Sensational Saturday

It has been a long week.  I've been so busy with classes and students that I haven't had a chance to update this blog.  I went to spinning 3 times this week including last night (Friday night).  I really like it.  I did the most miles last night at 16 miles.  I'm not nearly as sore as I was on Wednesday either so that's good.  My body is adjusting quickly.  And the seat didn't hurt last night either.  Score!

I also found out that my training starts next week for the online class I'll be teaching.  I've been waiting for that for months.  I was hoping I could have gotten the training done over the summer, but that's not how it worked out.  So for the next 4 weeks I will be even more busy than I am already. 

My students are totally different this year, as the other professors have noticed, too, about their students.  The freshmen are much more motivated and not as willing to wait to the last minute to do assignments.  Although that's good thing, it has created a lot more work for me as a professor.  I'm fielding at least 20-30 emails a day from students about homework and the online program we use for homework.  It's been a little overwhelming, but I have kept up with the emails and replying to them so far.  Whew!  And I've stayed patient with the same questions over and over so that's good, too.

Oh, and I've lost 2 more lbs this week.

I'm going home tomorrow.  Let me briefly explain the back story for why I'm going home.  Back in January, my parents lost their house of 20 years to a house fire.  They lost everything and had no insurance.  They ended up buying a house almost 45 minutes away.  My mom has been playing the piano at her church for years, but when they moved to their new place, the church became almost an hour long commute.  Mom used to be able to handle a long commute, but several years ago she was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, which is a form of cancer.  Though she's in remission now, her energy, stamina, and immune system will never be what they were before she got sick.  The long commute has been getting to her so she gave up her position at her church.  Her last Sunday is tomorrow, and they asked her to give a concert.  My brother and I haven't heard her play in years so we're both going.  My nephew has never heard her play so hopefully he'll enjoy that.  Besides, I haven't been home in a while, and with the online training starting next week, I'll be really busy for the next 4 weeks.  So it's good timing.  I told mom I won't be able to come home again for a while.

This morning I was up by 7:45.  That's great for me for a Saturday morning, especially after the long week I've had.  The latest I've gone to bed each night this week has been 9:30 so I guess I had all the sleep my body needed last night.  So since I was up early, I ate breakfast and then went to Walmart to get some groceries.  Then when I left there, a new cheaper gas station finally opened up next to Walmart so I went ahead and filled up for my trip home tomorrow.  So the 2 errands I needed to get done this weekend are already done.  However, I also brought work home.  *sigh*  I love getting a new textbook. 

Ok, I'm gonna go relax and do nothing.  I haven't done that in at least 2 weeks.  I think I deserve it.  :)

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Recap

Well, I've been a little busy with school stuff so I haven't been able to post anything recently.  Here's a recap.  Friday I had 4 classes.  All went smoothly.  But I was exhausted when I got home so it was an early night.  Saturday we had our annual Faculty Picnic at work (though it was way too hot) so I met my coworkers on campus for that.  We had fun catching up.  By the time I came home, I was hungry for dinner.  I tried these new veggies by Bird's Eye that I found at Kroger yesterday, and they were delish!  I'll be having those again.  After dinner I made myself go walk 5 miles on campus.  I haven't walked since last Monday, and I've been feeling lazy so it felt great to get another walk in yesterday.  And it was long enough to make me tired so I went to bed early and slept well.

Today I don't have too much planned.  I brought work home just in case I wanted to tackle that, but I am not motivated.  Plus, I don't need to do a thing for tomorrow's classes.  I'm ready for that.  All I need to do is check what I am teaching Tuesday and make sure my old notes can be used with the new book.  I've redone the previous ones so I am planning on redoing all of them.  But I have an hour everyday of office hours to get it done.  So I'm not too worried.  This week will be tiring because it's the first full week of classes.  I am sure I will sleep well every night. 

Oh, and spinning starts Monday night, and I cannot wait!  I can make spinning 3 nights a week (they don't offer classes on the weekends).  Tuesdays and Thursdays I can't go because it's in the middle of my night class.  I know it will kill me, and I probably won't be able to walk at work the next day, but I have been wanting to try spinning classes for years so I am excited.  And I won't have to walk everyday after work if I do spinning 3 nights a week.  I'll only need to walk on the other nights, which will help break up the monotony of walking all the time.  I'll be sure to let you know how spinning goes.  I just hope I can do it.  Even if I can't, my plan is to keep going to get stronger so I can do it.  That will be a big victory.

