Questions to Make Your Brain Hurt

I was wasting some time this weekend reading an article about ridiculous arguments people have had and some of the topics made me laugh. (Sometimes I need to take a break from reading about politics and these silly listicles are the best distraction!) I wonder how many answers to these weird questions we'd all agree on!

1. What color is the bikini in the "Itsy-Bitsy, Teeny-Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" song? I always pictured it yellow with black or white polka-dots...but now I'm not so sure!

There really isn't a clear answer!

2. Is a hotdog a sandwich? I'm going to go with no because the bun is one continuous piece of bread... Matt just informed me that sub sandwiches have connected bread so now I have to change my answer. Hotdogs are a specific type of sandwich.

3. Is cereal soup? My first impression is that soup is hot, but gazpacho and some fancy soups are served cold, so...yes?

4. What goes first in a taco: cheese or meat? I used to put the meat in first but Matt taught me years ago to put the cheese in first to help hold the shell together! So now I can see either as being the right way to go! The only requirements with toppings-placement is that cheese has to touch the meat directly so it melts and sour cream has to go on top.

5. Are Die Hard, Home Alone, and Harry Potter Christmas movies? I didn't grow up celebrating Christmas so I could be wrong. However, because these movies are shown on TV during Christmastime, I'm going to go with yes.

6. Are sandals shoes? Yes. This one feels easy, as a Floridian; we wear sandals year-round. And I'm talking basic sandals, not strappy or open-toes heels. What do you northerners say?

These probably take longer to get into and lace than sneakers.

7. Are Cheetos chips? No...they're some kind of crunchy non-chip snack food.

8. Does toilet paper go over or under? Over! I do not know how this is a question because everyone should have strong feelings about this and should get that TP unspools more easily when it goes over.

True story: When using the bathroom away from home, if the TP goes under, I fix it. This might be an OCD thing, but really, I just feel like I'm doing the next bathroom-user a favor.

9. Are you naked if you remove all clothing except your socks? I admit, I thought about this longer than I should have and my answer is long and weird.

My initial reaction is yes because nudity isn't really about feet, is it? But then again, when it comes down to it, how are feet different than any other body part? Is this a societal norms thing? Because some societies don't care about exposure of any body parts, so why would feet count? In those societies, maybe only full nudity counts as being naked. But I guess I have to go with what my personal culture and upbringing has taught me, which is that being naked = exposing the body parts we usually need to cover up in public places, and that doesn't include feet. So...

Yes.

10. How deep can a pan be before it becomes a pot? 3 inches. Huh. I feel really sure about this one.

Also, "sauce pan" is a misnomer as they are clearly actually pots.

Right?!

What are your thoughts on these deep and important questions? 

ABK

Weekly Workouts 9/26-10/2

Monday: I have a love/hate relationship with PopSugar and the way it talks about fitness. There's a lot of garbage about cleanses and losing weight on their website, but their workouts are really great for small spaces and limited gear. I found this link to 13 5-Minute Workout Videos and they are exactly what I need for Mondays.

I only did the videos pictured above because I wanted to focus on my core and stretching, but the leg workouts look really good, too.

Tuesday: W/U .3 @ 9:40; 1 mile @ 8:10; 4x800 @ 8:19. Elizabeth and I did some speed work at the park. My plan was do mile repeats, but after the first I knew I had to adjust the plan. Whatever horrific cold I had a couple weeks ago has finally caught up with Elizabeth, and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. She didn't ask me to adjust the plan, but I could tell by her wheezing that it was for the best; I really didn't want her to keel over!

The change in color gradation was so cool! I love cloudy sunsets.

We ended up finishing the workout by doing half-mile repeats. We kept a really good pace and I felt pretty strong, but I probably rested more between them than I should have. Technology worked for us today, so that's a bonus.

Wednesday: We played around on the Blogilates website and chose a few videos to target our legs, abs, back, and arms. It's been awhile since we've done Blogilates so it was a nice change to come back to!

