"Trust the Training"

Robert Griffin III

I have never been a football person. I have been to lots of fooball games, but never really watched the games. However, if you live in the DC area, you must start to love football, or you will be bored on Sundays and Mondays and will have limited conversations with most people, because almost everybody is excited about the Redskins. So, to that end, I watch football on most Sundays, especially if the Redskins are playing.

The Redskins have not been a stellar team for awhile. But this year, they recruited the Heisman trophy winner, RG3, and this place has been on fire. There are such high expectations for this guy to turn this team around, and yesterday, RG3 sure made the Redskins and their fans proud. He was incredible, and he led the Redskins to victory over the Saints.

So, if you live in the DC area, you can't help but see this guy, day after day, on the news; it's quite entertaining. Last week, the news reporters were badgering him about the game on Sunday, and he calmly stated "I have to trust my training."

Being a words person, this statement sent me down a road of deep thinking: "I have to trust my training."

If we take our training seriously, we will more than likely perform when it's time to perform. Yea, there might be some mistakes, but the type of training that we do is a great indicator of the outcome. So, RG3 must be taking the training seriously, because yesterday, the man performed.

Let's talk about going to college, trade school or any other type of training that we may go through. If we take the training seriously, then we should feel a little less anxiety when it's time to perform. (I hope that you are following me.)

For instance, I run every Saturday, even during the winter. I treat every practice run as if it's a race: I go to bed early the night before, I make sure that I eat before I run, and I get to the starting point a little early to allow myself a little time to relax and get my mind right just like I do on race days. Because of taking the training seriously, I am not too anxious on race days, and I normally finish strong.

With whatever we are are trying to do, we must take the training seriously and training must be ongoing.....As a teacher, or with whatever you do, we can't just get into our careers or anything else and stop training, we must continue to train to keep up with all of the new and exciting things that are taking place, or we become irrelavant...

I am sure that after that great game yesterday, RG3 is still training. If he believes, even for a little while, that he had a good game and does not need to take the training seriously anymore, we will definitely see the decline of RG3.

Since RG3 seems to have this training concept down..... I'm expecting great things from him....

Take the training seriously people!

Can I get an AMEN!!!!

Can I get an AMEN for the awesome speech, her workouts, her arms, her hair, for doing a public confession of how much she LOVES her husband, for family, for being strong, outspoken, for being the girl next door......???

Owwwwww Girl!!!!!!

Let the People say AMEN!!!!!!

One of Those Days........

I had an awesome weekend spending time with my niece and her family, and I really enjoyed the Rock and Roll half marathon in VA Beach, but I was very disappointed with my time......

Not sure if it was the disappointment with my time or yesterday being my Daddy's birthday or if it was something else that sent me into a really crazy place.

Yesterday, I had every negative emotion that a person can have: indecisiveness, doubt, grief, restlessness, sadness, anxiety and the list goes on and on.

My dryer was not working, and I wash everyday. (Oh MY!) So, I still washed, and I went to the laundromat to dry my clothes. Thank God that the laundromat is very close to my house, it was empty, and it took my things about 15 minutes to dry. (It was painless!) I called a friend to meet me in DC, and then I called him back to say that I changed my mind. (Indecisiveness!) I drove to Georgetown, and then decided that I wanted to go back home. (Restlessness!) I thougth of my Daddy on his birthday and went into the ugly cry. (Grief and sadness!) At least I was pleased with my dinner yesterday: butternut squash, kale pesto, and cottage cheese for a treat.

I was thinking that I am too much on a routine, I want to run faster, I need to try new restaurants and bars, I need to bike more, I need a running group for speed training, I hope that my dryer can be fixed, I want my light fixed in my kitchen, why don't I have dishwasher detergent, I'm not a good teacher, I need to infuse technology into my classroom, I am clueless when it comes to dating, I wonder why God places such priority on loving EVERYBODY, and on and on and on......

Finally, I really needed to be pulled out, and I called my friend Cliff, and he did pull me out. I met Cliff when we were both pursing degrees from George Washington University, and he and I spent a lot of time convincing each other that we could make it through GW, and we did. Since then, we have served each other by being there when we need to hear "The Truth" and to be "pulled out."

So, Cliff talked to me for about two hours while I cleaned the kitchen, made up my bed, ironed my clothes, packed my lunch etc....

AND, he pulled me out. I hung up feeling empowered and ready for the next day.

I have more good days than bad days, but yesterday was "One of those days."

Thankful Thursday: Coworkers with common interests

I know that I said that last week's Thankful Thursday blog was going to be the last one, but I started school this week, and it has not been a stressful week at all. Really, it's been quite enjoyable and relaxing. I thought that I won't have time to write much this week, but I've had quite a bit of free time. I've had time to read, write, go to the pool two times and bike two times. So, here is another Thankful Thursday blog.....

You know how faith is doing all that you can, and believing that everything will work out better than you could ever imagine. Well, that's what happened with my career. I really wanted to work in a small school district and a place where I could have longevity. I had no idea that I would love to work with people whom I could possibly share common interests with outside of school.

 So, I'm in a small district, a place where I can have longevity, and "my better than I could ever imagined" is students whom I adore and many coworkers who love to be active as much as I do. (Sometimes we don't know what to ask for, and that is when we have to trust a higher power.)

I am part of a community of people who like to bike, run, canoe and do all of the outdoor activities that I love to do. (Who would have thought......)

Look at what we did today, after school, around 3:30:

My school happens to be right next to a trail that connects to other trails, so we were able to do the Arlington loop today: Arlington to DC to Alexandria and back to Arlington. We had many laughs, much sunshine, some hills and even a baby on the ride.

Today, I am so Thankful for coworkers whom I share common interests with.