Now I need to go so I can sign up for cheap tennis lessons!  That's right, spinning and tennis lessons!  But tennis won't start until the middle of Sept.

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Is It Friday Yet?

Today went well.  I had 4 classes, but 3 of them were Algebra classes, and then I had a Trigonometry class at 6:00 tonight.  The Trig class went well.  Several of my Algebra students from last semester showed up in there so I guess they thought taking me again would be a good idea.  So that was nice.  Then one of my Trig students stayed after class to tell me that one of the reasons why she took me for Trig was because I have a great rating on http://www.ratemyprofessor.com/.  That was pretty cool to find out.  Last time I heard about that website I wasn't even listed on it yet.

I got a lot of things done today, and I finally feel like I'm getting back in the groove of things.  We got a new textbook in Algebra this year so unfortunately, I will end up spending a lot of time this semester redoing some of my notes to go along with the book.  *sigh*  I sure hope we use this book for a few years.  Redoing notes is a pain.  Business Calculus got a new textbook, too, so my officemate, Meghan, is in the same boat.  She's having to redo some of her notes, too.

Well, it's 8:00, and I could go to sleep right now.  I'm going to run a quick load of laundry and then hit the hay.  Night, night!

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First Day of Classes

Today was a long, first day of classes.  I had all 4 College Algebra classes today.  I had a 9:30 - 10:20, 11:30 - 12:20, 1:30 - 2:20 (in another building), and a 2:30 -3:20 (back to the first building).  My throat is killing me, and I am exhausted.  Talking about the same 3 page syllabus 4 times is tiring and annoying.  I'm glad I won't have to do that again this semester.  Walking might not happen today.  The classes went fine, but there was a mixup for one of the classes, and I was scheduled to a room with another class.  Thank goodness that's over.

I brought some work home today because we got a new textbook in Algebra, which sucks because some of it doesn't line up with the old book from last year.  That means I get to redo some of my notes.  Yay.  Can you tell I'm excited?

It's going to be an early night so I'm going to end this now.

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First Day Back at Work

Today was busy.  I had an Algebra meeting in the morning.  Then I walked all the way to the other end of the building (it's a very long building) to Jamie's office.  She one of my closest friends at work, and I only got to see her once during the summer.  We chatted and walked to the Science Building to find out where our rooms are going to be.  Neither of us have had a class in Science before so we didn't even know the layout (we actually had trouble finding our rooms so that should be interesting).  Then when we got back to our building I walked back to my office to get some work done. 

I edited my syllabi (yes, more than one) slightly and worked on other stuff, and next thing I knew, it was after 1:15, and I had a Trigonometry meeting at 2:00.  I needed to eat something.  I came home for lunch even though I brought my lunch today because I needed to mail something, and I left it at home this morning by mistake.  I had 2 Morning Star spicy black bean burgers and a big salad.  Then I mailed my package on my way back into campus (gotta love a college post office, so much better and faster than the real thing, and I pass it everyday heading to my office building).  I went straight back to work as soon as I sat in my office chair.  So much to do before students start classes.  Everything is done (I think) for Wednesday's first day of classes except for my attendance sheets.  I finished one before I left work, but by then it was after 4:30, and I was tired.  Besides, the way I make my attendance sheets, it takes the most time to create the first one.  After that, I can copy most of the info for the other 4 I need to make.  My profession spoils me and makes me forget what it's like to work a full day after 3 months off.  :)  So I came home and immediately changed clothes to walk outside.  I did another 5 miles.  And now after my shower and dinner of sauteed tofu (I know how it sounds, but yummy!), rice, some pumpkin for my veggie (I flavor it to taste just like pumpkin pie), and a strawberry banana smoothie, I am ready for sleep!  I am tired.

