Health

It is not a huge secret that Chris and I probably lack quite a bit of nutrients. First off, Chris is semi-vegitarian. He has a texture issue with meat like steak, chicken breast, ribs... pretty much everything delicious. He will however eat ground beef in various forms where we can sneak it in. Sadly that would be the least healthiest kind to eat right? We're working on this, and I sometimes wonder if this is just an issue from growing up or what. Either way, I love him. :)

As for myself, I'm working on just making sure I eat enough. With my job and my lifestyle grab-and-go is pretty much the only thing that works for me in the morning and at lunch. Typically I do not eat breakfast, and in the past I was horrible at making sure I eat my lunch due to how busy I am. To be honest I don't have a lunch break scheduled into my day, so my team and I do what we call a "working lunch". If I can find something that I do not have to heat up, then I find that I actually get to eat my lunch each day.

Months ago I won a blog giveaway that sponsored by http://www.easylunchboxes.com/. They make these little coolers with compartmentalized containers for lunch. So far they have been a God send. I am able to pack my food into the containers on Sunday night and then each morning I just reach into the refrigerator and grab my meal. Throw in a piece of fruit, a fruit smoothie, and a sparkling Izze and I'm ready to go.

Breakfast however... it not so easy. I need another grab and go option and I can't exactly get what I need by going to Starbucks anymore unless I switch to their fruit smoothies. So I'm back to making Green Monster smoothies each morning. A green monster is a smoothie made with spinach. Before you say EWW hear me out. These smoothies do not taste like spinach but rather like whatever fruit you put in them. Personally I stick to the original recipe and I use a banana because I love banana smoothies. A girl named Angela blogged about these smoothies way back when and then created a pretty cool website that allows others to post their versions. I tried it once thinking I wouldn't like it and it turned out to be amazing. Then I disguised it in a colored cup with a lid and had Chris try it and sure enough he loved it. Despite the color and the thought that it has spinach in it, its actually pretty amazing. Check out the recipes at http://greenmonstermovement.com/.

Lastly I decided tonight to go ahead and buy prenatal vitamins. I struggled with this because I'm not a pill person. Just thinking of swallowing a large pill and I shiver all over. I bought the One A Day women's prenatal pill with DHA. Let me first just say that the size of the pill on the box is not the actual size of the pills. If they had been then I wouldn't have any issues. These pills have a mixed review about them so I figure that I'll try them out and if I have a horrible time with them then I'll just go back to the original plan that I have of trying the Bellybar brand or wait until I go to the doctor. Cross those fingers!

Addiction and Pre-Conception Update

It has been four days since I quit my addiction. Last Saturday I decided that enough was simply enough. I used it multiple times a day and probably went no longer than two hours using it except during work. What did I quit? Facebook. I quit because of this new Timeline thing Facebook has going on. I started Timeline thinking that if I didn't like it then I'd switch back. Well apparently that is not a possibility. While Facebook has made what sounds like a generous claim of being able to remove anything you like during a window of 7 days... I honestly think that is fairly lame. First off, you cannot do a mass delete, you have to delete each item one by one. Not only that but I've been on Facebook since 2005, do you know how many stupid random post there are? It is impossible to sit there and complete the three steps required for every post you delete to remove over 5 years worth of posting. So instead I took the steps required and just deleted the darn thing. It has been odd turning on my phone to go and check only to realize that I deleted it. I do not want to start over on the 14 day deletion period, so checking in just one more time isn't really worth it. Will it last? Maybe. My worst case scenario is that I open a new account and keep it severely limited. The only reason I want to use Facebook still is so that I can talk to my friends from college that are also teachers. I use the chat function quite often and it is easier to talk in a chat than text messaging back and forth.

In other news I finally heard back from my OBG and I have my Pre-Pregnancy Counseling in April. Ironically the only dates available were my birthday and a few months later. Of course I went with the earliest appointment which is April. Could this be a good sign? Meeting with my doctor about getting pregnant on the anniversary of my own birth? Hopefully! I'm crossing my fingers that it is a good sign of what's to come. :)

Moving back in

For the past 6 months my brother moved in with us so that he could try to find a job down here as the job market dried up back home. He found a job and after working there for 6 months he was able to transfer to another branch back home. What this means for me is that I now have my office back!

I have spent the day moving most of my stuff back in with many thoughts as to why I have so many heavy books. Why??? I have them because I am addicted to GOOD center planning books.

As I rebuild my office I'll add pictures because we are making some exciting changes. One of the changes that we have started is painting/staining my desk. We completely took it apart today and began stripping the old stain off. I feel this will be a two weekend project because we have to do the bookcase as well. I haven't figured out what color to paint or stain it as of yet. My source of inspiration is Pinterest at the moment so we will see.

