Starting finals week...Wish me luck

I have SOOO Many projects and presentations to grade!

This weekend I skipped my full kitchen day. I did just the bare necessities (dog food, post-workout smoothies, and Sunday's dinner), so I could have more time to grade.  I pulled a batch of root vegetable chili out of the freezer for one meal this week.  I also pulled out some home-made Italian sausage that will go well with a rice-lentil pilaf (that I have to prepare Weds.).  That's about as far as I got.  I spent the remainder of the day grading and getting the tree decorated (with L).  I will have more meal-prep work during the week, but I only have to go in for exams this week, so I get home early enough that I can handle it.

I'm running out of nearly everything, so it's time for a grocery store run again. I put those trips off as long as possible. Eventually, Luciana's whining about no "GOOD" food irritates me enough that I force myself to brave the horrible grocery store.  If I lived alone, I would probably endure several weeks of eating strange combinations and nearly nothing before eventually making the trip. I'm very lucky that M doesn't mind going out in public (I absolute hate going to stores, for a million reasons, but the big one being too many variables and too little control--I can't be fully prepared for every contingency, and that makes me very uncomfortable.) and volunteers happily to make little runs for produce and small incidentals. He doesn't do the full shopping, but I can get by for 3-6 weeks without going to a store, based on one large trip and several "Mark runs".

Sunday's dinner was:

• Chili-mac (made with leftover chili from baked potatoes)
• Roasted broccoli - this is one of Luce's favorite snacks/meals, and my favorite way to eat broccoli. I roasted almost three pounds of broccoli. We have none left.
• Baked tofu (pressed and marinated in spicy peanut sauce, dipped in ground walnuts/sea salt/cayenne, and baked--no recipe, but pretty easy to throw together)

M worked both Friday and Sunday at the light show. He also had to go to Madison early Sunday morning for a news interview. Because of the unseasonably warm weather, they've had phenomenal attendance at the show, which is great from a fundraising standpoint.  Unfortunately the warm weather came with rain/mist/fog and puddles, which make it really difficult to keep everything functioning at the outdoor light show.  M runs ragged flipping switches and re-wiring things due to the wetness. He's due for a little downtime, as he's been working too hard again lately--wearing himself out.

He has finally agreed to let me be his "trainer".  He won't work out with me--not even on the same floor, but he is going along with a program that I've created for him.  He already has a pretty healthy diet, simply because I prepare all three of his meals and makes sure they are extremely healthy and nutritious.  His snacks could be a little less carb. based, but that's not a huge issue. Anyway, I'm excited for him to start feeling more healthy, strong, energetic--probably in 6-8 weeks, he will feel like a new man.  I know how much better I feel and how every aspect of my life improved as a result of getting healthy and fit, and I wish everyone could experience the same!

Because of my obsessive nature, I'm compelled to learn absolutely everything about almost anything I become involved with. I could never just workout on a regular basis. I had to learn everything about the science of movement, nutrition, the muscular system, the main theories of fitness, and so many other topics.  When I started teaching, I became immersed in learning about the brain, how it learns, what inhibits learning, the history of education and all of the philosophies of ed. throughout history, etc.  I took college courses (grad & undergrad), many seminars, read dozens of books, joined websites, participated in hours of discussion and exchange of best practices.  I research, study, practice, ask questions--in short, become completely overtaken by the subject, until I feel that I've reached a level of mastery. Then I can happily practice and continue to use the concepts, or in some cases, once I've learned everything, I become bored and simply move on. I acquire far more knowledge on any given topic than is useful or practical, and I often feel guilty about it, because that's time that could be spent more productively or wisely. I try to assuage the guilt by 'reminding myself' that my hobby is the actual learning, more so the specific domain in which I'm currently dabbling, and indulging in a hobby is a healthy mental outlet.  Anyway, all this to say, it's really nice if I have the chance to help others with the ridiculous amount of  unnecessary knowledge that I've acquired in the pursuit of my learning hobby. In this case, helping my husband get fit and feel as good as I do, kind of helps justify the hundreds of hours I spent learning more than I ever need to know about health and fitness. :)

Last year was the first appearance of the surprise Shaun T tree ornaments, custom made by L. She cut the Shaun T images out of my Asylum volumes 1 and 2, and Hip Hop Abs and pasted different heads on the body to make them bobble heads that she hung on the tree. I think my T25 Gamma has been left untouched.  She dubbed our tree "The Shaun Tree."  We got the tree all done this year (without them), and she whipped out the Shaun T ornaments and put them back up. I guess they are tradition.