  

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Work, work, work

Yesterday I forgot to post something.  Not a whole lot happened.  I had a list of things to do for work this week, but I didn't want to do any of it.  Then, I got a text from one of my coworkers about seeing a movie.  We saw Eat, Pray, Love last night, and it was great!  The girls beside us were annoying because they wouldn't shutup, but the movie was great.  We went to Applebee's for dinner, and I ordered a yummy shrimp dinner that was very healthy (I looked it up ahead of time).  I wanted to workout last night when I got home, but it was after 9:00 when I got home.  Working out got skipped.  Plus, it was raining.  I also weighed yesterday, and I lost 3.6 lbs since the last time I weighed in on here.  Woo hoo!

Today I woke up, ate breakfast, and started working.  I think I finished my Algebra syllabus, I got my Algebra classes set up for online homework, my lesson schedulers are done for Algebra (this tells me what sections to cover each day so I am ready for the already scheduled exams), I emailed the Algebra coordinator a few questions so I can finish everything, and I already requested my classes to be on BlackBoard so that should be ready by Monday.  Now I just need to work on Trigonometry stuff.  I have the syllabus to do and the lesson scheduler for that. 

That will leave attendance sheets to do Tuesday.  I need to wait right before classes start on Wednesday before I make these to include last registering students on my rosters.

I need to walk today.  I am tired from working all morning, and that will make me feel better.

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Fried Day

So it was going to rain late this afternoon so I went outside to walk around 2:30 today.  Oh my gosh, was it HOT!  My car said it was 100 degrees. and that doesn't include the heat index.  The Myrtle Beach heat index was 106, so I know it was bad here in Conway.  By the middle of lap 2, I had a headache.  I had a feeling I was dehydrated, but I wasn't sure that would cause a headache.  My sister told me later that a headache is the first sign of dehydration.  Anyway, so I finished lap 2, and I started lap 3.  I actually forgot I had a headache.  Yeah, you read that right, I forgot.  I do that, so kill me.  Anyway, I noticed my head really hurting again in the middle of lap 3 so I finished that lap and came home.  I finished my 5 mile goal on the treadmill.  Then I drank some water and jumped in the shower.  I wasn't very thirsty.  I was totally soaked with sweat so I didn't notice thirst.  I was too gross.  I was so tired when I got out of the shower I could have easily gone to sleep.  It's 7:30 now, and I am ready for 10ish to come so I can allow myself to go to bed.  This weekend I need to work on my syllabi for next week.  We only have 2 workdays before classes start, and I have at least 2 meetings scheduled for both Monday and Tuesday.  I know from last year that means I won't have time to work on the syllabi, and that is the first thing we need done for Wednesday's classes.  I also need to make my attendance sheets, but I can get that done Monday or Tuesday.

Good night, all! 

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School's Out

Today was the last day of my summer class so they took their final exam.  I decided to grade them immediately when I got home from class because I needed to wait at least an hour to eat lunch.  It only took LESS than an hour to grade them.  Why?  Because they did so well.  So I calculated their final averages, and then posted their grades online.  My summer class is officially over. 

After I ate lunch, I went outside to walk.  I wanted to wait until later (because it was so HOT) like I did yesterday, but there was a 40% chance of rain tonight, and I didn't want to chance it.  I did wait until 4:00 pm to go outside though.  I walked 5 miles in 105+ heat index.  I was completely disgusting and drenched when I got home so I went straight to the shower.  After the lovely shower, I was so exhausted (from the heat, I'm sure) that I could not fake the energy to cook something for dinner.  Then a lightbulb went on in my head.  I ended up having 2 spicy black bean burgers by Morning Star (meatless, but so yummy!), a huge salad, the rest of some leftover spanish rice, and a blueberry and banana smoothie.  Nothing took more than 5 minutes, and I was totally satisfied.  Morning Star burgers are wonderful anytime, but they're especially great when you have no time (or energy, in my case) to cook a protein like chicken.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a heat index of at least 110 (in Myrtle Beach, but here in Conway, it will be hotter because I'm further from the nice, cool ocean).  I'm either going to walk right after breakfast or after dinner to avoid getting too much sun.  And tomorrow is my last Friday off, or any weekday, for that matter.  Work starts Monday so I might as well enjoy being able to do whatever I want on a weekday.  I won't get out of class before 3:30 everyday starting next week.    

It's 9:00 pm, and I am tired.  This girl is heading to bed soon! 

