"Love is what makes you smile when you are tired.' Anonymous

Oh, it's Monday. But that's okay...know why? Because it is only a 2.5 day work week for me!! Yay! Thank goodness for Easter break. I need it. Badly.

What a weekend! Friday night was the Body Jam launch. There was a question on my comments about this, here is the blog I wrote on it. Yes, it is something I am training to become an instructor for. I went through the training and now have to submit a tape by June 15 so they can judge it and decide if I should be a teacher. Fun fun!

The launch was awesome though! There were a ton of people and all of us were covered in hot pink and black.

This is basically the look. From the waist down it is black shorts with fishnets underneath. Hot.

The rest of the weekend I tried catching up on everything I didn't do throughout the week. I graded papers for 3 hours on Saturday...ick...and I still have more I could do. Sunday...nothing. I think I threw in one load of clothes and that's it. I was not motivated. I'm not feeling well though, so that is a good reason not to do anything.

It is 32 degrees here this morning. The high is like 37. In two days, the high is 63. That is how it's been every week here and I have had enough.  I am blaming my sore throat on the weather because it won't stay constant.

Alrighty, I need to get ready for work. Ta ta! Have a lovely Monday!

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. ~Kurt Vonnegut

Oh, what a week! I have been super busy and I have about 1 million papers to grade. Eeek! 

There is a new Body Jam launch this weekend. This means that it is a whole new CD and choreography. I love when this happens because it is always around the time that you get tired of doing the old one. The old one is the one that I have to do for my taping. Ick. A group of us newbies are going to do the new one at the launch, which is exciting! I didn't think I was going to do it and then I went on Monday and they worked me in and so now...I kinda feel like I have to be there and I really want to be a part of it. I am pretty pumped! You should see the outfits we have to wear...I will have to post pics as I am sure there will be some at the launch taken. 

• hot pink "going-out" top
• black shorts
• black fishnets
• black fishnet glove (as in, one)

Yes, this should be interesting...haha! It'll be fun.

My poor husband has hardly seen me this week. I feel bad, too, because I just come home and fall asleep. *yawn* I could fall asleep right now...probably the rain causing that to happen.

Alrighty, I am going to get ready and head out to go practice for tomorrow night. SEE YA!

"Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing" Lao Tzo

Snow? Not so much. Just a dusting. Enough to assist the backyard in flooding a little more today than it was the day before. I am so over bad weather. We have had so many storms forecasted and nothing has happened. Not that I am complaining because I do hate snow, but it is rather annoying. Especially when you teach kids...they get REALLY excited when they think snow is coming. Then when it doesn't...watch out! Tomorrow will be L-O-N-G because they will be complaining about being there. AH!

This week is the only full week until Easter break. We are off next week after 2.5 days. WOO! Then I am going to be practicing Body Jam like crazy. I have to get it memorized!!! I have to.

Speaking of have to...I need to get my symmetry lesson for next week mapped out! Later!

"Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colors appear." Unknown

Last night I didn't do the panini...I had so much stuff to do that I just threw some chicken in the oven and then put it over a yummy salad. This is what is in it...

• spinach salad
• carrots
• grape tomatoes
• taco seasoned shredded cheese
• garlic croutons
• mushrooms
• the grilled chicken strips
• lastly, ranch dressing

This is the deal...I know that ranch dressing is like the greatest evil of dressings, but I LOVE it. I could eat it on everything. Everything. I'm just sayin'. 

I am going to Body Jam tonight to teach three tracks. It's part of the pass withhold business. I can go in and teach up to three tracks at a time. So...tracks one-three it is! I am a little nervous, not gonna lie. But it is a lot of adrenaline too, so that is helpful. 

Okay, back to watching my DVRd Biggest Loser and getting ready for work! Probably paninis tomorrow. Mmmm...

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

Wow, I haven't updated since Monday. It has been one of those weeks. The basketball team at the school I work at went to state, so it was super crazy at work. They lost yesterday which means they are playing today for 3rd. Good luck!

I have had no time to go over my Body Jam tracks. Well, scratch that. I have done them in my car, I guess. I need to go through them today though. I think that I am meeting up with some of the other girls to practice today. I really need to get on it so that I am not super behind. It has just been a lot to take on right now, but I still really want to be a part of it. Goodness.

