Last night, I came home and literally fell into bed, and slept until this morning – when I woke up and took Punky for a brisk walk. It was negative 16 degrees at that point – what a wakeup call.

Like my life, my eats have been rushed…but rest assured, I am still well-fed. That won’t ever cease.

Yesterday’s breakfast – eaten at school.

Bottom to top: plain yogurt, banana slices sunbutter, puffed rice, fig spread and cinnamon.

Lunch was an exciting can of soup (no, it really was exciting because I won it in a giveaway!

Yes. I’m so happy I won these soups – I had the red can – it was southwestern veggie, and for canned soup, it was fantastic.

Dinner was non-existent because, like I said…I came home and fell into bed.

After my chilly walk this morning, I came home to make an egg sandwich.

Toast, hummus, siracha, one whole egg, one egg white. Halfway though this deliciousness, I remembered that I was going to participate in Vegan Thursday – whoops!

Luckily, I had already (unintentionally) packed a vegan lunch.

Steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower – doused in balsamic vinegar and hummus. Small tortilla on the side. Wait, are tortillas vegan? Hope so.

Even better was the bowl I ate it out of

(Cait, is this the same bowl you have?!)

Mid-afternoon I snacked on a perfectly crunchy apple and trail mix brought to me by a student.

Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, craisins, dried blueberries.

Dinner tonight was a new recipe – Artichoke Heart Risotto.

Risotto + artichoke hearts + peas + half a piece of Dempsey chicken. – Again, not vegan…I guess I’ll start next week!

Highlights from the 3^rd grade world…

• Yesterday, a little boy asked me: “Can I be gay when I grow up?”
• Today, a little girl handed me a piece of paper on which she had written: “Elvis’ birthday is tomorrow and in 1958, he was drafted into the Army” – how’s that for a fun fact?
• I am teaching my kiddos to write instructions and so I had them write recipes for PB&J sandwiches yesterday. There was a lot of creativity, but one little boy included bacon in his sandwich (which he spelled samwich)

When you were young and someone asked you: “What do you want to be when you grow up?“…what was your response?

What do you think of bacon in a pb&j…disgusting or genius?

I kept chanting this to myself over and over again today. The kids were vibrating with excess energy. We had a long Christmas concert at the end of the school day, and as you looked across the gym, it was nothing but a sea of wiggles…I swear not ONE student in the whole school was sitting still – and I can’t blame them.

My day started early and ended late, here are some images.

I just finished attaching homework coupons to candy canes as gifts for my students. Whew…the day is done.

Tomorrow is the last day with kiddos and I don’t know who is more ready for a break, the students or the kids. Either way, we’re all due for a little R&R in t-24 hours.

One more day, one more day, one more day…

It was a long day, and my food was all meh. It all tasted fine, but everything I did today was rushed, and that led to less than inspired meals.

Breakfast was ever-present fruit cereal.

One apple, one banana, sun butter and vanilla soy milk. Black coffee in the back.

I came home for a quick lunch mid-day.

Kind of gross looking now that I am taking a second look…it didn’t taste bad, though. Half of a sweet potato, three pieces of baked tofu and spicy mustard.

Then a cookie…

I ate this at my kitchen table with the sun shining on my back – it was a glorious break in the middle of the day. I didn’t make this cookie, so I don’t really know what it was – but imagine a blondie with butterscotch chips. What a brown lunch.

Work, work, work…then home again for dinner.

Look at that little carrot piece stuck to the back of the bowl. Funny.

Sauteed broccoli, carrots, black beans, and Brussels sprouts. Nothing quite as satisfying as a bowl of veggies for dinner. I cooked these most of the way through, and then added cider vinegar – I tell you, it makes all the difference. It adds the best flavor. Especially to the Brussels.

***

Why the countdown title? Well…I AM LEAVING FOR MEXICO IN 4 DAYS!

My incredibly generous in-laws are taking the whole family to Puerta Vallarta for Christmas. We are leaving the 19^th (Saturday) and coming back the 23^rd, so technically, we aren’t going for Christmas, but it is a Christmas gift. A pretty awesome gift if you ask me. I will also be there for my birthday on the 22^nd.

The other awesome thing is that we just found out it’s the exact place that Meeker and I went on our honeymoon over two years ago. It will be so fun to go back – I can’t even wait. Now I just have 3 more days with the kiddos, 1 grading day and it’s beach time!!

1. What are your holiday plans?
   
2. What do you do to spruce up your veggies?

Because of the chilly weather – we had a one hour school delay, which means nothing for teachers because we have to be there on time anyway – but I did get an extra hour of plan time chatting with other teachers.

