a relatively boring summation of my week

Recently I've felt like I haven't had much to blog about. It seems as if life is just going on by with the normal day to day stuff. However, I've been thinking, and I think I've come up with one or two things that stick out. And who knows, once the ball starts rolling, I may end up with five or six. And won't that just make your day?

Thing #1 - I'm really good at picking out the kid that pulled the fire alarm. No one would admit to pulling it. Even when the fire lady let them have it. "There could've been a real emergency and we wouldn't have been able to get there fast enough and maybe someone would've died." Even at the thought of not having recess until someone admitted to it we couldn't get a confession. So I did what any good 1st grade teacher would do, and pulled the kids out in the hall individually. Here's the kicker. . . when a child can't look you in the eyes, shrugs their shoulders when you ask if they pulled the fire alarm, then immediately bursts into tears and wonders if they're going to get in trouble, and then says to the principal, "It was an accident!!!" you know you've nailed that one.

Thing #2 - Phil beat me this week. He exercised five days. I only made it four. What this means is that my little plan is working. I figured when I got on Bob (the ellyptical) early last Sunday morning and heard him say, "You're exercising now???" that my plan to get him up and going too was going to work. It obviously is. Today we worked out together, him on the treadmill and me working out with Bob. First time since our year and a half long stint at the YMCA. Good times sweatin' to the oldies.

Thing #3 - I've been totally sad about the earthquake in Haiti and the incredible loss of life. I can hardly watch the news without tearing up. Thinking about all those kids, and the people buried in rubble, and knowing how hard life was in Haiti before it happened. The kids at my church sponsor a Starfish Kid. The Starfish Kid program is sort of like Compassion International, where you send a given amount each month and then the child gets to eat and go to school. Our little girl is named Meraldine, but just this week we received word that she had been dropped from the program and we were assigned another little girl. I can't stop thinking about them.

Thing #4 - Did you know that a Weight Watchers toffee low-fat ice cream bar has 200 calories? Seriously. That really makes you think about the time you've just spent working your butt off.

Thing #5 - I was reading something on a scrapbooking site (Two Peas in a Bucket) that I found interesting. Someone asked the group how they can stereotypically identify people that are crunchy or granola in their areas. Having just made a big ol' batch of maple & brown sugar granola (thank you, Gretchen) to eat with my yogurt, I had to read on. (It immediately made me think of you, Nat, and how you always want to know how things are going out here in Mother Earth Land.) Well, let me tell you, Portland does have it's share of crunchies. They bike to work and wear flip flops and sandals all year long. They buy only organic foods, breastfeed in public, and plant gardens on the roofs of tall buildings. They drive Subarus, layer their vintage clothing, and take their reusable bags to the grocery store. And as I was reading, it dawned on me that perhaps I might be slowly making my way into that category. Here's why: I shop for wheat germ and barley flakes (it looks like thick oatmeal) to put in my granola at Whole Foods. I try to remember my reusable bags because I absolutely hate having a big wad of plastic bags in the pantry. And. . . I recycle. I'm pretty serious about it. I recycle every little bit of paper that we don't need to keep. I make sure the cans and the plastics make it out. I take packing peanuts back to the UPS Store. I even recycle toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls. They are cardboard, you know. Just doing my part to Keep Portland Weird.