Mr. S.'s birthday is this weekend. He wants to be surprised for his birthday, so he has no idea what we are doing. His bday is actually on Sunday, but for everyone to celebrate, we are doing everything tonight. My friend and I made arrangements at a Japanese steakhouse and then we are going to this really fun country bar after that. I think that he will be happy if everyone I invited shows up. I will be! So I am hoping they all come.

I am going to enjoy the rest of my spring break...I do need to get some cleaning done, but I also plan to spend some time here on the couch lounging!

You will never find time for anything. If you want the time, you must make it. - Charlie Buxton

I have time for a quick post this morning...

• I survived Body Jam training...all 3 days. I actually feel much better this morning than I thought I would. I felt way more horrible yesterday morning. I can tell you that as soon as I walked out of training I was ready for a diet soda and a hamburger. I was HUNGRY! I had just been eating health bars and fruit all weekend. Not that it was a bad thing. I had meals, just very small. All I have to do now is do my two tracks for our club person, get a pass from her, send my video in, and weight for word on certification. *sigh* It's a three month process. Hopefully I don't lose my motivation to do this.
• Last night we had hamburgers on the grill at a friend's house. YUM! They were very good as was the pasta salad she made. I love when I don't have to cook.
• I need to come up with my menu for the week. Easy stuff. Hmmm...I need to grab the ol' cookbook.

Ok, I need to get ready for work. *yawn* And try to stop doing that today!

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination. ~John Lennon

Welp, I am posting at 9:13am on a Friday, meaning I am not at work. Nope, I am not sick. This is Body Jam Training weekend! I am getting ready to leave here pretty soon to head up to the gym from 11am to 8pm tonight, then I am back at the gym Sat. and Sun. from 8am to 5pm...goodness! I am getting kinda nervous because I don't know what to expect and I am scared. EEK!

P/T conferences went well last night. I only had one that irritated me, but I knew that it was going to be that way, so it wasn't a surprise. Other than that, they all went really well. I was glad to be done for the day, that's for sure. Talking straight for 4 hours about all your kiddos...minus the 2 or 3 that didn't show up. 

So...reality show time, huh? I would love to be on America's Next Top Model. Seriously...how fun would that be? Getting photos taken of yourself and jet-setting. Now, I would not ever want to BE a model for a profession, but I would want to be on the show. I am 5'2 and not a stick...so that is not something that would ever happen. I guess it wouldn't be "reality" for me then, huh? I also would love to do something like Biggest Loser, and it isn't that I have 100s of pounds to lose, I would just like for some direction from the trainers.

Have a lovely weekend! I am not sure when I will post again. 

Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! ~Constanze

I want Carmandy from What Not to Wear to come and do my make-up. She seems to know what she is doing...and I would like some assistance from her. Just sayin'. I want a foundation that really covers my face. Seriously. Anyone use something they think covers to where you hardly see any imperfections? Let me know.

I really would just like to be on What Not to Wear. In college I had one of my roommates try to submit me. I was never on the show. I must not be HORRIBLE. Which looking at who makes it on there, I'm not. I just want someone to make me over. 

In about a week I start my pursuit of becoming a Les Mills Body Jam instructor! I am getting super pumped and kinda nervous. It is Friday-Sunday. Friday is 11am-8pm, Saturday and Sunday are 8am-5pm. Wow! That is 24 hours. 24 hours of working out. I hope I can keep up. I have been trying to hit all the classes over the past couple of months so I can kinda condition. Bah!

The dog has to go outside. *grumble* Catch ya in the a.m.!

"Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart." Author Unknown

Today is Friday the 13th. Today is also the day of our Valentine's parties at school. Neat-o! But do you know what I love? The fact that this is a half day. When making the schedule this year, it worked out to make 2 of our party days half-days. If you are a teacher...or parent, even...you may understand why this is so nice. The kids can only ask you for about an hour "When are we having the party?" You don't really have to try to keep their attention all day...it's awesome. So, here's to Valentine's Day! Woo!

I am back to letting Truman bark all night so that I can sleep in my bed. The night before last was miserable. He barked from like 3am until I got up at 4:45am. Last night though...woo! He slept until 4am (he had to go outside), went back in his crate, barked for about 10 minutes, and I woke to my alarm at 4:45. I am taking one day at a time on this one. Tonight could go either way.

I am all signed up for the class to learn how to instruct Body Jam! I signed up and paid for it last night. It is going to be a month from today. I am pretty psyched!