A few of my projects include the following...
- A picture frame message board
- Finally framing my degree
- a comfy seating area and coffee table to use as a desk
- curtains for the closet that no longer has doors.

Genetic Testing

The idea of genetic testing has started creeping into my mind. Normally I wouldn't have thought about this, but lately I received a diagnosis that explained a very old problem that I had and given that it was passed down to me I'm now trying to arm myself with information to see whether or not my own children could get this, and if so to what degree.

Growing up I always had something different about my skin. In some areas I have dry, puffy, scale like skin, in others places I have soft raised dark skin, and in other places I have barely noticeable skin that is just slightly darker and has a matte finish to it. This skin condition drove me nuts and made me feel a bit self conscious because my hands always felt rough and scratchy as opposed to soft and smooth like most people. When I was younger my pediatrician diagnosed it but 10 years later when I finally started asking about it, nobody could remember what it was. All my mother remembered was that it had to be watched when I hit puberty to make sure tumors didn't form. Now fast forward to this year. In December I finally sucked up my worries and made an appointment with Baylor Dermatology Clinic. A wonderful doctor there looked at my skin, assured me that I don't have to worry about it doing any harm to me. It wasn't related to cancer, tumors, or anything of the sort.

I have Ichthyosis. At first the doctor thought it was Keratosis Seborrheica, but as soon as I mentioned that my mother has the same skin problems the diagnosis was quickly changed to Ichthyosis. Before anyone googles, let me first say that the google results are EXTREMELY rare cases and flat out scary. There are SEVERAL forms of Ichthyosis. I have a very mild version of one form, but another skin issue that I have may fall under one or two of the other forms. So we haven't completed my full diagnosis just yet.

Ichthyosis-Vulgaris - This is the most common version, and 95% of people with ichthyosis have this form but it can have various looks to it so google search didn't even help with this. Basically your skin doesn't shed its layers as quickly in the areas that I have this. On my own body I have this on my left hand and a little bit on my left foot, and a small amount on my left elbow. I use to have this in the same areas on the right side of my body but with time it cleared up. In some people it goes away during adulthood, and returns during old age. I'm crossing my fingers that it just doesn't come back. For the most part my hands are not as rough as they use to be thanks to a special lotion that my doctor gave me. Ammonium lactate cream 12%. I consider myself lucky because there are hundreds of people out there with this skin condition that have it way worse than I do.

My main concern now is if my children inherit this skin disorder, will they have it worse? What would be the worse case scenario? Could they develop another form of ichthyosis that is harder to deal with? These are questions I would like answers too, but I'm still fairly new to researching this. From what I've read I think things would be okay, but I would love some reassurance because there are some terrifying forms of ichthyosis out there but I know they tend to deal with specific genes.

I am lucky enough that Baylor Dermatology has a program called MyChart where you can see your test results, ask for refills, and send questions to your doctor specifically. I sent my doctor a message today asking whether or not I need to come in regarding having a child and possibly passing this down given that my case is genetic.

What will happen? We'll see. Depending on the answers from my doctor we may do genetic testing, or we may not have to. It would definitely put my mind at ease, so I've brought up the idea with Chris so that if my doctor suggest it then he'll be ready mentally.

A Day In My Life

Chris sometimes wonders why I am so tired at the end of the day which has prompted me to make him come to school with me ONE day so that he can see what I do. In reality taking a day off to visit my classroom isn't quite as easy as one would imagine. Therefore I've made the following so that he can see just how the day runs for me.

