Tag: life as I know it

Just How Grown Up is a Second Grader?

Just How Grown Up is a Second Grader?

Yesterday evening was “meet your teacher night” at my son’s school and today is our last official day of summer. Wow! I have absolutely no idea where it all went. Okay, so I have a few suspicions, but I probably won’t own up to the fact that I tried to cram way too much good stuff into a mere two and a half months (and I might do the same thing next year *grin*).

second grade
PTA photo booth at Meet Your Teacher night.

As usual, my son was a bit anxious about the school year but after he located his classroom, met his teacher and recognized a few peers he is now a bit more eager to get second grade started. Of course I would be happy if he was simply working his way backward and the first day of preschool was actually at hand. My sweet little boy is growing up so quickly and although I try to enjoy every new season of life, I’m not ready to cut the apron strings as soon as he might like.

Monday evening I asked him if he wanted me to walk him to his classroom on the first day of school. This has been the drill for the last two years and I thought it was simply a rhetorical question. Wrong!

“That’s so embarrassing,” he said.

I responded, “Really?” 

*short silent pause*

“But you can walk me if you really want to,” he added.

That’s my boy! He is so on the fence when it comes to growing up, and if that is all I can get I’ll take it. I’ll let him make every justification in the book as long as it keeps him from morphing into a teenager at lightning speed. Yes, I want to walk him to class on the first day of school, and I bet I do it for as long as he lets me.

Have You Lost Your Marbles?

Have You Lost Your Marbles?

The end of summer is chasing us here in the Midwest, and my son and I are trying to cram in as much fun as possible before the first day of school, August 16. Yikes! When I say it out loud that sounds really early! Does anyone remember when we started school after Labor Day and still got out way before June?

Anyway, in the name of summer fun we headed to the Moon Marble Company in Bonner Springs, Kansas, yesterday. We arrived just in time to watch the artisan and owner of Moon Marble transform a few pieces of raw glass into a shiny, smooth and very cool marble. It’s an awesome process to watch (the owner also is pretty clever) and the marble company makes it easy on the gawkers with a nice sized set of bleachers and large screen television for comfort and viewing.

marbles

In addition to this main event, visitors can must also peruse the sizable retro toy store/gift shop, which of course everyone walks through on their way to and from the marble making room. And let me tell you, after you watch a marble being made you might look at these little round balls of glass in a whole new light. You WILL want to come home with a pocketful of your own shiny objects, and we did!

So there I was, standing in line to pay for my son’s plastic tube full of brightly colored marbles, when a lady leans forward and asks me if I ever taught school in Nickerson. Indeed I had, but that was so many years ago and many miles away that I was completely caught off guard. I didn’t recognize the face behind the voice and I quickly went into internal panic mode when she explained that she was one of my former students. I never like to forget a student; but let’s face it, she would have been a teenager the last time I saw her. Things got really crazy when she explained (probably because of the bewildered look on my face) who she was and that she recognized me because I “haven’t changed a bit.”

What did she say?

I squeezed that silly little plastic tube I was holding and literally lost some of my marbles! I swear I chased those fast-moving little suckers as quickly as I chased my memories (and I probably unknowingly left a few of both behind).

Although flustered and embarrassed after chasing my marbles about the floor, I did manage to recall her younger self after she gave me her name. It actually turned out fun to run into a former student from my first teaching job of so many years ago. We reminisced, talked about our kids (she has six by the way, with the oldest a senior in high school, and I have only one who is about to start second grade – go figure) and briefly caught up on our current whereabouts; but the one glaring (and extremely flattering) thing I took away from this whole chance encounter was that she said, “You haven’t changed a bit!”

Maybe she was the one who lost her marbles. . .

photo credit: Reva G Shadows vs. light via photopin (license)

Chapter 6: Gooooooooooooal!

It took almost seven full months, but I finally reached my Weight Watchers official goal weight! Yay! Sure, I wished it had been a shorter journey; but let me tell you, summer has been a little tougher than I first imagined. With multiple vacations, VBS preparations and a general summertime mentality I have found it much more difficult to meal plan, eat right and stay the course. There has been a lot of ups and downs on the scale, but I think my secret weapon was perseverance. Even when I fell off the wagon food truck, I picked up my sad little self, wiped off the road rash, jumped back on the Freestyle plan and went scurrying back to my awesome Tuesday night support group.

Speaking of support, I have oodles of it and I believe this has made a huge difference in my weight loss journey. My husband has been one of my biggest cheerleaders since the day I joined and my mom loves (or at least she acts like it) to get my Tuesday night post-meeting phones calls with my latest stats. My sister even joined Weight Watchers a few months ago, and we exchange new WW friendly foods, recipes and struggles.

Other than my immediate family, I have one tremendous support system that is a big part of the Weight Watchers philosophy– the friendly folks at my weekly meeting and weigh-in. I usually see several familiar faces at my Tuesday night meetings and our leader has been awesome. There is no shortage of support, useful tips, food exchange ideas and camaraderie at these events. If you are absent, they will notice. If you are discouraged, they will listen. If you hit a milestone, they will celebrate. You, and I, are not alone!

So yes, I reached a huge milestone this week and guess what, one of the familiar faces at my Tuesday meeting asked to film my weigh-in because she knew I was getting close to my goal.  I am so glad she hit the record button, because this was a big moment and now I can relive this exciting experience from the other side of the scale. Of course if I had known, I would have added some makeup and dressed differently, but this works too. *grin*

So after seven months, reaching my goal and feeling good, here is my thought on the Weight Watchers Freestyle program:  If you use it, you will lose it.

STARTING WEIGHT:  168.2
JANUARY 2018 :  -8.6
FEBRUARY 2018: -5.8
MARCH 2018: -6.0
APRIL 2018: -2.6
MAY 2018: -4.6
JUNE 2018: -2
JULY 2018: -4.4
CURRENT WEIGHT: 134.2

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