It seems terrible, but throughout this year I often found myself feeling extremely unhappy. The three reasons I noticed include discontent with my employment and income, displeasure with my level of fitness (or shall I say lack thereof), and a lack of friends in the area I'm living. The worst part is that I was so busy and stressed throughout the school year that I told myself daily "I'll have time to exercise/cook at home/think about going back to school/try to make friends/etc. during the summer. But summer is less than 3 months, and can I afford to live 3/4 of my life feeling and living the way I did this school year? Absolutely not. So, I'm going to spend this summer trying to create some habits and make decisions that will help me not only during the school year, but hopefully in the long term.
Some of my goals for this summer include:
1. Get in shape! I am soooo out of shape, worse than I've ever been. That means an even higher mountain to climb, right?
2. Cook! I can cook some things, but my knowledge of cooking limits me a lot especially once I am short on time and want delicious healthy options.
3. Make friends. I am working a summer job with people close to my age, unlike my teaching jobs where I don't work closely with anyone, and hardly anyone my age anyway.
4. Assess a career/education path. I'm unhappy with where I'm at - gotta figure out the best way to go from here.
5. Enrich my life. All of the above points contribute to this category, but I'm also going to invest my time into more activities that make me happy! Reading, golfing, gardening, art, and practicing violin/viola will be a must.
I'm going to focus on these points this summer on this blog.
Today, I'm going to start with #1: Get in Shape.
I went to Target this morning to try on some dresses and tanks for the summer. I could hardly stand looking in the mirror because my figure disgusted me so much. I ended up putting everything back and marching over to the activewear section, where I gathered 20 different kinds of leggings and yoga pants to try on and marched back to the fitting room.
While I am not medically overweight, I have a good jiggle going on, and I have almost reached the heaviest weight I have ever been. More critically, I've noticed that climbing up stairs and other minimal activities makes me winded, and it never has before. The truth is, I've never been in really good shape. I got close about 3 years ago, when I ran 4-6 days a week. I didn't strength train at all, though, so I don't consider that period to be "excellent shape." But now, I want to be in EXCELLENT SHAPE.
Just for the record, here are the reasons:
-I care about my health and want to be healthy.
-Taking care of oneself increases self esteem, and I want to feel good about myself and my accomplishments.
-Sure, I want to look good. But I'm not aiming for a dress size or trying to show off for anyone.
-Stress relief!!
Let's consider today DAY 1 of my new fitness regimen. Here's what I'm going to do: interval training. This link describes it:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/01/27/kick-your-ass-and-kickstart-your-metabolism-in-20-minutes/
May the force be with me...
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
My first real blog post! Aren't I a big kid now??!
I've been wanting to start a blog for some time now, but I couldn't decide what my "topic" should be. Like most everyone, I have many interests. I'm a musician and teacher by profession, but then I'm also interested in baking and fashion and gardening, and, well, there's my pesky hobby of storm chasing. And I want to write about ALL of them, even though they're not related.
This morning, however, it dawned on me, as I was contemplating yet another predicament I find myself muddling through, that what I desire to share most of the time are my struggles to adapting to the "real world" as a 20-something. The great thing is that that includes all of my baking wins and fails, good advice I learn from other teachers about education, and how to deal with an accidentally-late-electric bill.
SO, topic #1: Perhaps If I Weren't Young I Wouldn't Listen to My Ideas Either
I'm a teacher. I teach in a charter school as well as in a community music school. I teach private violin and viola lessons in the music school. Ever since before I got this job, I've wanted to start a Suzuki string program. The Suzuki Method of learning to play musical instruments is a very widely recognized method known for its effectiveness in teaching young children as young as 3 when used and taught correctly. I myself started as one of those tiny 3 year olds playing a tiny violin. Most people either think this is impossible (it's not, I did it) or it's not "right" for children to start so young. I'll write a very loooong post later about my arguments to that. Just take my word for a moment when I guarantee you that a real, fully realized Suzuki program is one of the BEST, FUNNEST, and MOST beneficial programs in the world!
Anyhow, yes, I want to start a Suzuki program. When I was hired at the music school, I was given the opportunity to submit plans for such a program. I have done so. I spent a lot of time thinking about important points such as pricing (I researched many existing programs to compare), scheduling, and market appeal (there used to be a large, successful program in town, but it ended when the faculty moved out of state). I have several parents/families interested and even waiting with bated breath for this program to start! However, despite my extensive planning, research, and proposals, nothing has come of it.
