tips on fast & easy lunches from the queen of convenience herself

egg muffins. not to be mistaken for egg mcmuffins...

my brother, avid Men's Health reader, lent me a mag to read while i was over there on sunday and i found this idea for a healthy snack/breakfast/lunch etc.

crack an egg into a well-greased muffin tin. add a tbsp of diced deli turkey breast and a tbsp of chopped veggies (i chose tomato and green pepper). grate a little cheese on top. bake at 350 C for 12 - 15 min. you can freeze these little guys until you want one and then pop in the microwave for 35 sec. i had two for lunch today. FANTASTIC. travel - omlettes.

another quick lunch fix, if that's what you're looking for in life -- and i am -- is Lean Cuisine meat lasagnas. they're SO much better then i expected from a frozen microwave lasagna. and only 300 cal and 7 g of fat. they were on sale for $2.99 last week at Save On. great.

now...what's for dinner...? shoot...

in other news, i don't recommend Jason Mraz's Mr. A - Z cd. i love Jason Mraz. this cd was painful to listen to though i endured the entire thing to be totally sure it was bad.

on the other hand, the soundtrack of Garden State? recommended for mellow listening.

yes, HMV was having a 2 for $25 sale.

buzz bishop and i are bestfriends

so today at school i had NINE kids who were absent due to sickness. NINE. in a class of 21, that's crazy! plus i had a TWU 4th year student there observing too so that was funny. all day, my class was just dead silent working. it was incredible.

THEN i get home and there's a message on my answering machine from buzz bishop. if you are from BC and listen to Z 95.3, you should know that buzz is the afternoon dj. i won $100 to use at Cannery Seafood on the water in Vancouver!!! http://www.canneryseafood.com/gallery.html how totally great is that? there was a contest where people send in emails if they're celebrating an anniversary because the Cannery is celebrating 35 years. so i emailed in that this month, tim and i have been married 500 days. (i knew this thanks to an email from the knot.com) i guess my email was drawn today and now we have money to go out to restaurant we could have never afforded ever! i'm very very excited.

in regards to my haircut, this morning i had two comments from my students:
1) "you look like michael jackson or someone..."
2) "why did you get your haircut??"

haha. kids are so affirming. thank you for the much appreciated comments to yesterday's post.

new haircut

well the weekend has gone too quickly as usual.

i got a haircut...and a frosty. tim took this pic today.

science fair is here!

we made it! all of my kids had presentation boards and reports. although after setting up this morning, one of my students (she had done her project on cameras) says to me, "i don't have anything to put in front of my board." and i'm looking at her, "ok...what do you want me to do?" "well...it looks boring..." i'm just shaking my head, "well now you know for next time that you want to have something to have in front, right?" she says sadly, "there's not going to be a next time because i'm moving to calgary." "oh don't worry -- every school does science projects!"

here's a few pics of my kids (not that they're interesting to anyone but me but hey! this is my life and my blog!):

one more day till science fair

well, we've made it. barely.

today, everything was supposed to be finished. display boards - check. reports - check. hands-on models/experiments - check.

first thing when i get to school this morning, i get a call from timothy's mother. she tells me that she got some cardboard for timothy but left it out in the rain so it's wet. "but it'll dry." i say, "isn't there anything on it?" "no." then she tells me that she's sending the two bottles and food colouring for his tornado experiment with him today to do at school. i say, "these are things that were supposed to be finished at home! not at school! everything is supposed to be finished today." she says, "well when he tried it at home he got food colouring everywhere." (as if that is a logical reason for sending it to school to do) so now i have this little grade 3 kid who needs constant help in everything he does and his ENTIRE project has not been touched by his parents not mention the rest of my class to work with (since there was really only 1 student totally finished).

so minutes later i'm sitting in the office tryping up my gr.5/6/7 computer lesson for today and john (my principal) comes in and says, "are you doing badminton today? we don't have enough rackets for your class. should we order more or are you going to bother doing badminton at all?" and i say, "i don't know. am i supposed to badminton. i'm just doing it because you're doing it. i don't even CARE!" and burst into tears. it was just too much stress to start the morning with. john looks at me and says, "i better go outside on supervision." haha.