Thursday: The day before a race I usually rest, but I just felt like running. Elizabeth and I did a moderate 4 miles. My legs felt great, but the humidity is still really taking a lot of effort out of me. Even with a walk break around 3 miles, we were able to keep our pace sub-10, so I was happy!

It left me feeling both physically ready for Friday's race and nervous about the weather conditions.

Friday: Howl at the Moon 5k! This was a night race and the course was almost completely unlit. I had a great race - more details to come in the recap this week - and had zero calf pain! Downward dog is working!

Saturday: Rest! We slept in, then drove up to see my family for a not-really-but-kind-of Rosh Hashanah dinner.

Sunday: 9 miles with Elizabeth. I was absolutely exhausted. My legs felt okay but my body was just dragging. We kept a very slow pace and took some consistent walk breaks every mile or so.

I'm actually surprised our paces aren't more varied! It felt like we were all over the place.

It felt cool at the start (75 degrees) but the 89% humidity caught up with us, I guess. Can we have fall weather yet?!

This week I got in all my workouts as scheduled and felt really good! This was a solid one!

ABK

I Leave You With...A Survey

I'll be gone all weekend for ASCD, so I won't be updating. I'm still feeling pretty cruddy so I'm not sure if I'll get to run while I'm away, but I hope I do!

Kim tagged me in this survey, and it's one I've never done, so I'm all over it! I think the copy/pasting made the font a little weird so...bear with me!

A- Age: 30!
B- Biggest fear: Manatees...actually, wide open water and the sea creatures therein, but people really think the manatee fear is hilarious.
C- Current time: 8:33pm
D- Drink you last had: Ice water. My throat has been parched all week from this cough!
E- Every day starts with: Wishing I could sleep another hour.
F- Favorite song: Right now I'm obsessed with all things Melanie Martinez. 

Her sound is so unique and dark. Thanks to Allison for making me aware of her!

G- Ghosts, are they real? No
H- Hometown: Hm. Beachwood, Ohio? What exactly is a hometown? Where you live, or where you grew up?
I- In love with: Matt...and rainbow sherbet.
J- Jealous of: People who can run 45 miles a week without getting injured!
K- Killed someone? Uh...no. What kind of question is this?! (Actually, last week Elizabeth accused me of trying to kill her during our 200 repeats so...maybe?)

Proof she was still smiling and alive after!

L- Last time you cried? Uh...I can't remember! I guess that's a good thing.
M- Middle name: Beth. (Suddenly my signature on posts becomes clear!)
N- Number of siblings: I'm the middle kid and I definitely suffer middle child syndrome.

The fam last Passover.

O- One wish: To live a life worth living. No, really. To not have to look back and feel like I squandered my talent or my passions.
P- Person you last called: My doctor.
Q- Question you're always asked: "What did you say?" "Can I go to the bathroom?" "What are we doing?" "When does class end?"
R- Reason to smile: The sunflowers Matt brought home for now reason this week.

S- Song last sung: Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama". I sang it while I ran, so you know it was good.
T- Time you woke up: 10:30, and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

Read the article here.

U- Underwear color: This is right up there with the question about killing people...
V- Vacation destination: I don't have a favorite, so I'm going to go with my DREAM vacation - New Zealand! Or a tour of Europe!
W- Worst habit: Okay, this is embarrassing but...skin picking. I have dermatillomania, which is an OCD disorder. (Admittedly I'm self-diagnosed, but I'm 100% certain I've earned the diagnosis.)
X- X-Rays you've had: Feet and teeth
Y- Your favorite food: Sushi or chocolate. Anything chocolate.
Z- Zodiac sign: Aquarius...but I don't think it has anything to do with my personality or how I get along with others.

Share something random about yourself in the comments, or fill out the survey!
How do you define "hometown"?
Teachers, can you relate to Q?

ABK

The End Draws Nigh

This is mostly a teaching post, but I saw this little beauty and had to share.

