Fairly Dull on this End

Greetings.    Week 2 of the new semester.   Both ISU and DMACC didn't have classes on Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. observance.   I got a lot of domestic duties done over the weekend since I barely ventured out with the questionable weather.   Gavin and I did make a quick trip to a furniture store and he picked out a birthday present.   He's been complaining about his comfort in his room when it comes to sitting and watching TV or playing video games.    We found a good deal and bought a glider/swivel chair.    It comes with an ottoman too.   It's backordered though so I can't go back and pick it up until January 25th.    He also wants to pick out some Steelers apparel too.  

I am now participating in the Exercise Clinic in my department.   One of the secretaries approached me at the end of last semester asking if I wanted to exercise with her over the noon hour on MWF.   The professor that runs the clinic is letting both she and I participate for free.   It's a little bit of a pain as I have to hurry at 11:50am when I'm done teaching and get to the locker room and change.   She and I usually do the group warm-up, do our own cardio, do our own lifting, and end with the group cool-down.     Starting this week, students in an upper level class will start working with us.   Some of them want to be personal trainers.   Some want to go to PT school.    It's nice to have consistent physical activity/exercise each week.   It will balance out well because I have Swim & Gym starting soon on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it's exhausting.    I don't think I could do both the clinic and the after school program on the same day.

I'll be switching to my next set of braces on Thursday.   I'm not sure if I'll pop them in right away in the morning and be sore at work or wait and put them in at night.   I'm not wearing them enough at work.   I'll admit that.    I need to buckle down and wear them when I teach.   It'll get easier to speak if I keep practicing.

I've been bowling twice in January.   The bowling alley in Newton is actually pretty decent.   I'm going to see if Dan wants to go again this Saturday.    It bums me out that many communities don't have bowling alleys anymore.  

One of my coworkers gave me a bunch of jeans to try since I only have one pair that fits me.    Sadly she and I are not built the same way and none of them are working for me.   Bleh.   Thankfully I have a couple pair of dress pants that wear well.     I can wear athletic pants on Tuesday and Thursday too.
I thought I had more to report on but my title is true.   It's been fairly uneventful.   I'm OK with that!

Changes to the Start of the Year

Well I thought I had my facts straight the last time I blogged but there have been updates.     I was basking in the glory of having Monday evenings to myself and jinxed myself.   Apparently my boss DID put the Personal Wellness class on the schedule for the spring but didn't feel like mentioning it to me.    I feel she thought it wouldn't have high enough enrollment and would be canceled but as of today, there are ten students enrolled.    I was sort of a jerk about it and said I wanted to be properly paid for picking up another class with little notice.    I reminded her and administration that I was asked to teach in a similar fashion last semester (little notice).    It's a two credit class so it's difficult to say 'no' to the money and I'm basically prepped for the class as I taught it last semester.

So I'm teaching three classes for DMACC:  two online and one in-person.   Same schedule as last semester.

I'm teaching three classes at ISU plus one independent study.   I have two sections of HS 275 (90 students total), a PE course, Swim & Gym (two students are taking it as a class), and an independent study for another education major.    I had forgotten that I had said yes to the independent study.   Whoops.   I still have to oversee the grad students too.   Sigh.    I am cracking down on the amount of help the grad students need.   I did way too much "hand holding" last semester and I'm done being that type of crutch.

I started the Invisalign process last Thursday.    I was swayed to do the process as my front, left teeth are super crooked.   My crossbite is also causing me pain too.   I tend to clench my jaw when I'm concentrating so by the end of the work day my teeth usually ache.   I did some checking with my dental insurance and had a decent chunk of money to put toward orthodontics, so what the heck?   I'll be changing my retainers every two weeks.   The main discomfort is under my tongue as it continually rubs against the edge of my lower retainer.   I'll be dealing with retainers for about 14 months.

I saw the surgeon for my post-op six week check up.    It was a very short visit.   He checked to make sure I didn't have any surgical issues with my incision areas.   He was happy with my weight loss.   I didn't have much to discuss with my dietician either.    I can basically eat anything now as long as I eat food in the correct order (protein first) and keep the portions small.  I'm also taking all my supplements now too.  

Morning:  multi-vitamin and calcium

Mid-Day:  calcium

Evening:  calcium and B-12

Prior to Bed:   iron

Update on the volunteer process:    I am doing an orientation at the end of February.   It was the first time I could make it work with my schedule.    Most of the orientations are in the middle of the day which makes me wonder if a solid number of their volunteers are retired.   I guess I'll find out.  I guess if I do the orientation and am suitable, that also allows me to bring Gavin with to help at times too.   I'm hoping he can come once in awhile too.  

And in the spirit of a new semester:

Welcome 2017

I am very happy for the start of this new year.   Gavin and I had a great trip to NE Iowa and today was back to work, for me anyway.    Back to school for Gavin!   He gets to miss part of tomorrow though due to an orthodontic appointment.  Whoops.   I have my six week check up tomorrow too.    I'm a little nervous because I don't think I lost enough weight in the last couple weeks.   I'm curious to see the body composition readings though because my clothes are fitting entirely different.   The number on the scale may be more hesitant to drop but I think my fat mass is still changing.

At this point, anyone I wanted to know, knows about my surgery.   The last person I need to tell was my Grandma and I did that on Sunday.   She responded differently than I expected but responded in a positive way.    She didn't seem too surprised and didn't have many questions.    She did make a cute comment about me looking different before I even told her about the surgery.   I did OK with the Smith Christmas feast.   I only got one plate and got very small portions of the hot food.   My main mistake was the cake.   I should have never eaten any cake but hey, if there is a boob cake on your table, you eat it.

The only thing that bummed me out about the visit up North was the lack of sledding.    It just never fit into the schedule.   I never found out if Mom and Dad actually have sleds either.   The board games were fun.    It was a bountiful Christmas and everyone was wise with their gift choices.  I hung up my calendars today.   I took down all of the Christmas decorations yesterday too.   My next big task is to look through a box of items I took out of my Fusion in October.    I'm not sure if anything needs to go back into my Escape but a lot of it needs to go back to my work.    I've collected a lot of stuff from past health fair events and they need to be stored in my office, not my vehicle.

I got a lot of work done today...all my syllabi are done for both ISU and DMACC.   I caught up on emails too.   I had a handful I couldn't reply to until I was back in my office.   I have a presentation to create for Thursday when I lead a meeting and that's about it for this week.    I get to sit in meetings from 9am-4pm on Friday.   Yippee.   All of my DMACC classes are online this semester too which is nice.   I'll have my Monday evenings back again.  

Let's talk resolutions.   My main resolution for the new year is to volunteer more.    I have applied to volunteer at a homeless shelter in Des Moines.   They are flexible with availability so I'm hoping to help once a week, maybe more often when my work/parenting schedule allows.   I want to do something that keeps me busy in a helpful way and gets me out of the house.    I didn't choose a health-based resolution.   If I decide to help the shelter, I'll do an orientation in February.

I guess that's enough of an update for now.   I'll send an update next week after both semesters start up for ISU and DMACC.