Why is it, that when I literally gift wrapped a winning plan reviewed and accepted by my peer teachers, that nothing is in the works, even after 2 years?
My first reply to this question was, and probably still should be, "Be patient. These things take time."
Well how mature of me. But the truth is, I want it now! So do my students and their parents and families! They ask about it every week! I did the hard part, the planning/research/etc. All that needs done is for administration to literally create an enrollment plan - ie entering the enrollment options and pricing into the computer program and adding classes to the schedule. I even have teachers on board ready and waiting to help me teach. Unfortunately, commandeering the computers and adding in a new program and calling families to enroll them is not in my job description, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation. So, if it really IS that easy, why have I gotten nowhere?
I think the real answer(s) lie in the fact that I'm a 20-something. A real world "newbie". That means many things:
1. I don't know how things in the real world work.
2. I am idealistic, rather than realistic, about, well... EVERYTHING.
3. No one will take my word for anything, because what would I know? I'm barely out of college.
4. There really are more layers of difficulty to getting anything done in the real world. Layers of politics, ignorance, procrastination, financial duress, and not being on top of the priority pile.
I've been wanting to start a blog for some time now, but I couldn't decide what my "topic" should be. Like most everyone, I have many interests. I'm a musician and teacher by profession, but then I'm also interested in baking and fashion and gardening, and, well, there's my pesky hobby of storm chasing. And I want to write about ALL of them, even though they're not related.
This morning, however, it dawned on me, as I was contemplating yet another predicament I find myself muddling through, that what I desire to share most of the time are my struggles to adapting to the "real world" as a 20-something. The great thing is that that includes all of my baking wins and fails, good advice I learn from other teachers about education, and how to deal with an accidentally-late-electric bill.
SO, topic #1: Perhaps If I Weren't Young I Wouldn't Listen to My Ideas Either
I'm a teacher. I teach in a charter school as well as in a community music school. I teach private violin and viola lessons in the music school. Ever since before I got this job, I've wanted to start a Suzuki string program. The Suzuki Method of learning to play musical instruments is a very widely recognized method known for its effectiveness in teaching young children as young as 3 when used and taught correctly. I myself started as one of those tiny 3 year olds playing a tiny violin. Most people either think this is impossible (it's not, I did it) or it's not "right" for children to start so young. I'll write a very loooong post later about my arguments to that. Just take my word for a moment when I guarantee you that a real, fully realized Suzuki program is one of the BEST, FUNNEST, and MOST beneficial programs in the world!
Anyhow, yes, I want to start a Suzuki program. When I was hired at the music school, I was given the opportunity to submit plans for such a program. I have done so. I spent a lot of time thinking about important points such as pricing (I researched many existing programs to compare), scheduling, and market appeal (there used to be a large, successful program in town, but it ended when the faculty moved out of state). I have several parents/families interested and even waiting with bated breath for this program to start! However, despite my extensive planning, research, and proposals, nothing has come of it.
Why is it, that when I literally gift wrapped a winning plan reviewed and accepted by my peer teachers, that nothing is in the works, even after 2 years?
My first reply to this question was, and probably still should be, "Be patient. These things take time."
Well how mature of me. But the truth is, I want it now! So do my students and their parents and families! They ask about it every week! I did the hard part, the planning/research/etc. All that needs done is for administration to literally create an enrollment plan - ie entering the enrollment options and pricing into the computer program and adding classes to the schedule. I even have teachers on board ready and waiting to help me teach. Unfortunately, commandeering the computers and adding in a new program and calling families to enroll them is not in my job description, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation. So, if it really IS that easy, why have I gotten nowhere?
I think the real answer(s) lie in the fact that I'm a 20-something. A real world "newbie". That means many things:
1. I don't know how things in the real world work.
2. I am idealistic, rather than realistic, about, well... EVERYTHING.
3. No one will take my word for anything, because what would I know? I'm barely out of college.
4. There really are more layers of difficulty to getting anything done in the real world. Layers of politics, ignorance, procrastination, financial duress, and not being on top of the priority pile.
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