Gotta love the play on Hamlet's famous soliloquy.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the students. It's been quite a year. On the one hand, I feel like it took me longer to get my feet under me, but on the other hand, I feel like once I developed a rapport with my students, in some ways it's gone beyond the rapport I've had in past years.

My board has been constantly filled with notes this past week. Last night we had the 8th grade ceremony to send them off to high school; seeing the kids dressed up really solidifies that they are now high schoolers. When they first came to me in the beginning of the year, they were just glorified 7th graders; I saw them grow into 8th graders; now they're 9th graders.

It's such a huge transition, and the main reason I love teaching this grade.

I am so grateful for the notes they've been writing me this week, and I can't wait to read their year-end survey about their thoughts on my class. I'm thinking my scrapbook is going to need a few pages added.

I was enjoying this little article from Buzzfeed about how you know when you've been teaching too long, and had to pull a few to share.

How many smiley faces, ampersands, and uses of "ur" have I had to correct? Probably a million.

The bottom line with grammar is that it's kind of inherent. You need to read a lot and practice writing to get the hang of it; teaching it is rarely successful on its own. I'm all for this kind of...ahem...gentle correction, though.

(I recently asked a student if she had a grudge against apostrophes, because she never uses them.)

I am the master at this.

It's so hard to tell students when they're flat-out wrong, but I don't believe in letting them get away with ridiculous answers, either. They're not going to learn from their mistakes if they think their mistakes are right answers!

This this this this this this this.

My students are perhaps too young to really understand the difference they make in the lives of their teachers, or the fact that the reason we come to school in the mornings is for them more than anything else, but this is the truth. If I know I've somehow impacted a student; taught them something they'll remember for life; or introduced them to a genre, author, or book they'll cherish forever, then I know I've done my job.

(Prime example: A student wrote me a letter and had written the number "5", remembered my rule about writing out numbers under 10, and crossed it out to fix it...And it wasn't even graded!)

I'm ready for summer break, but I'm going to miss this group of kids. I've done what I can with them, and now it's up to them to go into the world of young-adulthood, set goals, aim high, and...use the force, or whatever.

Finally, here's a little something to leave you with a smile. I use this as a mnemonic device in writing: how to remember that "a lot" is not a single word:

Click here to read all about the lovely Alot! Hilarity ensues.

Tell me about a teacher you'll always remember.

ABK

A Reflection On the Off Season

Over the last few weeks, really since my break from running, I've been enjoying a lighter schedule. I'm running no more than three times a week, keeping my runs short, and running in the evenings. All of these things are in keeping with an "off season" mentality.

As much as I liked morning training when I had a hefty goal in mind, I'm liking this whole rest-heavy thing I have going on. With only three runs a week, my longest scheduled race a 10k, and extra time to sleep in the morning, I'm finally feeling like myself again. I'm feeling happier and less stressed. Running is fun again; none of the runs feel like a chore, or just another check-mark on a training plan.

Three shorter runs a week definitely beats the alternative.

I'm not in the best running shape ever, but I'm maintaining, and focusing on short distances and fundamentals - like negative splits - has helped me to improve my pace. All in all, as the first full year of real training slips further into the past, I now can reflect on what an off season should be. And I'm loving every minute of it.

Despite having my new phone, I haven't gotten any on-the-run pictures yet. I'm not yet at a place where I want to pause in the middle of a run to take photos.

Lats night I did a short, nice run around the park with AP. Although I felt like the run was slow, the pace was still sub-10, even with a walk break. So clearly I'm making progress. I'm glad to have sucked another person into running! (I will be running this week with both the iPod Nano + chip and the Nike+ GPS at the same time, to check the accuracy of the GPS.)

Afterwards we went out for dinner and drinks, and we let M come along so he wouldn't starve. I know chocolate milk is good for recovering muscles; what's the word on chocolate martinis?

Mood lifter, muscle relaxer, muscle healer?

I've been doing my exercises religiously, and I'm seeing a big difference in my core. The swaying bridge is my new favorite.

The weekend has been fun, but it's slipped past me. I'm so glad spring break is right around the corner!

ABK