I've never dieted before

I never thought I needed to. I was a skinny child and an active teen. I've never really had the body issues that seem to plague our society. Until recently. As I mentioned before, my activity level has gone down in the past few years. This has contributed to the little bit of extra baggage that I've put on recently. I now understand the phenomenon of the American bubble butt. The life of an average American: get up, drink coffee and eat something fatty for breakfast; drive 20-45 min to work; sit at a desk (or in my case occasionally stand in front of a class) for 8 hours; drive back home; sit and watch TV/play video games/surf the net for 4-5 hours.

It's not that I feel "fat" or anything, I just feel myself being less active and not liking it. I also wonder about my eating habits. I like food. I like good food alot.

So here's my plan, laid out for the world to see. First, I'm going to start keeping track of what I eat. I'm just a little curious. So for two weeks, without really changing my habits, I'm going to start keeping a food journal. At the end of two weeks, I'll evaluate and see what I need to change (I imagine I need to eat more vegatables).

Second, in my off time after school, I'm going to start walking to the rec center and working out. I've never been good about keeping to a work out schedule, so we'll see how this goes. I'm going to go this afternoon to check out the gym.

Wish me luck in my effort to avoid the bubble butt.

complete awesomness

Legally Blonde the Musical.

This is what happens when I'm home to watch TV on Saturday afternoon.

not a morning person

and I don't think I ever will be. Just ask my first period calculus teacher from senior year or any of the students in the first period classes I teach now. I've never understood why high schools start so damned early- in Denver it is between 7:15 and 7:45- and I don't think that I ever will. Studies show that teenagers are not alert until about 8:30. Neither am I. The worst part about having to get up early is the feeling that I have to go to bed early. I'm not to good at that. I should go to bed by 9 o'clock to get my required 8 hours. Throughout college, my earliest class was never before 9 AM and every job I've had since then started at 9 or later. So I got used to going to bed late- at the movie theatre I didn't even get off work until 1 AM usually. The problem is that now I have to get up by 6 but I don't really go to bed any earlier. Why does school have to start at 7 AM? Maybe I have to rethink my choice in profession.

why I love my friends or the schizophrenic birthday party

Friday night we celebrated the birth of three fantastic individuals: Jamie, Nick and Gail. This was a party with something for everyone: dancing, games, drinks, ghost stories and playing with a giant frisbee in the street. It was really like three parties in one.

My favorite moments: telling scary stories in the completely dark and damp and creepy basement laundry room, round the block giant frisbee relay in which I did a face plant on the sidewalk and Krista stole a wheelbarrow from a neighbor's front yard to carry me back and Scattegories- nuf said.

The next event: Denver's Next Top Model party hosted by Liz and J. It's gonna be fierce!

God, I love my friends ;).

I went out walking

Yesterday I took a walk. Walking is not something that I do very much anymore. When I was growing up, I walked all the time. At least to and from school every day from 3rd to 8th grade. Also to the library and the rec center. I very rarely had a ride anywhere and I imagine that I walked at least 3 miles every day for most of my childhood. In college I walked a lot as well. Back and forth across campus, sometimes 3 or 4 times in a day. It just wasn't worth it to drive, mostly because if I had a parking spot, I didn't want to move my car. Since I've been done with school I have noticed a serious decrease in the amount of walking I do. There is no reason to walk- it takes longer and most of the places that I go to now are not within reasonable walking distance.

I've never been a person that does anything- walking, running, driving- just to do it. I like to have a destination. The idea of "let's just go for a drive" is completeley foriegn to me. Why would I want to do that? I want to GO SOMEWHERE. But yesterday, I felt the need to walk. I have been feeling rather lethargic lately, spending most of my free time locked away in my room watching TV, movies and playing mindless games on my computer. I don't actually like myself like this, I feel like I am antisocial and boring and bored. So I decided to walk.

I had a book to pick up from the library and since I don't like walking aimlessly, this seemed like a good destination. I have walked this route before- the approxomately one mile to the Decker Branch of the Denver Public Library- but it has been years, choosing lately to make the trip by car, usually on my way home from somewhere.

Walking through the neighborhood that I spent my childhood walking through brought me back in time. I passed the Presbertirain Church that we had Girl Scout meetings in. There used to be a playground next to it, now there is a community garden full of flowers and ripe squash. I pass by houses that used to be occupied by my friends. I don't know the people that live there now. The nieghborhood is beautiful. Unlike many of the other neighborhoods nearby, there are not too many scrape off McMansions or unsightly add-ons. Most of the neighborhood is still well kept Victorians and cute bungaloos. The weather is perfect for walking. Sunny, but not too hot. Most of the trees are just starting to change color and the yellows and oranges are spectacular.

I think I'm going to try walking more. I'll start with going for destinations and see how that goes. I may even learn to walk just to walk.

I got a sub call yesterday for a music teacher at a middle school with the name of Shawn Funk. With a name like Mr. Funk what else could you be but a music teacher? I didn't take the job, but I really would have loved to take Mr. Funk's music class.