Tuesday, September 8, 2009
I've talked about it...
...for a few years now and I really want it to actually happen this time. Enough talking...it's time for action now. The house is officially on the market. It's not the most ideal time to try and sell but living in Atlanta has begun to leave a bitter taste in my mouth and that has red flags waving now. I can't keep waiting for things to "get a little better". It's time to start living again....
Saturday, August 15, 2009
One week down and a little deja vu
The first week of school has come and gone, much to my relief. I'm very excited about starting up the new year teaching in some new settings but switching from elementary to middle school is definitely an adjustment! The students have been great and it's nice actually having a classroom of my own again. I love being itinerant but being in the classroom for an extended amount of time is what really makes me happy. I can't wait to see what the rest of the school year brings!
My attempt at growing vegetables has proved to be quite a success! On my deck I have basil, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes in full swing. Here's a great artsy picture the man friend took of some of my veggies...
Tomatoes!!!! From my OWN garden! How fun is that?!?! I love it...
A little bit of deja vu has been going on in the casa for the past couple of days. You remember Copper and her back problems which led to surgery? Well, my older dachshund, Meg, has starting showing some of the same problems. She's been walking around in what seems like a lot of pain with her back extremely arched but will then turn around and walk normal again. My dad, aka vet extraordinaire, confirmed my thoughts: Meg probably has a bulging disk and, depending on what happens over the next few weeks, may have to get surgery if the disk ruptures.
(Meggie on the couch)
Right now, the protocol is to put Meg on prednisone (keeps the inflammation/swelling down), keep her confined to her kennel, and try to give her body time to hopefully heal on its own, sans surgery. Fingers crossed that a lot of diligence and positive vibes will help her pull through.
Thankfully, I have this man to help over the next few weeks....
I've seriously lucked out having him along for the ride! :)
My attempt at growing vegetables has proved to be quite a success! On my deck I have basil, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes in full swing. Here's a great artsy picture the man friend took of some of my veggies...
Tomatoes!!!! From my OWN garden! How fun is that?!?! I love it...
A little bit of deja vu has been going on in the casa for the past couple of days. You remember Copper and her back problems which led to surgery? Well, my older dachshund, Meg, has starting showing some of the same problems. She's been walking around in what seems like a lot of pain with her back extremely arched but will then turn around and walk normal again. My dad, aka vet extraordinaire, confirmed my thoughts: Meg probably has a bulging disk and, depending on what happens over the next few weeks, may have to get surgery if the disk ruptures.
(Meggie on the couch)
Right now, the protocol is to put Meg on prednisone (keeps the inflammation/swelling down), keep her confined to her kennel, and try to give her body time to hopefully heal on its own, sans surgery. Fingers crossed that a lot of diligence and positive vibes will help her pull through.
Thankfully, I have this man to help over the next few weeks....
I've seriously lucked out having him along for the ride! :)
Friday, August 7, 2009
Disappeared
Well, I've allowed summer to go mostly by without posting a single thing. Time to remedy that!
I last posted in April and at that point I was on the fast train of writing IEPs (special paperwork, aka hell), statewide testing, and end-of-year school stuff. I was really looking forward to the end of May and have a low-key summer of working out, gardening, knitting, and hanging out with Adam. I was especially excited about going home to see the folks and to learn a new skill: sewing! Everything was put on a massive back burner when my mother became sick and the doctors didn't know what was causing her illness. Long story short, she is doing better now and I'm wicked grateful. It's heartbreaking to see a loved one's soul under attack...
Pre-planning for another year of teaching has been this week with a curve ball thrown in. Budgets issues have been on the forefront which has now led to a financial decision by our governor to force three furlough days. Our county didn't want to impact the kids with this decision so the board of education peeps took away three of our five planning days. Kind of stinks since the teachers were still going to have to come in to school in order to be ready for the first day. It's not really fun working for free. Now there's talk the state is going to require the teachers to have to take an additional seven days during 2010. My pockets are seriously starting to hurt. Boooo....
