Week 2, Take 2!

Still okay, even with wonky lesson plans! Last year, when my lesson plans went wonky, which was everyday, I would stay at school late and then go home and continue to work. And I would still fret over the damn things!

This year? Eh. I'll spend 10 minutes re-thinking some things and come up with something workable, if not pretty freakin' good. I keep saying this, and I'm going to have to say it one more time: What a difference a year makes!

Time to re-evaluate the goals from last week!

Movie of the Week: I should be embarrassed to admit that not only that I saw this movie, but I wanted to see it. Furthermore, I really, really liked, if not loved, this movie, even though it is horrible. This movie is cheesy, the acting is horrible, and it is terribly violent. Yet, my heart soared as I watched the horrible carnage on the sheet. As a black female, this movie shouldn't speak to me the way that it did. Without further ado, this movie, that is so bad that it's awesome is...

Damn right! I went to see The Expendables 2, and I loved it. Chuck Norris popping up to blow up a small town's worth of bad guys? Check. Jean-Claude Van Damme roundhouse kicking a knife into someone? Yes, please. Watching Norris, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzennegger, and Stallone shooting stupidly huge guns side-by-side? I demand seconds!

This movie contains every "Americans love their guns!" stereotype that has ever existed, even though the setting and many of the actors are not Americans. If you know me personally, this ideology doesn't align closely with mine at all. And yet, this movie rocks my heart. Can't wait till it comes out on DVD. No, seriously, I can't wait. I probably will go see this again.

Gym Habits: I made Zumba on Thursday night! I went Wednesday & Thursday for a total of 90 cardio minutes. Not what I was aiming for, but better than Week 1! This week, I'm aiming for Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. I've already logged 30 cardio minutes from my visit today, so I'm off to a good start!

To end things back on the education territory, I'm going to apply to TFA. I'll explain my decision in more details later, but suffice it to say, good options don't hurt. Whatever keeps me growing as a teacher for my classroom and my kids' sake is a good option, so here I go. Again, though, more details later!

Till later, folks!

Couldn't help it! JCVD is the best part. Seriously, go see The Expendables 2. 

Week 1, Take 2!

...and I don't want the blogging drop-off to happen like last year, so here I am. Physically tired, but otherwise in mentally good spirit. My good eating patterns took a bit of a dive along with the workouts, but next week, I will be sure to pick them back up. I have several personal goals that I wish to maintain this school year, and I think that I will increase my chances of these coming into fruition if I publicize them:

1. Go to the movies every weekend.

2. Spend at minimum 120 minutes in the gym on cardio. (Doing weights is easy for me cause I love them. Cardio can kick rocks.)

3. Blog at minimum once a week. 

Every week,  I will share my thoughts on the week along with my progress on my personal goals. Because this past week was the first technical week with kids and teaching, I start now!

Goal #1: I saw Bourne Legacy today. If this movie were an assignment for me to grade, I would give it a 80/100. It would totally be a 75/100 if it weren't for one reason...

Mmm...Jeremy. Freakin' Renner.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for arms and Ray-Bans. (If you watch the movie towards the end, you'll understand the Ray-Bans.) Seriously, Renner elevates what could have been a standard thriller. While Aaron Cross does not have as compelling a back story as Jason Bourne, I think that with the right script the character could be just as kick ass as Bourne was. They certainly cast the right guy; they just need to give him a better story and more chances to shine, action-wise. I do recommend at least catching this one on DVD if you liked the Bourne movie trilogy.

Goal #2: I sucked this week. I worked out on Monday for 30 minutes and Friday's day at the gym was weights with the trainer. I was too tired to stay for cardio. This week, I'm aiming for Thursday night Zumba (1 hour), 30 minutes after Wednesday's training session, and another 30 minutes on Saturday. One week at a time is all I can do, so I'm going to try to do right by myself this week. 

Goal #3: Is right here. Boom. Done. 

To add just a little more substance about education in this post, I will say that I'm amazed by the difference a year's worth of experience makes. I was more confident, more organized, and just plain better than I was as a teacher and as person at this point in time last year. My kids this year, so far, are great! They still have that old 6th grade veneer on them, which, I think, is making them a bit intimidated by us, but I'm sure that will change pretty quickly, so the real 7th grade fun can begin!

I'm stoked about improving my game, so that my kids can do even more growing than their predecessors. That's the one thing that made me a bit wistful this week: see my kids from last year. I could have been better for them, so that they could start better this year...theoretically. However, everyone has that first batch of pancakes. Hopefully, mine came out more like this batch...

Pretty good!

than this batch...

What the...?!

Now that I know more, hopefully this year's batch will turn out like this...

That's reduced-sugar syrup and "I Can't Believe It's Butter"...And now I want pancakes!