Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger

Apparently, Google served this at their NYC's cafeteria.

I can't help my mouth from watering.

I've been surfing cooking blogs all day (I did work out and did some thrift shopping...I love bargains!) and plan on doing much baking and some cooking over this amazing three day weekend. Since I've started reading these cooking blogs and experimenting with them, I am completely ruined on store-bought cookies. Even the expensive Pepperidge Farm ones just don't do it for me anymore. Must have homemade....and then you can freeze and enjoy whenever. Oh...so dangerous. I will post tempting pictures for you soon! :-)

Another successful first day of school

Yes, today was successful. I think I got a good start to the year. I only have Fr 1 and Fr 3 this trimester...but I'm not too worried about my darling Fr 2 kids. I'm looking forward to seeing them next tri. Anyway...it will be an interesting trimester. My Fr 1 classes are huge. I had 32-34 per class, which is more than I've ever had in any class. We even had the German teacher come in and try to persuade the kids to sign up for German. No takers so far. So, French and I have won a popularity contest where the prize is...more work for me! I think I can do it. It will force me to flex my classroom management muscles, and I will have to be creative with ways to get the kids to grade their own work. I have a handful of boys that may be trouble...but I'm five steps ahead of them and I'll go blitzkrieg if I need to. I will have an orderly classroom, but I'll try to kill 'em with kindess first.

Also, when riding the scooter in a skirt and pearls, you get funny looks from dudes on Harleys. I think I messed with their paradigm.

Running is good again.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the 16 week training program for the White Rock Marathon, and I'm back to the place where running for a long time outside is fun again. I'm following a program rather precisely, including starting our long runs slow and then getting faster, which drives Casey crazy. He hates going slow at the beginning...which I can see the testosterone not liking...and then when in the second half I start to kick up the pace...it discombobulates him. It felt good though. There's a moment in there about 8 miles in, where it just feels awesome.

I included a picture from my run software. You can see the outline of White Rock, and then the pace line dip into the faster realm around 7 miles. Pay no attention those up-spikes...probably hills. So, we ran 11 miles in a hour and 40 minutes. If we can train to maintain that, we'll run a sub-4 hour marathon. I've got to beat Oprah, you know?

School starts Monday!

I rode the scooter for the first time to work today. I drove up through the parking lot to our big kick off breakfast as all these other teachers were walking up and I could see them thinking, "Who's that on the scooter? I am so insanely jealous." Everyone had questions...what's the mileage, how fast does it go? Do you get scared? And really, today was the first day that I wasn't scared at all. It's fun now, not scary. You can't do anything extra, though...listen to music, check your voicemail, eat, drink, etc. You just ride. I see more flowers though...and it's time to think. It's good.

And school starts Monday...which is also my 27th birthday. I have pretty much everything ready. I changed all around my room decoration...lots more verb posters, posters of France and Switzerland and a bulletin board with pictures and stuff from my trip. I think it looks cool. I need a change of pace, and I hope the kids get something out of it. I also got rid of my rules inspired by Beauty and the Beast (Beast is the example of what not to do, Beauty what to do). I don't want a kid saying or thinking, "I'm going to be the beast."

And what's the first thing you think of when you hear the word "rule"? Breaking it, of course. So, no rules. But I emphasize their rights as students (to respect, to learn, to be safe, to be themselves, etc) and their responsibilities...follow directions and procedures. So it's not a right and wrong thing...just learning and then following through with procedures. I got the idea from this online professional development thing the district bought...we'll see how it works. I really want to focus on bonding with my students and building a rapport. I know that sounds elementary, but as a beginning teacher, you're so concerned about lesson plans and discipline, about making it work, that you don't allow yourself the indulgence...you must be teacher, you must be tough and get their respect...which is still important...but I want to build relationship while I do that.

I love my husband...

...because he's the kind of person that stops when he sees a kid with a lemonade stand and buys whatever they're selling, be it a grape snow cone or Fun dip. I think that makes you a good human being.

And he bought me two dozen roses for my birthday....that's nice too.

We're a motorcycle gang!

Casey taught me how to ride the scooter this afternoon. I started off just going down the alley with Casey jogging behind, then he hopped on his motorcycle, and we did a tour around the neighborhood. We practiced turns, quick braking, and did what felt like drag racing (well...30 mph felt that way!) up and down our busy street. When I hit 30 for the first time, I thought, "I am a Zen Kung Fu Master." Which makes no sense in retrospect...but that's the words for the exhilaration I felt.

Then it started raining. Gotta love Dallas weather. Oh...and the scooter was off when we took the picture, so no helmet...but I will always ride with a helmet.

Suffering, Safety and Stuffing

My legs are incredibly sore. I mean...wow. I was getting really stiff last night, after doing sprint intervals, and crazy aerobics class, then one more mile. (It felt good at the time.) So rather than getting up early this morning to run around the lake, I decided to give myself a little more recovery time and run this afternoon. Well, it was punishment, and for me, running isn't punishment, it's fun. So, I stopped, and went home and soaked my legs in ice water. I saw it in Runner's World...so it couldn't hurt. This is the same magazine with an article called, "Why do we suffer?" It was fascinating. The things that human beings can accomplish are amazing, like running 226 miles without stopping. We can do things like that. I have no intention of running for 46 hours straight, but I am thrilled by challenging what this formerly tubby kid can do.

Update: The burn is getting better. I can see the new skin growing in, which I also find amazing. How wonderful is our Creator that He made us so that if we are foolish enough to burn off some of our skin, it grows back on it's own? Good deal.

I also included a picture of our helmets, which we always wear, for Cindy, Francis, Elizabeth or anyone else that might worry for our safety. Motorcycles are dangerous, but Casey has taken a safety course, and I have zero need for speed. So, I think we'll be fine.

And finally, today we cooked, and our fridge is absolutely stuffed.

In case you're curious (Casey always likes to look in people's fridges) we made turkey-spinach lasagna and bean and rice yesterday, so that's on top. Then today's effort is in the middle, stacked up are ratatouille, okra and tomatoes, roasted rosemary potatoes, salmon, tilapia, salad. The rest...fruit, yogurts, ingredients to make Pad Thai. And I have no idea where Casey's huge crock pot of chili will go. The scary thing is, by Friday...the fridge will probably be empty.

My trip to the emergency room

I apologize for the drama of the title. I hate drama and hesitated for nearly an hour about going to the ER. So, yes, why the ER? I burned my leg on the exhaust pipe of Casey's new motorcycle. It's a Suzuki GZ250.

See that massive exhaust pipe by the rear wheel? Yeah, that's what I decided to rub my leg past after 1/2 hour of riding. Well, I put some ice on it, had mexican food, and then at home spent nearly an hour online looking on sites about burns and inspecting pictures, for comparison, to see if I really needed medical attention. Now the burn was unpleasant, but looking at pictures of burns online...that's punishment. But in the interest of avoiding a scar and some unnecessary pain, we went.

Apparently motorcycle exhaust pipe burns are so common that they're their own genre, and mine is "not bad at all." Both the nurses that I dealt with have had them. I feel like I've joined the club. Yay! Welcome to the "You amateur! There's a reason why Hell's Angels wear jeans! Club." So, I learned my lesson, and also what second degree burns look like up close. At least I won't have to look on the internet again.

Afterward, we stopped and got me a milkshake. They're good for burns, right?