Adam will be moving out to Denver in early to mid-December so he can find a place to live before he starts school for the spring semester at Red Rocks Community College. He is going back to get a degree in Renewable Energy/Resources and it makes sense to do Red Rocks right now until he qualifies for in-state residency. Once he has that, then he will transfer to the University of Colorado, Boulder. I will stay back here in Georgia to put my townhome on the market and wrap up the school year. The plan is to be out there by the beginning of July.
Adam and I decided to spend our Christmas together this year in Denver since he was already going to be out there. We both really hope there will be snow. We never have snow on Christmas here and I really miss cold, snowy weather. I should be out there for close to two weeks with Adam so anyone who wants to hang, we would love to meet some Colorado peeps!
I last posted in April and at that point I was on the fast train of writing IEPs (special paperwork, aka hell), statewide testing, and end-of-year school stuff. I was really looking forward to the end of May and have a low-key summer of working out, gardening, knitting, and hanging out with Adam. I was especially excited about going home to see the folks and to learn a new skill: sewing! Everything was put on a massive back burner when my mother became sick and the doctors didn't know what was causing her illness. Long story short, she is doing better now and I'm wicked grateful. It's heartbreaking to see a loved one's soul under attack...
Pre-planning for another year of teaching has been this week with a curve ball thrown in. Budgets issues have been on the forefront which has now led to a financial decision by our governor to force three furlough days. Our county didn't want to impact the kids with this decision so the board of education peeps took away three of our five planning days. Kind of stinks since the teachers were still going to have to come in to school in order to be ready for the first day. It's not really fun working for free. Now there's talk the state is going to require the teachers to have to take an additional seven days during 2010. My pockets are seriously starting to hurt. Boooo....
Adam will be moving out to Denver in early to mid-December so he can find a place to live before he starts school for the spring semester at Red Rocks Community College. He is going back to get a degree in Renewable Energy/Resources and it makes sense to do Red Rocks right now until he qualifies for in-state residency. Once he has that, then he will transfer to the University of Colorado, Boulder. I will stay back here in Georgia to put my townhome on the market and wrap up the school year. The plan is to be out there by the beginning of July.
Adam and I decided to spend our Christmas together this year in Denver since he was already going to be out there. We both really hope there will be snow. We never have snow on Christmas here and I really miss cold, snowy weather. I should be out there for close to two weeks with Adam so anyone who wants to hang, we would love to meet some Colorado peeps!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Crazy Week
Eight days and lots of things going on. First, I was really stoked because last weekend (Sunday) was the ING half-marathon and it was going to be my first one. Adam and I show up at the sight ready to rock it out, and notice we don't see any runners around. We ran into a club member who informed us the race started an hour before. Adam had gotten the time completely wrong! He felt so awful about his mistake but, to be fair, I should have looked up the time myself. So, we went back home to do our own run. Turns out missing the race was a blessing in disguise because I was only able to go 7.60 miles before my whole left leg was in crazy pain from my IT Band. The pain drove me to desperate measures....
That's right! Ice bath!
Brrr......
The next day I did an easy 45 minute spin to flush out the legs and when I finished my workout, I noticed Copper, my younger dog, couldn't get up the stairs. She could put her front paws on the stairs but couldn't get enough spring out of her back legs to get up. This really freaked me out because only one reason popped in my mind as to why she couldn't get up... her back was going out from a disc that has ruptured in her spine. I called my dad (he's a vet who does specialized surgeries) to get his opinion. He agreed with what I thought but because she could still walk around fine on level ground, she might have a chance to heal without surgery. I was to keep an eye on her....
The next morning at 5:30 when I was getting up for work, I went to go check on her and she had gotten much worse. She was only able to walk two or three steps before her legs gave out. I FREAKED! I knew time was crucial. If I didn't get her the spinal surgery quickly, I risked her staying paralyzed permanently which meant possible kidney failure and euthanasia. I called my parents and two hours later I was at the airport on my way home for my dad to operate on Copper.
Copper was on the operating table by 12:30pm with little motor movement but still had deep pain sensations. (This was a good thing.) The surgery went well but dad gave me the sobering news that Copper was one of the worst cases he'd seen and to be prepared for her to possibly not get better. Once he opened her up, he had to completely remove 1 disc and clean out 5 others. Here's Copper a few hours post op...