By the way, we ran into one of our Assistant Principals RUNNING on the trail. (There is nothing like an active school!)

This school year is going to be our best ACTIVE school year ever!!!

Happy Thankful Thursday....

Encourage someone to try something new...

End of Summer Health Update

This summer, I took my exercise and diet routines to places where they have never been before.

Time off from work is time for me to do things that I really enjoy, and doing some serious workouts and eating clean are some of the things that give me complete joy.

I biked at least four days almost every week this summer. I'm not talking about leisure rides, I'm talking about rides that made my calves sore. (Sweet Pain.) After riding over 100 miles on a weekend trip, I got up that Monday and did a hill practice with Babes on Bike. The stronger and tougher my rides became, my recovery time became shorter.

Berhane, the greatest trainer in the world, knows that when I workout with him, I want a workout that challenges me, and that is what I got this summer. Every workout with him has been one difficult workout after the other. Sometimes, I really wanted to curse him out, but afterwards I would want to hug him.

My Saturday runs have all been at least ten miles, and most of them I ran very strong; however, a few were slower than others, but I always finished. But, just like biking, my recovery time became shorter and shorter. I got to the point this summer where I could run ten miles on a Saturday and bike forty miles the next day.

Needless to say, I was sore all summer, and it felt so good...

Being a church and a spoken and written words girl, I know many "Church Quotes." One in particular has been on my mind today: "Resist the devil, and he will flee." The devil is anything that I shouldn't do. My devils use to be popcorn from the movie theater, desserts, and cocktails. However, if you resist your devil long enough, the desire to do things that you shouldn't do may always be there, but your strength to resist your devil will increase.

This past weekend I resisted birthday cake, wine, cookies on the airplane, pancakes at Ihop etc. Today, the first day back at work, I resisted bagels for breakfast and a pasta and pizza lunch with some of my favorite desserts. However, it felt so good to know that I can be around things that I use to love to eat and drink and actually resist them. There was no way that I was going to mess up a whole summer worth of butt kicking workouts.

This week, Berhane is on vacation, and he told me that he wanted me to take this week off to allow my body to recover from the summer, and he guaranteed me that when I run this half marathon on Sunday, it will be one of my best runs ever. So, today when I left work, I went and laid around the pool instead of going to workout, and I can tell that my body is really appreciating this break.

 Now tomorrow, I will do my Tuesday night bike ride, and I will bike with my coworkers on Thursday, and run this half marathon Sunday. However, next week, I am going back to those butt whipping workouts that give me so much joy.

So, if you have been following my health journey, you know that this journey has not been easy, but it sure has been rewarding. We are so much stronger, in so many ways, than we may know.

I'm still on my journey, and I am feeling real good.

Join Me!!!!!!!!!

Oh, I am still reading The Count Of Monte Cristo. With my travels last week, I have not been able to read 100 pages a day, but sometimes, life happens.....

You still have time to get The Count of Monte Cristo and join me.

Thankful Thursday: Change

This is my last Thankful Thursday blog. While I have totally enjoyed Thankful Thursdays, school is starting back next week, and yes, I will still have time to workout, hangout, read, write, but I also must add reading and planning for school into my daily routine. So, I can not guarantee that I will be able to write and post a blog every Thursday. But, rest assured, throughout the school year, I will continue to blog, because I make sure that I do the things that I love to do often.

With the start of school approaching, I must say that I have enjoyed doing whatever I have wanted to do, whenever I have wanted to do it. But, I must also say that I am ready for the change that is coming my way. I look forward to being back on a routine, seeing coworkers, teaching children etc.

When school starts and ends, I always remind myself that the state that I am in will not last, and this helps me to keep my sanity. (I need change.) Next week, many of my coworkers will say that they were not ready for school to start back, but I go into summer savoring every moment, because I know that summer will not last always. (Hallelujah!)

I am so Thankful for Change!!!

I am happy that styles change, people change, seasons change, I am changing, because I think it would be almost unbearable if things stayed the same. Change is what keeps us on our toes.

Since I started teaching, there has been so many changes in the way that we teach children, and I am happy about it. Today, we spend much more time thinking and developing ways to reach all children, infusing technology into the classroom, mainstreaming and doing so much more innovative teaching until it is completely mind blowing. If I was still teaching the same way that I did fifteen years ago, I think that I just might go crazy doing the same thing, the same way, for fifteen years.

Knowing that everything changes, I have learned to really enjoy "the right now," because "right now" will not be around very long. I have enjoyed every MORNING bike ride, dentist appointment, workouts with the greatest trainer in the world, grocery store trips, writing, because I knew that this situation will only last for awhile..... and it's on to the next, and I always expect "next" to be even better than "now".

I know people who resist change, and they are fighting an uphill battle. Change is inevitable. But, not only is it inevitable, it is good. It's all in the way that you look at things.

Today, as I sit on my balcony, in the middle of the day, I am so Thankful for Change.

Next week, I can guarantee you that my life will look quite differently, but I am soooo ready.........A Change is Coming.........

Happy Thankful Thursday!!!

I will leave you with Sam Cooke singing "A Change is Gonna Come:" One of my all time favorite songs.....

Look at What I Got!

So, let me tell you what's been going on in my reading world!

Browsing through my Nook, I ran across The Count Of Monte Cristo. Almost all serious readers have read this book, and it is pretty much a stable in the literary world. Being that I am serious about literature, I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo. It's over 900 pages, and I have been plugging away, but I still got a ways to go......

It is captivating from the very first page, and if I can read at least 100 pages a day, starting today, I can get it finished before school starts back next week.

So, that's where I am, and why don't you get the Count of Monte Cristo and join me?

Ok, I got to go. I got to get 100 pages in and do all of the other things that I do in one day :)

Happy Reading People!!!!!!