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Worn Out Wednesday

Today went well.  Don't be fooled by the title.  But the past few days finally caught up with me today.  I've been staying up really late (Monday night til 3:00 am, and last night til 1:00 am) working on the last exam for my summer class and their final exam.  Thank goodness I finished that yesterday so I didn't have to worry about it today.  I got home from class today and ate lunch.  By 2:00 pm I could not keep my eyes open any longer so I let myself lay down.  I took the most beautiful nap ever!  I was planning on walking outside around 2:30, but I decided the nap was more important at the time.  Plus, it was a heat index of 106 at that time, and I was not looking forward to that.  By the time I woke up, it was getting close to dinner time so I cooked dinner and then went outside and walked 5 miles.  I just got out of the shower, and I feel great.  I haven't worked out at night in so long that I forgot it actually helps me get ready to go to sleep at night.  I rest so much better right after I've worked out.  I am not a workout in the morning kind of person.  I've tried, and I just can't do it.  Tomorrow is the last day of class, so they will take their final exam.  While they're doing that, I will grade their last homework assignment so that all I'll have to do tomorrow after class is grade the finals. 

I've eaten really well today.  Made the yummiest smoothie ever last night.  It was a blueberry, half a banana, and milk concoction, and it was divine.  Tonight I made a raspberry smoothie because I've had frozen raspberries in my freezer for a long time, and I wanted to finally use some of them.  I added milk and a little splenda to it, and it was good.  Definitely hits the spot if you are having an ice cream craving.

Well, I have laundry to hang up and hair that is still soaking wet.  Night, night!

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About Me

My name is Denise, and I am a mathematics professor at Coastal Carolina University here in Myrtle Beach, SC. I just finished my first year at the college, and it is my dream job. Before that, I taught for 5 years at a high school in NC. I was unhappy at the high school and thought that teaching at the college level would never happen for me. I was stunned when I was offered a job at Coastal Carolina. I love my job and my coworkers. Finally, I feel that I have the professional part of my life figured out and am happy about where I am.

As for my personal life, that is another story. I am a single, Christian girl, and for any of you who don't know, that is a hard path to be on. Most single guys don't want a "good girl," and yes, I am what I and my friends refer to as a "good girl." I pray that someday God will introduce me to the man he wants me to marry. In the meantime, I enjoy being an aunt to the best 3 nephews ever.

I was always thin until after college when I started teaching at the high school. All of a sudden, I was so tired from the mental and emotional drain of teaching math to teenagers that working out was the last thing I could get myself to do. I grew up playing sports and loved being active. Then on top of not working out, I ate because I was so tired. I know, doh! I should have gone to bed.

So almost 6 years later, I have gone up and down over and over for reasons I am not exactly sure of. Now that I have my career where I've always wanted it to be (I am living my dream!), I want to finally tackle my weight issues. Since I've gained weight I don't participate in the things I used to, and that drives me nuts. I'm sick of it holding me back. I am using this blog as a way to be held accountable for working out most days a week and eating well. Feel free to leave comments or email me.

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Working Sunday

Might as well start this off with a BANG...When I got up this am I weighed. I started out with a whopping 35 lbs to lose. As of this am, I have 28.8 more to go. All during the college years I was skinny, and of course I ate whatever I wanted. My goal is to get back to my college weight because I was there for years without any effort. I would love to be at that goal by Christmas, but I have decided not to put a time limit on myself. That is where I've faltered in the past.

I've been busy since I got up this morning. I am teaching a summer class right now, and this week is their last week. I had to finish the answer key to their review for their last exam, which will be on Tuesday. Then, their Final Exam will be on Thursday so I had to edit some changes to that review, too. Both are finally done, and I am tired of Trigonometry. :) I was going to walk outside afterwards, but it's been 5 hours since I ate breakfast so I am going to eat lunch first, and then head outside. Hmm. What to make for lunch? My goal when I walk today will be 5 miles. There is a lap around campus that I like to walk because it's long, and I know exactly how far it is....1.25 miles. That means that 4 laps = 5 miles.

I still can't believe we go back to work full-time in another week. The summer class has made the last 4 weeks go by quickly. Ok, I'm hungry and my back hurts from sitting at the table for so long. I need a break. More later!

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