Things were looking positive after surgery. Copper could slightly move her left leg and had some feeling in her right leg. I knew we weren't in the clear, though. A couple more days would be the real test. The next morning I went to go see Copper at the clinic. She wanted me to hold her but I could tell she was miffed at me since she wouldn't look at me at all...
Kind of amusing but I totally get where she's coming from. I'd be mad at me, too.
I had to fly back home that evening to get back for work the next day and was seriously bummed with having to leave Copper behind, even though I knew it was the best thing for her. Dad called me later that night to tell me Copper had dramatically improved! (He was really surprised and impressed with her recovery.) She was very shaky, but was able to stand and take a few steps on her own. Amazing!
Mom was driving down through my town the next evening because she was driving down to be in Florida a week before my sister's wedding (She's getting married this coming Friday.). She and Dad thought Copper was doing well enough to come back home where she could be comfortable and heal quicker. When Mom arrived, I got to see Copper's scar for the first time...
A hella wicked scar, huh!
Poor baby girl! :( She was being so crazy strong, though and was even walking around a little.
So, to wrap up on Copper, she is doing amazingly well with her progress. She's now able to go to the bathroom on her own and is getting stronger each day. It's probably going to take 6 months before she gets back to being somewhat pre-surgery, but no worries. I still have her and that's all that I really care about.
Quick workout update: I had a 10K race this morning and had a really good PR! I've never been a good runner and had also never run a 10K under an hour so I was thrilled to have run today's hilly course in 50:23! I know this isn't really massively impressive but for me, it's baby steps in the right direction. I even got a medal for being the 2nd female to cross the finish line. Ha! Obviously there wasn't much competition but I'll take it! :)
My hardware...
So, that's been my life over 8 days! Good times! Hope everyone's had a less eventful and more positive week!
Good karma to all,
r
That's right! Ice bath!
Brrr......
The next day I did an easy 45 minute spin to flush out the legs and when I finished my workout, I noticed Copper, my younger dog, couldn't get up the stairs. She could put her front paws on the stairs but couldn't get enough spring out of her back legs to get up. This really freaked me out because only one reason popped in my mind as to why she couldn't get up... her back was going out from a disc that has ruptured in her spine. I called my dad (he's a vet who does specialized surgeries) to get his opinion. He agreed with what I thought but because she could still walk around fine on level ground, she might have a chance to heal without surgery. I was to keep an eye on her....
The next morning at 5:30 when I was getting up for work, I went to go check on her and she had gotten much worse. She was only able to walk two or three steps before her legs gave out. I FREAKED! I knew time was crucial. If I didn't get her the spinal surgery quickly, I risked her staying paralyzed permanently which meant possible kidney failure and euthanasia. I called my parents and two hours later I was at the airport on my way home for my dad to operate on Copper.
Copper was on the operating table by 12:30pm with little motor movement but still had deep pain sensations. (This was a good thing.) The surgery went well but dad gave me the sobering news that Copper was one of the worst cases he'd seen and to be prepared for her to possibly not get better. Once he opened her up, he had to completely remove 1 disc and clean out 5 others. Here's Copper a few hours post op...
Things were looking positive after surgery. Copper could slightly move her left leg and had some feeling in her right leg. I knew we weren't in the clear, though. A couple more days would be the real test. The next morning I went to go see Copper at the clinic. She wanted me to hold her but I could tell she was miffed at me since she wouldn't look at me at all...
Kind of amusing but I totally get where she's coming from. I'd be mad at me, too.
I had to fly back home that evening to get back for work the next day and was seriously bummed with having to leave Copper behind, even though I knew it was the best thing for her. Dad called me later that night to tell me Copper had dramatically improved! (He was really surprised and impressed with her recovery.) She was very shaky, but was able to stand and take a few steps on her own. Amazing!
Mom was driving down through my town the next evening because she was driving down to be in Florida a week before my sister's wedding (She's getting married this coming Friday.). She and Dad thought Copper was doing well enough to come back home where she could be comfortable and heal quicker. When Mom arrived, I got to see Copper's scar for the first time...