So I am watching the news and they say something about this Boy Scout's popcorn being linked to the peanut butter problem. No one has been sick on it yet, but it is linked. I BOUGHT THAT POPCORN! Holy cow! I am sure that if I were to be sick, I would have been already. No good, boy scouts.

"The busy bee has no time for sorrow." William Blake

I just wrote out my whiteboard calendar for February, what a mess! Feb is a busy-bee month for me, that's for sure.

This weekend: going to lunch with blogfriend and real-life friend, Ms. Attitude. I am really excited because except for a couple of run-ins within the past three years, we have not really had a chance to sit down and talk to catch up. So that is today. The Superbowl is tomorrow.

Next weekend: My quarter-life crisis, aka: birthday, is being celebrated on Saturday with an Ugly Sweater Party thrown by my friends. Sunday will be what I will call, recovery.

Then Valentine's Day.

A baby shower.

The last weekend might be one of my favorites though! I am training to become an instructor for Body Jam. If you don't know what it is, check back with this post. It is a full weekend training that goes from Friday to Sunday and it is intense. I am super pumped!

My mom is having her gallbladder taken out this coming Friday, and I wish that I could be there just because that is what I feel like I need to do. Things are just not in a place where I can take off and go for that...so...yeah...she'll be okay though. No biggie. I'll post and let you know how it goes! I need to get around to take the dog to dog school. Weee!

You've got to move it, move it

What is Body Jam? -Jaded Jill asked

I figured that I talk about it, but I never really described it. So, here it is.

It is a 55 minute cardio class set to music. You warm up, do a cardio block, do a slight cooldown, another cardio block, and a full cooldown. It is choreographed and the first half you do all the moves and keep adding to them until you go full-out at the end. Then you leave all those moves and start with new ones in the second half. A lot of times you start with hip hop and then move into latin, techno...something like that, in the second half. The songs are a lot of the popular ones. Like right now there is Get Low by Flo Rider. There was Gold Digger, Rockstar...then there are some you don't know, especially for the latin and techno. It is so much fun! The moves all stay the same for about 3 months and then they switch releases. 

The more that you go and really get the moves down, the more calories you burn because you get better and better. You can add more and more to your moves and you aren't concentrating so hard on if you are doing them right after you have gone a few times. The first couple of times you feel a little funny because you migh be a little off, but you will get the hang of it after awhile. I love it though. 

No one is watching you because they are concentrating so hard on making sure they are doing it right. They turn off the lights in our class and have a disco light and a small room light in the back for just a little light in the room. It's perfect!

For those of you that can find the classes, go! These are Les Mills classes. They are hard to find and I know only one gym in my area that offers them. There are BodyJam, BodyPump (I love both of those), BodyCombat, and a few others. Go here to check it out! Les Mills Website

Sleep 'til you're hungry, eat 'til you're sleepy. ~Author Unknown

What a weekend! Mr. S. took Friday off and I came home to him ironing clothes. Yes, ironing! I don't even iron. I like to throw things back in the dryer on "freshen". Impressive stuff from Mr. S.

Went out and saw Grand Turino...really good movie. As long as you aren't too offended by racial slurs and can look past them to see what the movie is about...you may enjoy the movie. I liked the story.

I went to Body Jam today -- oh, how I LOVE that class! There is another one tomorrow. I think that I get the chance next month to take training if I want to teach the class, which I do. It would really hold me accountable to stay fit and I love Jam. 

Dinner was at our house tonight. This is the recipe I found on kraftfoods.com. 

Buffalo Chicken Party Sandwiches.

 4 cups shredded cooked chicken

1/2 cup  hot pepper sauce for Buffalo wings

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup  KRAFT Real Mayo Mayonnaise

1/4 cup KRAFT Ranch Dressing

6 stalks  celery, finely chopped

1/4 cup KRAFT Feta Cheese Crumbles

12 small  sandwich buns (3 inch), partially split

1-1/2 cups KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese

COMBINE chicken, hot sauce and water in medium saucepan; cook on medium heat 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

MEANWHILE, mix mayo and dressing in small bowl. Stir in celery and feta cheese.

SPOON chicken mixture onto bottom halves of buns; cover with Cheddar cheese, celery mixture and tops of buns.

YUM! Dinner was sooooo good!