5:00 - the alarm goes off and I snooze it for fifteen minutes
5:35 oops! That was too much time... Quickly jump in the shower
5:45 get dressed and begin fixing my hair and makeup.
6:10 pack up my stuff for work, grab my lunch, feed the cats and rush out the door at..
6:25- begin my commute to school
7:00 open my classroom door, set up my laptop, set out morning stations, and say good morning as the children and parents trickle in while also checking folders.
7:25 call clean up and grab the morning papers.
7:30 send regular accident prone friends to the bathroom and start calling roll.
7:35 go over the schedule for today and our job chart.
7:40 send the girls for their coats, then the boys for their coats, and rush the students that are still trickling in.
7:45 walk to the cafeteria, pass out lunch cards and help the students pull down their lunch tray. Tardy time, make last changes to the tardy roster.
7:50 get asked repeatedly to open food packages and milk cartons but instead I encourage the students to open the items themselves, which all of them can.
8:00 encourage students to eat and grow their bodies as well as their brains.
8:15 call the 3 steps. Close your milk, stand up, grab your tray. As we head to the front to dump our food trays. Constantly remind friends to look forward and at their trays to avoid spills.
8:17 clean up spills.
8:20 arrive at class, remove jackets and join together on the rug.
8:25 good morning routine.
8:30 literacy: read a story, two letters of the week, learn a poem, learn about alliteration (bee, baby, bubble) and play an alliterative game.
8:45 go to literacy centers, pull small groups, have a student dictate a story
9:00 co-teacher arrives
9:10 play cleanup song
9:15 Calendar, weather, and daily news
9:20 math whole group followed VGA check for understanding through a game.
9:30 math centers, small groups, and story dictation
10:05 clean up and official attendance
10:10 Spanish and my planning time which sometimes i fit in lunch
10:40 music and movement
10:50 social skills lesson
11:00 dramatic performance and bathroom for any child that needs to go, but more specifically accident prone kids.
11:10 second dramatic performance
11:15 go to lunch, same procedure as breakfast
11:40 clean up
11:45 recess
12:15 go inside, use the bathroom, lay out mats.
12:25 students are laying down, start calling two students at a time to brush their teeth.
12:35 all student are done, everyone's resting, and now lesson planning with co-teacher.
1:15 wake kids up, deal with two criers that never want to get up, all student must go to the bathroom. Tell two students that they have to go to the bathroom otherwise they will have an accident, two students cry and that they don't want to because they want to sleep.
1:30 head to excellence (P.E., music, art, or technology)
1:35 take a child to the nurse for daily medicine then race the child back to class
1:40 grade level meeting
2:35 meet kids back at the room, mode journal writing and send the kids to their journals.
2:40 color behavior charts, put new papers in folders
2:50 check journals, kids read a book quietly until everyone is finished.
3:00 students grab backpacks and we pack up.
3:15 head to the playground and play our hearts out with teacher tag, monsters vs humans, and other exhausting but fun games.
3:40 head to the front of the school for dismissal.
345-4:15 load kids into carseats to go home.
4:15 Either planning time or 5 Pm duty.
4:15 five pm duty - teamed up with another teacher - take forty kids to the cafeteria for snack, songs, and games, or to the classroom for a project and snacks.
4:40 take the bus kids to their bus waiting spots then head back to the car riders group.
4:45-5:30 wait outside for parents to pick up their kids.
5:35 call parents
5:40 pack up my stuff, sign out, and leave.
5:49-6:30 call parents regarding various issues, answer calls from parents while driving home. Definitely stop by Starbucks for a drink to keep me awake.
6:30 greet husband, stretch out for a moment.
6:45 start dinner
7:00 eat dinner, afterwards watch a tv show,
7:30 change into work out clothes and chat with hubby.
8:00 head to the gym to work out while watching an episode of Desperate Housewives.
8:50 pack up and head home.
9:00 have a smoothie or fruit as a snack and then shower
9:30 read
10:00 go to sleep and start all over again.


Weigh in: August 125, December 117, January 115. I need to make sure to each lunch every day, but it's a struggle most days during school hours. Back to adding ensure to every meal.

Friday The 13th??

Today I had a pretty good Friday the 13th. However, I was not so lucky on Thursday, the 12th.

On my way to work I was driving on the tollway and traffic suddenly stopped. I braked hard and the car behind me apparently couldn't figure out what my red tail lights were trying to say. In case you are reading this... STOP YOU IDIOT!... but no.... he hit me from behind. The suck is that when he hit my car, it sent my car forward and into the SUV in front of me. If that wasn't horrible enough, the jerk quickly drove off. Luckily nobody was hurt, and the car in front of me was fine other than some paint transferring. She said she will not be filing it with my insurance but none the less we exchanged anyways. A police officer did show up, but because the other driver sped off, there was minimal damage, and no witnesses stayed... I'm pretty much SOL if she does file. Had the other person stayed then they would have been held responsible for both of us. I'm worried though that the person my car hit, will go ahead and file for the paint transfer.

I'm looking up into the sky and pleading.. Please let this be a good karma pay off for the time that the guy at the gas station backed into my car and I let him off the hook for the dent he put in my focus. And for letting my brother off the hook when he put a MAJOR dent on the driver side of my Focus. :( please? please??

Pre-Pregnancy To Do List

A long time ago I was inspired by the following blog... Baby Makin(g) Machine as she wrote about the quest to pretty much research everything imaginable regarding babies. She worked hard to not only bring herself up to speed on current trends, tips, and tricks, but also health. So after reading her blog for over two years, I'm finally on that path myself.