A hella wicked scar, huh!
Poor baby girl! :( She was being so crazy strong, though and was even walking around a little.
So, to wrap up on Copper, she is doing amazingly well with her progress. She's now able to go to the bathroom on her own and is getting stronger each day. It's probably going to take 6 months before she gets back to being somewhat pre-surgery, but no worries. I still have her and that's all that I really care about.
Quick workout update: I had a 10K race this morning and had a really good PR! I've never been a good runner and had also never run a 10K under an hour so I was thrilled to have run today's hilly course in 50:23! I know this isn't really massively impressive but for me, it's baby steps in the right direction. I even got a medal for being the 2nd female to cross the finish line. Ha! Obviously there wasn't much competition but I'll take it! :)
My hardware...
So, that's been my life over 8 days! Good times! Hope everyone's had a less eventful and more positive week!
Good karma to all,
r
Monday, March 23, 2009
Adventures in Slow Cooking in a Dutch Oven
I finally gave in and purchased a nice Dutch Oven! I wasn't able to use it until yesterday since I've been working doubles literally all week and the time was seriously not available. I'd been looking forward all week to Sunday and cooking because I had decided to give my first try at braising and make carnitas! I bought a 4 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast and, after seasoning it with salt and pepper, browned all sides in a large heavy skillet then removed it from the pan. (When I was turning the roast with my tongs, I lost my grip with the following results happening...)
Yes, yes. Who gets to take home the award of dumbass of the day??? This girl! Nothing like grease burns to kick off the cooking right! ;)
After I took the roast out of the pan, I added onions (1 yellow, chopped) and some garlic (2 cloves minced) and sauteed them. I then used one bottle of Dos Equis lager to deglaze the pan, get up all the lovely browned pits, and reduce the liquid. I put the roast in my dutch oven, poured over it the beer mixture, and added some orange and lime zest. Finally, I finished it off with about a tablespoon of oregano, covered and cooked in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours (until it was tender).
Here's the roast with all the aromatics on it prior to putting it in the oven...
While waiting for the food to cook, I whipped up some guacamole as an appetizer for Adam and I, which we enjoyed with some Dos Equis!
I also made some Pico de Gallo and, when the roast was almost ready, warmed up some corn tortillas in a skillet. Here are some finished pics of our Carnitas...
The verdict from Adam: Huge success! Score!
Yes, yes. Who gets to take home the award of dumbass of the day??? This girl! Nothing like grease burns to kick off the cooking right! ;)
After I took the roast out of the pan, I added onions (1 yellow, chopped) and some garlic (2 cloves minced) and sauteed them. I then used one bottle of Dos Equis lager to deglaze the pan, get up all the lovely browned pits, and reduce the liquid. I put the roast in my dutch oven, poured over it the beer mixture, and added some orange and lime zest. Finally, I finished it off with about a tablespoon of oregano, covered and cooked in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours (until it was tender).
Here's the roast with all the aromatics on it prior to putting it in the oven...
While waiting for the food to cook, I whipped up some guacamole as an appetizer for Adam and I, which we enjoyed with some Dos Equis!
I also made some Pico de Gallo and, when the roast was almost ready, warmed up some corn tortillas in a skillet. Here are some finished pics of our Carnitas...
The verdict from Adam: Huge success! Score!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
More Sharing
Back in January, bf extraordinaire and I ran a 5K and won some "hardware" for getting 2nd and 3rd AG, respectively. Well, the hardware finally made an appearance...
It started blooming a couple of days before moving to the new pad, which is evident by the background in the pic.
The next pics are of Copper in the kennel as I was driving them up to the house. She is such a goofy dog and I love it...
The weather here has been a bit blah and rainy lately and I've been craving warm breakfasts. Obviously a staple is oatmeal and I had a couple of friends ask how can I make mine without butter and brown sugar and still make it taste yummy. This is how I fix up my oatmeal...
and the last ingredient...
Seriously don't miss any sugar or butter with this one!
It started blooming a couple of days before moving to the new pad, which is evident by the background in the pic.
The next pics are of Copper in the kennel as I was driving them up to the house. She is such a goofy dog and I love it...
