Livin' the Dream in Lima

This weekend has been a whirlwind of activity! Including a lot of fun activities! (Minus the dishes. Haha.) But before I tell you about my weekend, let me tell you about our delicious dinner tonight! The Midwest is preparing itself for a huuuuuuuge snowstorm later this week. Of course, today it was mid-30s and sunny, one of the nicest days we've had in several weeks. But I'm sure the terror of the storm is to come. I'm secretly hoping for a snow day or two. Anyways, whenever I think of horrible no-good very bad weather, I think of comfort food. One of my ultimate comfort foods from my childhood is chicken pot pie. My mom and I would have these for dinner a lot when my dad was out of town on business. I remember she would scoop out half the pot pie and then give me the half that had the little container. That was the best part! It came in its own pan. (Nowadays, though, I couldn't imagine sharing a pot pie! I want the goods all to myself. I guess I was much sm...

Yesterday I was privileged with the opportunity to play 'hooky' from school. Okay, not really, but I attended a Track & Field Coaching Clinic down in Columbus. I was technically "working," just not in the classroom. It was an overnight trip, so my Business Man decided to "work from his computer" on Friday and come with me. We left late Thursday afternoon, and of course just as we were leaving it started to snow. So the trip took a little longer than usual. Pretty typical, when it comes to traveling for us.  We arrived at the Hilton, where the conference was located. Now, my school is pretty awesome, and paid the cost of the hotel room for me. All I had to do was check-in, fill out a tax exemption form, and I'd be good to go. However, when we went to check in, they couldn't find my name in the system. Anywhere . And they couldn't find the names of the other coaches from my school that should be there either. Hmmmm... and I started to ...

This week has been crazy! Here's a few ramblings that have been running through my mind... 1. As much as I love to cook, I haven't cooked dinner once this week. Monday night we had a deli-roasted chicken. Tuesday night was cereal. Tonight my amazing Business Man had a gourmet meal waiting for me when I got home from the gym at 7pm.  Salad, cheese tortellini, and garlic bread! Love my Business Man! Enjoying the carb-licious-ness... 2. I got home from the gym so late because I decided to do my long run today. On the treadmill. I watched an episode of Friends, two episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, and another half-episode of Friends. I don't think I've watched that many sitcoms on TV consecutively since I was in college, and my roommate Tal-Tal and I would watch entire DVD's of Friends episodes. In one sitting. Of course while eating buffalo popcorn chicken or DQ blizzards. 3. Speaking of DQ, the Dairy Queen's (yes, there's more than one...

As you probably already know, I really get into football. I am a huge fanatic, screaming at the television, dressing myself in jerseys to support my team. I love nothing more than an intense, exciting football game. Ok, that was a complete lie. I don't even know what teams are good and what teams are bad. I do know that the Bears are from Chicago and the Packers are from Green Bay, but that's about it.  However, I do love football game-watching food! I used to absolutely hate spicy or hot things, but in the past few years, I have developed quite taste for buffalo chicken. I think it was the introduction to the buffalo popcorn chicken that was served in my college's student union. Gosh, that stuff was good, with the buffalo flavor already baked (fried?) right in, so you didn't have to get all messy.  [ Side note : There was this 'restaurant' in a town down near Greenville (where I went to college) that served free hot wings on Tuesday nights, as long ...

So yesterday was the best day ever. Well, the best day of this year so far. Haha. Love is in the air! I woke up at 5:45am to go to the gym and run before school. I used to do this all the time, but haven't in a month or two because I don't like to get up that early all that much. I checked for a school delay before I left, because that's what I do first thing everyday when I wake up. (Hopeful, much?) Alas, no delay was called yet, so I went off to the gym. While driving, it was very icy. So icy in fact, that I ran a red light because I couldn't stop! Thank goodness it was 5:45am and not a lot of cars were out.  Anyways, I completed my run (4x800m intervals! woooo!), and was stretching a bit before I left, when the owner of the gym came over to ask if I had a delay. (He knows I teach.) Of course, I didn't think we did, but decided to check the TV anyway. Woot woot! A delay was called. So I decided to add on a couple extra miles, since I had the time.  I got...

Well, today was the first day of 2nd semester. I'm liking it already. I have my planning period first thing; whereas last semester it was at the end of the day. This means I can arrive at school at 8am instead of 7:15am! I always have a few last minute things to do in the morning, so by not having a class first thing, I can do those during my planning. I have less time to get stuff done in the afternoon, but I'm never very productive in the afternoon anyway. Win-win situation! I'm teaching two sections of Algebra 2, which is my most favorite class to teach ever, and one section of Calculus. We will be moving very slowly through Calculus, as I'm a little wary of what it will bring. I would rather teach them a few things and have them really understand it, than cram as much as possible in with no retention. (It's not for college credit; they will still have to take Calc. in college. So it's like Calc. that you take before you take the real Calculus. Confused...

Today has been a wonderful day. Thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr., I had no school. Keep on reading to get to the good stuff... As a teacher, I fully embrace all those little holidays that schools take off, but most businesses do not. While my Business Man got up and headed to work this morning, I was privileged to stay in our warm, cozy bed and get a late start to my day. It was great to have a catch-up day, because my Business Man and I were gone all weekend at a super-fun weekend in Indianapolis with some of his friends from college. (Woot woot for Merlinpeen!)  Today was spent getting a lot of chores done, and some fun time in the kitchen as well. I also got my long run for the week in, on a Monday! (That never happens.) It's funny because in college, Monday's were always Long Run Days. But now, in the real world, they tend to fall on Saturday's or Sunday's, based on the sheer fact that those are the only day's with enough free time to run long. I'm...

After a super-long week, I was so ready to crash last night! It's like all-of-a-sudden, after two weeks off, I completely forgot what it's like to work five 8+ hour days in a row. I guess it didn't help that the last week before Christmas break was littered with 2-hour weather delays. Anyways, after school yesterday I had big intentions of going for a nice little run. (To keep up with one of my 2011 resolutions , ya know?) But, somehow my bed lured me in for a nice little nappy. Sometimes, sleep > running. Yes, even for me.  When I woke up, I was frrrreeeeezing! Like, so cold that my toes were numb. So I had to play a little Just Dance 2 to get my body warmed up. And, ya know, it counts a cardio workout, right? When my Business Man got home, we just decided to stay in, watch a few movies, and order a pizza. We got pizza from our favorite place , and it was fabulous. And, it was so much cheaper as take-out than eating there. Our pizza last night was $12, and we h...