Before all that, I did about 40 minutes with Dave Farmar and then ate something weird (at least for me) – I claim to not like bananas, but have been loving them lately, especially with sun butter.

And when I got to work – I found chocolate chip banana bread in the lounge (thanks Kalen!)

It was heaven eaten along with my Wednesday coffee…

Thank you, thank you, thank you Tona…you are so kind.

Lunch was thebesthingever.

A sweet potato (cooked last night) with hummus and avocado on top. Oh my word – deliciousness.

At my after school job
(I just sit in the office and answer the phones) – I ate the most crispy, delicious apple of all time.

I set the real apple on top of a picture of an apple…so clever!

Upon returning home, I baked tofu and cooked some spinach.

The whole wonderful mess was doused in the best bbq sauce of all time

Dessert was two unbelievably good cookies…

And something I have been drinking a ton of lately…

Cinnamon tea with vanilla soy milk.

Keep your fingers crossed for outdoor recess tomorrow!

Three squares of baked tofu, dipped in hummus.

L is for lunch – quick and delicious.

Leftover chili, 2 carrots dipped in sun butter, 2 fudge babies, and hot water sipped out of a cheery Christmas mug.

D is for dinner – the best kind of a veggie bowl.

Roasted broccoli, carrots, corn, black beans, tomatoes and a dollop of daisy hummus.

TBL is for The Biggest Loser – finale tonight!!

Because the high was 9 degrees today, we again had indoor recess, and I played the 3^rd grade version of Jillian Michaels.

I told the kids about TBL (many of them also watch) – and later in the day, I received this little treat from a student…

Let me interpret: I gave the kiddos an assignment to “make up a multiplication word problem” – my little friend (knowing my love of TBL) drew me a “math problem” about the show…in case you didn’t know…It is about fateys. (fatties)

Those four round red/pink characters are the contestants, and the 42 x 3 = 126 in the corner is “the math part” of the assignment.
He didn’t really do what I asked, but I loved it nonetheless.

In other 3^rd grade news: I had a student bring in her cat’s harness for show and tell today. I actually had to step into the hallway because I was laughing so hard when she demonstrated how to put it safely over her kitty’s head.

I love my job.

Honestly, it was one of the best shows I have ever been to. I might even go as far as to say the greatest. I had a blast with Meeker and his family, and it was 100% worth the drowsiness I experienced on Friday as a result of going out on a school night. If you haven’t heard of ZBB, I suggest that you check them out – they are one talented group of boys. It’s not so much country as southern rock…and they totally rock. In fact, they just got nominated for 3 Grammy awards.

Okay, enough gushing.

3^rd grade went on a make-up field trip on Friday. We went to a nature/science museum in Denver – and it was wild and fun.

I woke up exhausted after rocking out on Thursday night – but jazzed for the trip with my kiddos. I was running late, but managed to make a pretty good breakfast and pack a yummy sandwich for lunch.

That’s half a sweet ‘tater (I microwaved it for 6 minutes) and then put spicy mustard on one side, an egg on the other – and sandwiched them together. This was the best combo (albeit very messy) and I will definitely be making it again.

Packed lunch

Scooped bagel with bananas, peanut butter and pumpkin butter.

I threw this in my purse, and accidentally sat on it during the bus ride to the museum – so it was pretty nasty looking when I pulled it out at lunch time – but very delicious.

When I got home about a zillion hours later (at least that’s what it felt like) – I found a pot of soup on the stove. I love being married.

Meeker had thrown leftover rice, black beans and tomatoes into a pot – and added a lot of spice – to create a warming, simple supper. I topped mine with avocado for a cooling effect.

I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30 on a Friday night.

I woke up this morning ecstatic about a Skype date I had with my best friend at 10am , but managed to squeeze in DAY 30 of the 30 Day Shred beforehand! It feels good to have finished. I feel stronger and my balance is better – but I’m looking forward to incorporating a little variety into my routine.

As for the skype date – this was my first time using this technology, and I felt really geeky sitting at Kunjani chatting and laughing with my computer screen, but it was fantastic to be able to talk face-to-face with my bestie.

One large black coffee.

After over an hour of skyping, I was starving, and I came home to eat more soup and ½ a bagel.

Topped with chip crumbles and avocado.

Scooped and toasted with pumpkin butter and sun butter. A dynamic duo.

Now I’m ready to just relax and enjoy this Saturday – hasta luego.

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