The weather here has been a bit blah and rainy lately and I've been craving warm breakfasts. Obviously a staple is oatmeal and I had a couple of friends ask how can I make mine without butter and brown sugar and still make it taste yummy. This is how I fix up my oatmeal...
and the last ingredient...
Seriously don't miss any sugar or butter with this one!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Major Slacker
Pitiful, I know. I haven't blogged in forever. To catch up on things...
The past few weeks have been nuts-o. Work has seriously picked up because this is the time of the year when my special ed. students have to have their annual meetings (IEPs) which means lots 'o paperwork. Yippee! I had planned for this but what I hadn't planned for was having to move during the same time. Yuck! I have been renting out my townhome for the past couple of years and my tenants decided to move out early. Two weeks and I have gone from downtown living to the 'burbs. Not a bad thing, though. I had originally planned to put the place on the market next spring prior to moving to Colorado and moving back in will make the process much easier.
Also going on was my sister's bachelorette party. My sister is amazing but she and I are the sun and the moon. As the maid-of-honor, I was supposed to be in charge of planning the party. I thought it would be great to rent a cabin and do a low-key weekend. Maybe some hiking, biking, etc. Ummm... no-go. My girly-girl sister (and I mean that in a loving way!) decided she wanted to do it up in Miami! Here's a group pic of all the ladies from the weekend...
These girls could party like a rock star and with Miami's clubs staying open 'til the crack of stupid, I was done. I definitely could not hang with this crowd. Great group, though.
All this crap really affected my workouts and I realized, bottom-line, I allowed it to affect my workouts. On my Beginner Triathlete website, I wrote a blurb addressing this. The short version is basically this: I like to reflect and see how I can improve at living life The realization hit that I need to do a much better job at balancing things in my life. I've allowed work and other things to take a front seat when a front runner should always be my health. So now I'm working on that. That's it in a nutshell.
The workout front has been poo with a couple of issues persisting: IT band causing some serious side knee pains and lower side stitches killing my runs. Today was my first day in weeks where neither issue flared up. I really do love running and it was so awesome to have a run sans hurting.
Anywho, it's stupid late and I need to go to bed. I have some new grub to try out and I hope to post some pics over the next week or two. Yell at me if I don't...
Good karma to all,
r
The past few weeks have been nuts-o. Work has seriously picked up because this is the time of the year when my special ed. students have to have their annual meetings (IEPs) which means lots 'o paperwork. Yippee! I had planned for this but what I hadn't planned for was having to move during the same time. Yuck! I have been renting out my townhome for the past couple of years and my tenants decided to move out early. Two weeks and I have gone from downtown living to the 'burbs. Not a bad thing, though. I had originally planned to put the place on the market next spring prior to moving to Colorado and moving back in will make the process much easier.
Also going on was my sister's bachelorette party. My sister is amazing but she and I are the sun and the moon. As the maid-of-honor, I was supposed to be in charge of planning the party. I thought it would be great to rent a cabin and do a low-key weekend. Maybe some hiking, biking, etc. Ummm... no-go. My girly-girl sister (and I mean that in a loving way!) decided she wanted to do it up in Miami! Here's a group pic of all the ladies from the weekend...
These girls could party like a rock star and with Miami's clubs staying open 'til the crack of stupid, I was done. I definitely could not hang with this crowd. Great group, though.
All this crap really affected my workouts and I realized, bottom-line, I allowed it to affect my workouts. On my Beginner Triathlete website, I wrote a blurb addressing this. The short version is basically this: I like to reflect and see how I can improve at living life The realization hit that I need to do a much better job at balancing things in my life. I've allowed work and other things to take a front seat when a front runner should always be my health. So now I'm working on that. That's it in a nutshell.
The workout front has been poo with a couple of issues persisting: IT band causing some serious side knee pains and lower side stitches killing my runs. Today was my first day in weeks where neither issue flared up. I really do love running and it was so awesome to have a run sans hurting.
Anywho, it's stupid late and I need to go to bed. I have some new grub to try out and I hope to post some pics over the next week or two. Yell at me if I don't...
Good karma to all,
r
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