My Chameleon Dog

Look at this picture of my couch.




Specifically the upper righthand corner of it. There's Sam. This is his favorite spot in the house because he is hidden from the eyes of one who would put him in his kennel. That's right, I have a Chameleon dog. Don't be too jealous. When you catch him, he'll pee on you to protest.

Fat Girls Can Run Half-Marathons Too!

So, I've decided to run a half-marathon. Yup, go ahead. You can say I'm crazy and why would anyone want to do it. However, it doesn't change the fact that on April 16th I will be lacing up my shoes and joining the throng in the Salt Lake City Half-Marathon. When I was researching online about training for a half-marathon, I came across the tip that because running a long distance is part mental training, it's important to decide why you are doing this. I thought what better place to share that than here amongst my biggest fans!

Growing up, I've never been a skinny kid. Fat, husky, chubby, plus-sized, big, no matter what you call it, I was a fat kid. That, unfortunately, has often been the deciding factor of whether or not I could do an activity, or so it seemed. I know it seems ridiculous, but if I didn't see any fat girls out there doing the activity, I sure wasn't going to go out there. Somewhere in my mind I decided that if I didn't see any fat girls doing it, that meant that I couldn't do it or if I did do it, I would look foolish doing it. This mentality kept me from trying out for sports in high school, starting any dance lessons or even trying out for some performing arts. On the other hand, if I saw a fat girl out there dancing with a group, playing basketball or running a mile, and she looked confident and skilled, I knew I could do it. Guess it all goes to show the power of a physical example!

This brings me to my motivation behind running 13.1 miles. Running, in my mind, has always been the epitome of health. After all, you watch the Olympics or any kind of race and the runners are all skinny, healthy looking people. (twisted, I know) Even when I first started losing weight, it wasn't necessarily about the pounds, but I wanted to be able to run a mile with my students without dying. I saw those who completed marathons and half-marathons as healthy people who were physically fit. It was always a goal in my mind to finish a half-marathon. I wanted to be one of those "healthy" people who ran for fun. Mostly, I wanted to prove to myself that fat girls can run half-marathons too.

So, feel free to ask me how my training is going. And, on the morning of April 16th, think, "Wow, fat girls CAN run half-marathons" because that's what I'll be thinking as I go across the finish line!

Bundle of Energy

Having adopted dogs after they were a year old, I love to watch Ella and laugh at her puppy antics (it helps to counter the frustration I feel after she chews power cords...). This is the latest. I was watching a video on my computer and she was running around the room playing. Knowing that I didn't have any toys in here, I wondered what she was playing with. Oh, she was wrestling with a tag from a necklace. It entertained her for 15 minutes. No joke.

More Christmas Spirit

If I were to rank my favorite Christmas songs, "12 Days of Christmas" would rank dead last. It's too long, repetitive and pretty lame. I mean, if my true love gave me all those gifts, I might be a little ticked off. After all, what do you do with 12 drummers drumming? Or 8 geese a laying? It's just a big mess. HOWEVER, I was listening to Pandora today and heard this version of it. Check it out. So incredibly funny!

Got to love 5th grade!

Today we were reading a book (39 Clues: Book 1: Great Read!) and came across the names Picasso, Van Gogh, and Dali. Wanting to expand my students' art background, I quickly pulled up pictures that the artists may have been known for. Van Gogh: Starry Night. Dali: That funky time melting picture. For Picasso I pulled up this picture:



After my students' initial reaction to how odd it looked, one student blurted out, "It looks like Lady Gaga's band!" I died laughing then and there!

Christmas Spirit

One of the blessings of living in Utah during the Christmas season is that BYU-tv replays many of the Mormon Tab Christmas Concerts. I was watching the video tonight of the performance with Brian Stokes Mitchell (who's one of my favorites-GORGEOUS voice!!!) and they always have a famous person narrate part of it. This time Ed Herrman was telling the story of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". It was so moving, I just had to share it. What a great testimony as to what Christmas is all about.



Here is a clip of Brian Stokes Mitchell singing my favorite part of the performance. Such a lively singer! I love it!

Blueberries for Sal...uh, Aubrey

Our school participates in a program that gives fruit and vegetables to students of low-income to encourage a healthy diet. Great idea, in theory. Every Tuesday and Thursday we get fruits or vegetables in small plastic cups. It could be tomatoes, apples or oranges. However, it could also be persimmons, unripe-rock-hard pears or green peppers. Sometimes in the attempt to get kids to eat new things, they just scare them off. The fruit often come unripe or overripe because they serve fruit out of season. Such was the case of the blueberries of yesterday. Because my students had never really had fresh blueberries, they didn't know that they they were actually quite good. The majority of them tried one (after much encouragement) only to find a mushy, dull tasting experience. *Sigh* Needless to say, I'm the owner of 4 cups of blueberries. Anyone have any low-fat, low-calorie baking ideas (they are a little ripe, so I think baking them will be the best)? While you're at it, anyone have any ideas for persimmon puree? I still have 3-4 cups of that in my freezer. Way to go government!