Tag: Spin Cycle

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Time to Pound the Pavement {Spin Cycle}

Coffee mug

Exercise. It’s a four letter word times two. Exercise is a word we love to hate.

Many of you know that for my exercise, I love to walk. I have walked long, long distances for a good cause.

Over the summer, I was in the habit of getting up early to walk. My alarm would go off at 5am. I would drag myself out of bed just before Ed’s final snooze, throw my exercise clothes on and head out the door as Ed got into the shower. During our hot, hot summer the morning was the best time to walk. The sun was just rising; the air was still cool, (or as cool as it was going to be that day) and the whole world was quiet. I would come home feeling great, kiss Ed goodbye as he pulled out of the driveway and head inside for my morning cup of coffee with the newspaper.

I have a confession to make. Some people love to walk with a companion, to have someone else to chat with and to help set the pace. I hate it. I’m a loner. I don’t want to talk; I want to set my own pace, thankyouverymuch. I want to plug those ear buds in, listen to my playlists and be in a world all by my lonesome. Sometimes I want nothing more than to listen to the sounds around me; the wind blowing though the tree, the birds, the distant traffic. I crave the alone time and the thinking time. Walking is contemplative for me. I can’t be contemplative with someone blabbing the whole time about how slouching is bad for my digestion.

Everything was going so well and I was really racking up the summer miles.

Then one weekend, I caught a fever.

No, really, an honest to goodness fever. My temperature was over 100, so I spent the weekend resting and reading. No walking for me.

Then I just got out of the habit. Just like that. School started for the kids, I started teaching again, and I’m tired. I don’t want to get up at 5am anymore. It’s too dark. It’s too cold.

I miss the way it felt. How addicting it was to get my muscles moving; to get my heart pumping. To try to walk faster each day; to try shoot for that 15 minutes mile.

Today, the calendar is clear. Today, after I drop off the girls at school, I’m going for that walk. I’ll keep you updated.

Spin Cycle at Second Blooming

And because I mentioned coffee up there in the first paragraph, I’m linking up to Coffee Friday. (I finally remembered, Paloma!)


The Coffee Shop
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Kindergarten Memories

For about a month, all over Facebook back-to-school pictures have been taken and exclaimed over. Mommy blogs (and a few Daddy blogs) have written about the emotions tied in with that first day. I wrote my own mandatory back-to-school post last week. Lily and Emmy are pictured wearing their backpacks, loaded up with school supplies, a lunch and a snack, ready to go.

First Day of School

For Emmy, Kindergarten has really been no big deal. She has been in preschool since she was three and has been well prepped to start school. When I was three, there was no preschool in the town I lived in. I didn’t go to school until I was five years old, and then I went to Kindergarten. Emmy goes to school all day; I just went to school in the morning. Emmy has math in the morning, and gym class, and after lunch she has reading. I had nap time; our teacher would dim the lights and we would lie down on our little rugs and pretend to close our eyes.

Despite the less rigorous Kindergarten I attended, I did quite well in school. In fact, I must have liked school a lot since I went on to become a teacher myself. Way back in Kindergarten, though, all I wanted to do was lose my two front teeth, just like my friend Dawn did after putting the handle of her plastic book bag into her mouth. And I did NOT want the teacher to take my jump rope!

One day, I had decided to bring my brand-new jump rope to school. It was raining that day, so we had recess in the gym. The gym had wooden floors and a stage on one wall. Recess included many grades, not just the kindergartners. Kids would be running around playing tag; basketballs and kick balls would be flying through the air. With all the distractions, I soon abandoned my jump rope and let some other kids play with it. The sixth grade teacher saw that these kids were misbehaving with MY jump rope, and so he took it away from them. I saw what was happening, ran over to the sixth grade teacher and grabbed my jump rope right out of his hands. I told him that it was MY JUMP ROPE and my mommy told me not to lose it! My mother always got a kick out of telling me that story.

After learning all of the Letter People (for some reason it is Mister M that sticks out in memory), it was time for me to move on up to First Grade.

Mister M

 

After a year of watching me go to school and wanting to go too, my sister eagerly started Kindergarten. There was no Facebook, no blogging or Instagram or digital cameras back then, but Mom still proudly posted our First Day of School picture.

My sister, going to Kindergarten, and me, ready for First Grade.

And that, my friends, was the beginning of my formal Education.

Spin Cycle at Second Blooming

What do you remember about your school days?

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