what a fantastic staff i have though -- bonnie (gr.6/7) took my recess supervision so i could have a break AND offered one of her students to come and work with timothy during science time. john ordered more rackets and came and proofread reports at science time. and my kids are finally finished.
this is timothy with our class tornado

the fear of treadmills

no, this isn't a story about me falling off a treadmill in front of lots of people.

i don't like new situations. i especially don't like them by myself. and to attest to this, i have been avoiding taking a new class at just ladies. i don't want to have to go and try to figure out how to set up my step or get my barbell put together (yes, there's a class like that) with no one to back me up or a friend to teach me. i know that i can just go and ask someone to help me but i've watched the group power (barbell class) class run into the room after my dance class and everyone fends for a spot for their stuff and they scurry around trying to get their place. i haven't seen anyone staring and wandering around trying to figure it out like i'm sure i would be the first time. so anyways...i've been avoiding.

so tonight i'm sitting on the couch feeling guilty that i'm sitting on the couch and decide, i'll just go walk/run on the treadmill. i've been excited about each machine having it's own tv and i've been on numerous treadmills before in my life -- i can figure it out.

i get there and there's only one treadmill available. there's not really a place for my stuff -- i think i'm supposed to put it in a locker or something but i see a girl with a shirt draped over the handle of her treadmill so i figure that's ok. i step up on the treadmill and i'm staring at this MOTHER panel with buttons and stuff. the people next to me are staring straight ahead, not even a glance at me. all good. so i'm trying to figure out these instructions and it just was not straight forward. i'm pressing buttons and trying to enter things but it's not working. i think to myself, "there's always supposed to be someone over there in that room to help us so i'll just go get instructions from her." got off the treadmill, walk to the room, no one is there. so i think to myself, "i'm a teacher. i should be able to figure this out." so i go back and stand there and i eventually get it going but it's going really slow even though i've picked a specific program but i figure i'll just get my headphones plugged in and then i'll up the speed. i cannot figure out where to plug in the headphones. i look at the girl next to me. she's ignoring me. i say, "excuse me, where do i plug these in?" she says, "oh, you put them in the lakjflkdja (word i didn't understand) and then you press the alkdjfdj and oh! you don't have one? (still don't know what she's talking about) just pull that out (she's pointing at the screen) and put yours in." "umm...thanks." so i pull this cord out of the screen and plug my headphones in. it definitely says HEADPHONES under the plug in but i can't hear anything. i turn up the volume. nothing. so i'm looking at the girl's headphone plug...and then at the woman on the right...their headphones are not plugged in where mine are. so i pull them out. theirs seem to be plugged in below the treadmill panel thing so i'm feeling under the panel and i'm looking back and forth and all the while i'm walking unbelieveably slow. so i'm staring at this girl's panel and she's sneaking a sideways look at me so i say, "sorry, where am i supposed to plug this in?" she's like, "you don't have the lskjfsl that you're supposed to have like mine, see? it's missing on that treadmill." "oh, ok. thanks. sorry." so my treadmill is missing something. maybe that's why no one's on it. so i think, this is stupid, i'll go ask a JLF person to help me. there is still no one in that little room. i go back to the treadmill, take my sweatshirt and water bottle and leave.

yes, i left. i just wanted someone to help me and no one around me was and i didn't want to go downstairs to get someone only to come up and say, "headphones don't work on that one." sure i could have walked on the treadmill without headphones but i didn't want to. i didn't even know how to work the treadmill anyways.

so it didn't solve the problem for the future. at least now i can go in knowing that i don't know how to work anything and i'll ask someone to come upstairs with me right away next time. see, mental preparation. if i know i'll definitely have to ask, i'll be able to ask. just not tonight.

man, i can be so lame.

shoulda coulda woulda

here are a couple photos are from the past couple weeks and should have been posted with their proper posts but i'm always waiting to upload my photos at my parents because i haven't installed (and actually i've lost) the software to put on my own computer. SO...
personality fashion show (jan. 31 post)

tim's new wedding ring (feb. 13 post)

today in White Rock on the way to church

now reading...

right now i'm reading Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (author of Angela's Ashes) and it's very interesting. recommended especially to teachers.

