Tag Archives: exercise

learning

Yesterday, I went for a hike at my favorite hiking spot, Herrick Lake Forest Preserve. It’s a short drive from house and it makes a huge difference in my hike compared to my neighborhood. I’ve posted photos from previous hikes at the forest preserve. The preserve has woods, a prairie, and a marsh and the main crushed limestone hiking trail winds through it all.

the access road I take to get to the trail

It was a beautiful day and I had initially planned to hike first in the morning, but I decided to hike later in the day. I knew it would be relaxing and restorative.

When I had arrived home from the lake Monday afternoon, I discovered a house with no internet. I tried to resolve the issue, but a solution was beyond my capabilities. I called for support and learned the earliest a service technician appointment was available, was Thursday morning with an 8-12 service window.

The main reason I had come home from the lake was that I had enrolled in a graduate level class to learn more about assessing students in my science classes. Assessment or grades have been a HOT TOPIC in public education over the past couple of years and I wanted to learn more. The class was virtual with two internet ZOOM meetings.

I could use my phone as an internet hot spot, but the prospect of ZOOMING using my phone concerned so I decided to use the local public library for my heavy internet usage. It worked out well and I was patient and waited for the service tech to arrive Thursday morning.

When the tech arrived, I was outside working at my ‘summer office’ on the deck using my phone as my internet connection. I invited him, but he told me he wanted to start outside the house where the line enters the house. That’s where he found the problem, somewhere down the line there was a broken connection. A couple of years ago we had an outage and it caused by mice chewing on the wires in the junction box in the backyard. We talked about it, and he told me that it was a common problem and he laughed saying animals gave him job security.

He told me that he couldn’t make the repair, but another service tech was needed to find the break and make the repair. He told me I didn’t need to be home for the repair, so I used the opportunity to take off and hike. Continue reading learning

What I CAN see

Yesterday afternoon, I went for my annual eye exam. I was six months late, so it was actually an eighteen month checkup. As I suspected, my eyesight had gotten worse since my last exam in December 2013 and I needed a new prescription. This spring, I began to notice when I wore my sunglasses that the horizon was a bit out of focus, not significant, but enough to be annoying.

a pale yellow lily yearns for the sun
a pale yellow lily yearns for the sun

I started wearing eyeglasses in seventh grade. My vision was off just enough to warrant a visit to the eye doctor and I learned my eyes needed help – just a little. I’ve been wearing glasses since. When I passed forty several years ago, I began to notice that I needed reading glasses for reading (and see) up close. It’s the rule of forty, when you reach forty years of age, there needs to be at least forty inches between your eyes, and what you are trying to read or see up close. Gradually, I came to grips with the ideas that my arms were not long enough and my eyes needed more help. I made the transition to progressive lenses and I haven’t regretted it, in fact, considering the amount of reading I do, as a teacher, blogger, reader, and writer AND how much time I spend looking at a screen – phone and computer, my eyes needed the extra boost. Continue reading What I CAN see

A walk in the park

gratitude with my 'Superhero' pen
gratitude with my ‘Superhero’ pen

It rained Thursday morning, at least part of the day, when the rain ended, it left a beautiful afternoon. W and I made it to school and got all of my teacher stuff moved to my new rooms. It took only a couple of hours, having W move the boxes made it easier for me to work on the pitch, the pitch where I looked through stuff and tossed into the recycle bin. It felt good, but there is more to toss, but that will have to wait for another day.

Friday was beautiful, the kind of early summer morning when it is not quite summer and yet, still not quite spring, either – cool crisp air, bright sun, a sky so blue that it makes the green deeper and brighter. A perfect day for a walk in the park. Continue reading A walk in the park

Friday

four-fifths of the Troop 35’s mile swimmers – 6/29/12

I have been up for almost two and a half hours and I have yet to start writing. Yikes, where did the time go? I spent some of it reading a couple of blog posts, some of it wandering the yard and watering the plants, and I just finished working to resolve an technical issue I have (and have had) with the teacher association website I run. I have ignored the issue for a while, telling myself, I will get to it in the summer. Well, it’s summer and I am on to it. It’s probably some setting or something simple, but I haven’t been able to figure it out; I e-mailed tech support and I replied this morning. Maybe, hopefully, it’ll be resolved and then I can move on to other things I have been ignoring for a while. Continue reading Friday

Independence Day – 236 years later

‘We hold these truths to be self-evident…’

Originally, I planned to sleep in and skip today’s post. I figured most people would be busy at parades, barbecues, picnics, or fireworks; which just about describes what we’ll be doing here. Maybe even a bit of weed pulling and there are a lot to pull, or cleaning, organizing, and getting ready for grandma and grandpa to arrive Thursday.

But, I awoke at 5.15 and decided to get up and start the day; Continue reading Independence Day – 236 years later

Summer Doldrums

The doldrums, it is the time after school has let loose and the time for camp and action. I started writing a post Saturday morning, but didn’t finish, Father’s day came and went, then Monday, too. It seems as if I am busier now than when school was in session. Trying to keep my focus has been a challenge. I find myself drifting when I should be sailing strong. Continue reading Summer Doldrums

Ten days in

warm and dry – courtesy of The Chicago Tribune

Today is the tenth day of summer and it feels like the tenth day of summer. The weather yesterday was warm and dry. We need rain, the forecast yesterday called for rain however, the rain went either north or south but it completely avoided us.

There are things I would like to avoid, like interruptions, distractions, and lack of focus. However, that is what and who I am. I can distract myself like no one else. I can also be very productive or incredibly unproductive, like I was yesterday. I got nothing done and except for the annual physical – required for scout camp and because I am of a certain age. I did not learn anything I didn’t already know or suspect; I need to lose weight, I need to exercise, and I need to start now. Every summer, I get started and I lose a little bit of weight and exercise more than during the school year, but once school starts, I fall back to my old ways of doing things and eating. From what I heard yesterday, I need to start and make it happen AND stick with it. Continue reading Ten days in

Winding Down

Courtesy of FineArtAmerica.com

It is Teacher Appreciation Week and I am feeling appreciated. More importantly, I am grateful for the teachers I had who shaped me through their lessons, stories, patience, and passion. Thank you to, and in no particular order, Atlee, Guinn, Wright, Giesberg, Clark, Shand, and Gilbert. I know there were more, but it’s early and I am thinking and writing. I am also grateful to the teachers who have shaped my kid’s lives and made a difference for them.  THANK YOU and THANK YOU for being a teacher. Continue reading Winding Down

Reading and more reading

Saturday always feels like a Saturday at the cottage. It doesn’t matter that we aren’t following a schedule it still feels like a Saturday. It is time for a few chores and mostly time for recreation. It is also a busy time on the lake. There are more boats and jet skis zipping on the lake, more water skiers, and more noise. You run into more people on the lane, up for the weekend arriving Friday night and leaving, or planning to, on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading Reading and more reading

Running

Yesterday morning, I roused the kids for a run. A group of kids had organized a ‘cottage running club’ and they wanted to go along. Up here, at the cottage, they probably don’t need it with all of the activity packed into their day; swimming, skiing, boating, and just being outside playing. They are far more active here than at home. Nevertheless, I got them up and thirty or so minutes after they left, they tracked back in from their run. They had plenty of time and physical activity ahead in their day. Continue reading Running