Now that we have our house to ourselves again, Chris managed to surprise me by suddenly being gung-ho on us getting pregnant this summer. So the process begins and I am developing list of things to do regarding the pregnancy and things i want to do before this pregnancy:

1. Get into my doctor regarding stopping my BC pills and pre-pregnancy counseling. Now you would think this one would be easy right? Finish the pack and then BAM no more pills. It would be that easy except I have PMDD. My doctor also wants me to stop taking my BC pills three months before we are officially trying to get pregnant because I have been on HBC for YEARS. While some research says that you can stop HBC and be pregnant the next month, we have figured that it couldn't hurt stopping earlier. By the looks of my school calendar hopefully I can get into the doctor in March or June. Otherwise I'll have to use a 4th day from my vacation this year and I'm attempting to avoid using as many days as I can.

2. Research Pre-Natals. I absolutely hate taking pills. I have no problem with advil, tylonol, bc, and things of that sort. Vitamins however are another story. They are typically large, and if they have iron in them then I usually end up with an upset stomach. So I want to find a chewable vitamin that a) Taste good, and b) actually satisfies the levels that my doctor wants me to take. There are quite a few pre-natals out there that clearly leave out various vitamins that they should have in them so I have to be careful about this one. I have been taking folic acid for the past two years, but I need to find a new method because my current folic acid vitamin is included in my HBC.

3. Pay off my student loans: Luckily we have been in a pretty good financial situation since we both started working our current jobs and we've paid down my student loans by two years. If we keep paying on them as we are, then they should be paid off completely by August. Earlier if we use things like our tax refund and my summer school pay. This one is totally do-able but it would be great to have it done earlier than we have planned.

4. Plan a vacation for this sumer: This year will be our 9th anniversary since our first date! Next year will mark our big 10th anniversary and awhile back we talked about doing something big for that anniversary. Plans have since changed and since we are hoping to have a baby by our 2013 anniversary, we decided to have a big celebration trip this year instead. Chris is heading this project while I research up on our other project so I am excited to see what he plans for us.

As I think of more things for this list then I'll expand it.

Back in the groove

School is back in session and so far things are going well. We have started a new unit called Healthy Me and my kids have taken over the dramatic play center that is now a doctors office. In return for setting up an awesome doctors office I received a clean bill of health from the Panther Family Clinic. Well as healthy as can be when you get over 30 shots. :). My coteacher asked one young doctor if I cried and she quickly told her that I didn't cry because I'm a big girl. :) my heart melted because of that. I love how the kids completely engulf themselves in play.

On a side note there was an awful storm stalled over our city today. Several areas flooded and tornados formed. Luckily we were fine and while we did spend about an hour inside the kinder hall, the 1st graders there weeee wonderful and acted like big brothers and big sisters to my kids. On a worried note two of our sister schools were stranded due to flooding. They are hosting an overnight at the moment for the students that were unable to be picked up due to families that are stuck due to the floods. School has been cancelled for the which is a blessing. They school children were rescued by dump trucks (what an experience!) and are staying overnight in a church. I think I an going to have our kiddos write thank you letters to the church for taking care of a branch of our school family. I always get a warm feeling in my heart to hear when people step up and help out in times of need. As for our house, things are fine. We are in a 500 year flood plane and we definitely did not even get close to flooding. Thank you to those that planned this community with an excellency draining system many many years ago. :)

On another school note... Our school is creating decision making groups with a representative from each grade. Guess who signed up? Me! I'm slowly going to try and move up in leadership and helpfulness within our school. I don't want to move towards a principal role but I want to stand out more in terms of being a teacher and make a bigger impact while getting to know my teammates since wee are typically back in the portables all of the time.

Family wise things are going well on my side. My mom comes down on Wednesday for an appointment regarding the next phase in her cancer treatment. I'll be taking the day off to be with her.

Things are iffy on Chris's side of the family. There have been some horrifying post on Facebook by an immature married-in member of the family and blood member. It has a lot of us heated up quite a bit. I am sure it will pass but once you act a certain way towards those that have helped you then you cannot expect things to go back to how things we're before. I wouldn't have dreamed of doing what is going on even at my maddest moment. It irks me.

Chris and I are doing remarkably well and he is looking after me very well lately. He understands that my job is difficult and calls for late hours some nights but still encourages me to come to bed at a reasonable hour. He told me about the first time he knew he wanted to marry me. It was back in 2005 (4 years before actually getting married) and he had stayed the night. The next morning when he woke up he thought about how he would have to go home and for the first time ever he didn't want to go to his place. He wanted us to have our place and wake up together every morning. My heart melted. A year later he proposed and two and a half years later we were married. That made me completely giddy. I swear I have the best husband for me. :) I love him. :)

Alright well it is now 11:34 and I have a ton of stuff to do in the morning so I need to go back to sleep. Till next time :)