"Professors of education at New York University never lectured on how to handle flying-sandwich situations. They talked about the theories and philosophies of education, about moral and ethical imperatives, about the necessity of dealing with the whole child, the gestalt, if you don't mind, the child's felt needs, but never about the critical moments in the classroom."

i feel this way everyday. after this moment of thought, McCourt eats the sandwich that has just flown across the room and almost gets fired.

McCourt wrote Angela's Ashes when he was 65 and then two more books after that. He taught for 30 years and then wrote three books. Maybe i'll do that too.

my drive home

Here is what my drive home looks like:

This is Mt. Cheam. This is what I drive towards the entire way to school and then look up at from the school parking lot/playground.

This is the sunset beind the hills from the highway on the way home. No, I wasn't driving while I took this -- Sally and I were carpooling.

How could I possibly complain about the commute?

in school suspensions and then some...

what a day. i may not survive science fair projects.

here's a picture of my grade 3 & 4s plus our international (Korean) students who are with me for science/socials and bible. this was valentines day assembling our Project Love kits to send to Ethiopia. aren't we cute. now if you could have actually BEEN there with us, you may not have thought so. haha.

cupcakes and rings

i got home tonight from work and called tim to say, "what will we have for dinner?". we decide on the tortellini stuff that tim's mom bought for us and then i get a phone call from jerry. (tim's dad) "hey, aren't you guys coming over here for dinner?" "umm...no." "don't you normally come over on mondays?" "uhh...yeah, i guess we've been there a few mondays in a row. are we invited?" "we made enough for you too!" so we went to the inlaws for dinner. i love it. we're expected. haha. then i took home leftovers for lunch tomorrow too. and wednesdays is a regular night there too with shaun and christine. last wednesday night we had tacos and we took home leftovers that we ate for three days. ok, so i'm not the most homemaking wife. i have the best of intentions though.

oh man! i went to wal-mart tonight to get candy and cake mix to make cupcake valentines for my kids tomorrow and it was seriously like christmas eve -- the line ups were way into the clothing section. CRAZINESS! so after standing in line for a minute, knowing that i was going to have to stop at save-on anyways to get something else i decided to leave without the candy and went to save on. SAME THING! i couldn't believe it. so i got my cupcake mix, icing and bulk candy (i love bulk) and stood in line. forever. but that's fine...i wasn't annoyed -- it was my fault for not getting these things before 8:30pm the night before, right? then i get home and realize...i have no eggs! AUGH!!! now i'm annoyed. three eggs is just a little much to borrow from the tenants - i'm only a one egg borrower. so i went back over to the inlaws and got some eggs. the cupcakes are made and beautiful. i have exactly 24. 22 students, me (obviously) and one for tim. perfect.

last valentines day tim took off his wedding band to put spice on the steaks that he'd bought to make me. the ring was never to be seen again. after that he decided he just wanted something cheap. so a year later...we FINALLY went and ordered him another titanium ring (but this one is shiny, not matte). i'm very happy that he'll finally be a married man again.

my plan for valentines gift? i'm going to get home early tomorrow from work and clean up the house. tim's been talking about "tidying up" for weeks now. it's really the best gift i could get him. haha. no, seriously -- that's what i'm getting him.

well you can tell i haven't blogged in a long time -- lots to say. so happy valentines day!

this is tim and i valentines day two years ago.

tag...i'm it

so after my last post, i went off the air for a week...my life did not get more interesting so i'm back and happy to be blogging again. also good to see that jack mann reads my blog. ha. in my absence, my cousin rachel (see sidebar for link) has tagged me so here's some mo info.

four jobs you've had in your life:
1) long-standing waitress at troll's on the beach
2) bec the nanny
3) Salty Sam - mascot of the Port of Vancouver
4) teacher

four movies you could watch over and over again (not to be confused with favourite movies):
1) Back to the Future
2) Dirty Dancing
3) Almost Famous
4) Wild Heart Can't Be Broken

four TV show you love to watch:
1) What Not to Wear
2) King of Queens
3) Law and Order (SVU or CI, not original L&O)
4) Amazing Race

four places you've lived:
1) South Surrey
2) White Rock
3) Abbotsford
4) Langley
(no...i haven't been far)

four places you've been on vacation to:
1) Hollister, CA, USA
2) Smithers, BC, CAN
3) Toronto, ON, CAN
4) Tofino, BC, CAN

four places you would rather be (or where you'd like to visit?):
1) in bed
2) Hawaii - Hi Ang
3) Bosnia - Hi D
4) Australia - Hi Raquel in Apr.

