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Welcome to the eleventh instalment of my Thankful Thursday, Taking a Break!

This week I’m focusing on gratitude for taking a break, I’ve definitely been doing in many areas of my life over the past two weeks. I even skipped a week of posting this series!

Here’s my Thankful Thursday for the weeks of June 22 – July 5, 2018!

Things I am thankful for over the past two weeks:

My carbo-loading dinner with Andrew on Saturday evening before the half marathon (pretzel bites with cheesy dip, chicken pot pie with salad, and yam fries).
Finishing my half marathon just 40 seconds past 2:30, my goal time due to my hip injury
My hip injury being finally COMPLETELY HEALED!
The new Panic! at the Disco album, which is really great
My two other new favourite songs, Not a Love Song by bülow and by Jocelyn Alice.
The amazing teacher book club meeting we had about reading a non-fiction book about a person who inspires us (I read I Am Malala, which I will be reviewing on my book blog in the near future)
Tom’s contribution was particularly amusing.
The fun but exhausting weekend of Provincial Regional Championship (PRC) rugby where I coached the VRU N-E-W U16 girls.
My U16 girls, and my co-coach, Georgia!

The U18 team, which I helped coach at practice, who won bronze!

My two Sentinel girls who made the U18 team, love them so much <3
The amount of sleep I’ve gotten over the past few days since work and rugby ended (I slept 10:30-5:30 on Monday night, then went back to bed Tuesday morning at 7:30 and didn’t wake up until 2:30.. bliss).
Finally, the amount I’ve read since work ended. I’ve already finished three books this month, and I’m starting another today!
My happy place.

And the theme for these two weeks, Taking a Break!

Two major areas in my life are taking a huge break this week: work and running.

First, work!

The first week covered in this post was the last week of the school year, and aside from invigilating a provincial exam and prepping a modern language educational activity, it was all admin work and prep for next year.
I don’t usually realize how much work takes out of me until I take a break. I typically get sick right at the start of the Winter holidays, of Spring Break, and of the Summer holidays. It was really nice to have this transition week from full-out working to more relaxed working, to fully off.
I was so tired by Friday that I fell asleep at my desk after arriving at 7:30 (Good thing I technically don’t start work until 8:30! Don’t get me started on traffic, I’ll go on for days.). It was nice to have no other real responsibilities aside from helping set up at the staff end-of-year party which I helped plan as part of the Social Committee.

Second, running!

My training for my second (and last) half marathon of 2018 finished up and I ran the race on June 24. The weather was as perfect as could be for the time of year (it did get quite hot toward the end). Along Cornwall Ave, people were on their front lawns spraying us with sprinklers, it was awesome!
It was a really great way to end off 6 months of training, and now I’m going into my six month off-season with a couple of weeks of post-race rest and planning for my cross-training months which will see me through December. It’s been nice to give my body a break; half-marathon training is quite intense. I don’t think I could ever do a full marathon.

There you have it!

So, that’s my Thankful Thursday list for this week. I hope it inspires you to make your own, and get on that gratitude train!

Peace and love,

Bee

Welcome to the tenth instalment of my Thankful Thursday, The Little Things! No, I’m not wrapping up the series, but I am wrapping up some other stuff!

This week I’m focusing on gratitude for wrapping up – quite a few things have neared the end of their life span for me.

Here’s my Thankful Thursday for the Week of June 15 – June 21, 2018!

Things I am thankful for this week:

My new sloth mug, which is giving me child-like glee to sip out of:

Thursday was the last day of scheduled classes for the year
Andrew and I went to see Incredibles 2, which is the funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time. I came away with sore stomach and cheek muscles, and cried laughing more than once. Here’s a gif you’ll appreciate if you’ve seen the movie.
It was really hot early in the week, but it’s cooled down right on time for my half marathon tomorrow
Andrew and I went to Red Robin for a nice (not so) little dinner, and we got these amazing Chocolate Hazelnut (mine) and S’mores (his) milkshakes.

I made it through report card week, albeit with a couple nights where I was working straight through until bedtime

And the theme for this week, Wrapping Up!

I finished up most of the requirements for the teaching year this week, and I also started wrapping up my half marathon training for the year.

First, the school year.

As I mentioned above, this was the last week of scheduled classes. Thursday was the last day. We are still providing opportunities for students to come in and do some fun learning activities next week, and of course there are some provincial exams to invigilate, but the school year is almost complete. And a lot of the usual stressors are gone, like planning lessons and marking.
I had a couple of students in the bands performing their year-end pieces in Player’s Hall one morning, and I was so proud 🙂

My student is the girl on bass guitar! This is the senior jazz band

That’s my student on trumpet in the grey t-shirt!

That’s my student on piano! These two photos were of the junior jazz band.

I posted my final grades on Friday morning. Then, I got my last couple of students across the finish line who hadn’t been passing.
The LSP teachers hosted a picnic on Friday at lunch, and one of the VPs got his head shaved for Cops for Cancer.
The awards ceremony was on the last day of scheduled classes. I got to see the final product of the amazing paintings a couple of students had been working on in the cafeteria for a couple of weeks. They are the banners on the sides of the stage.

One of my favourite students (I know, I’m not supposed to have faves) gave me this beautiful bracelet as a gift on the last day. Not only does it suit me super well, it went along with a lot of what I taught my Planning 10 students this year about mindfulness and mental health. I won’t miss the I-Reports that come along with teaching Planning 10 as I switch over to a fully French subject assignment for next year. But I will miss the course’s meaningful content and the connections I was able to make with students because of it. Thank you Anna <3

Finally, I’ve been collecting textbooks, organizing binders, and cleaning my office. It’s been really nice to have a bit of a change of pace.

Second, the training!

My training for my second (and last) half marathon of 2018 is wrapping up as well. On Tuesday I did my 10k race pace at dawn, with this beauty around me:

Then on Wednesday, I did my 6k race pace, at dawn again, with this view:

On Saturday, I’ll be doing 3k slow, and that’s it for the training! It’s been a long 7 weeks of battling to come back from my hip injury and still try to finish this half in a reasonable time. It looks like my goal will be sub-2:30. It’s a bit of a disappointment for me as I spent most of the training season doing really well at the 2:00 pace. C’est la vie. I’m going to work on cross training and keeping up some distance for the next six months leading into the 2019 season. Next year, I’m hoping to run both the BMO and Scotia again. I’ll perhaps join my parents for Edmonton in August, too! Fingers crossed!

There you have it!

So, that’s my Thankful Thursday list for this week. I hope it inspires you to make your own, and get on that gratitude train!

Peace and love,

Bee

Tag: school

Thankful Thursday 11: Taking a Break