 of the calories I am burning. It's about 15 minutes of walking. 15 minutes of sweating- profusely.
My time is valuable. And I AM NOT going to waste it! The way I think about it now is, if I drink that soda, then I have WASTED 15 minutes of walking!!!
So soda is OUT THE DOOR! As The Mr. and I grocery shopped today, I looked at the Nutrition Facts and did lots of mental math- "That's 10 minutes. That's 25 minutes. That's only 3 minutes! Get in the cart!!"

#3 We have been drinking a lot of fruit infused water for the last few months. Lots of lemon and oranges. Recently, we have been experimenting with other fruits. I even bought the Littles their own pitcher because they don't always like what I make for myself.

And we have purged the pantry, discussed the importance of eating meals at meal time and "snacks aren't supposed to fill your belly" (they hate that lecture), and I've replaced all the junk with much healthier choices. It's a transition for us all. And I am sure that we will be a household full of angry squirrels as our bodies begin getting used to not having CRAP snacks - but we will trudge through it together. The Mr. said that as long as I don't become the Food Nazi, we will be okay.

So there are a lot of changes. Hopefully a lot more to come. And hopefully all good ones. (I look forward to being able to post great news) As soon as everyone gets over the "grouchies"!

If you aren't out yet, here's to a speedy week!!