four of your favourite foods:
1) diet coke
2) tacos/taco salad/taco pizza
3) my mom's homemade pizza
4) rice pudding

four websites you visit daily:
1) My Blogger Dashboard
2) www.google.ca
3) www.hotmail.com
4) any of the blogs on my sidebar

four CDs you're digging right now:
1) Funeral - Arcade Fire
2) I'm a Mountain - Sarah Harmer
3) Best of Barenaked Ladies
4) Footloose Soundtrack

four tagged:
1) Rachel Jahner
2) Ang
3) Sharelle
4) Liz (if she even reads this!)

wait...these are the only people i know with blogs! ha.

The Inverse Law of Usenet Bandwidth

According to Readers Digest, Jorn Barger, the man who coined the word "weblog" is credited with formulating an Inverse Law of Usenet Bandwidth which states:

The more interesting your life becomes, the less you post, and vice versa.

Shoot. No wonder I'm the only person I know who posts daily.

if only i was famous...

You know how on talkshows like Ellen or (back in the day) Rosie O'Donnell, they would comment about liking something or needing a solution for ________ (fill in the blank) and then hundreds of viewers would send in emails or calls or mail things to them to try to help? Or for example, I read something about the cartoonist who creates "For Better or For Worse" and she was saying she once drew a comic strip about Michael having sore thumbs from video games and she had people sending her special gloves and thumb covers etc etc. Well I wish that I could do that -- mention something and then have people respond with gifts. Here's what I would talk about:

(to have people send me solutions)

> a good face wash/moisturizer : my skin is both oily and dry -- this makes it very difficult to find a face wash and moisturizer that don't suck. i have not found either one to date.
> a pillow : i don't like them too flat or too soft or too hard or too fluffy. i don't want my head to sink too far into them but i don't want my head to tilt upwards because they're too stiff. i've tried the curved pillows and the pillows that have memory foam to shape to you. i still wake up with headaches from bad pillows.
> i always lose CDs : i don't know where or how this could possibly happen but i have loads of empty cases and memories of CDs i once owned and now do not which doesn't make any sense since i never really lend out CDs or anything. i need something to help me keep track of them besides just a case because apparently that's not working.

(to get free stuff)

> peeling knives with a curved blade -- i love it. i can't peel or cut anything without it. it's the only kitchen item that i have to hand wash instead of put in the dishwasher because i use it so often!
> complaints about Munchies (the snack) : there just aren't enough pretzels in those bags. this needs to change.

This is all I could think of at the moment. I asked Tim if he could think of anything for me and he stared at me for a couple minutes and then said, "Hairpins?" and I said, "What do you mean? Like the they're not good enough or I want more of them?" and he just looked at me blankly and replied, "I don't know." So no help there. I guess he just doesn't think as deeply as I do about such important issues.

i only cried twice...

what a day. too much emotion -- i'm suprised certain kids are even alive still i was so upset with a couple of them. something i love about my principal though is that i can send students to him at anytime even when he's teaching. he teaches half-time gr. 6/7...from 11:30 - 2:40. but he's all over it, saying "they can work in my classroom" if they are misbehaving. it's nice to have that support and know that if you send a kid to him, he's not thinking, "gee, rebecca really can't handle her class." PLUS the guy has seen me cry SO often it's silly. today at the end of the day i was in his office to talk to him about science fair and he says, "how's your health?" and i just cried and cried about my students and frustrations. then of course when i go back to my classroom, another teacher comes and asks if i'm ok and how can i not cry again, right? being with kids all day is draining in itself but throw a Malcolm and Harry into the mix? you have a double cry at the end of the day. ha.

so i went to dance fit at JLF and danced it out to 80's for an hour. and now i'm going to my stage class.

tomorrow is PRO - D! thankgoodness.

HI MATT!