Random Thoughts with Liz

It's time for another edition of Random Thoughts with Liz. This is one of those posts that doesn't particularly have any direction. It's just the random spewing of my mind onto the screen. Enjoy the goofiness that is my world!

*We have an annual "Leaf Party" that the kids moan & whine about (umm, I mean they look forward to it & cheer with great glee when we mention it! LOL!!!). It is the day that we all go out, as a family, and spend a few hours raking up the enormous amount of leaves our yard has accumulated over the Fall & early Winter. We live on a street with large mature trees, and lots of 'em, so our yard is very thick with leaves by the time Leaf Party day arrives. Tomorrow is the big day this year! A few days ago we mentioned it and our very witty 11 year old daughter said, "Well, I guess I need to go break my ankle so I can get out of this." and then she kept walking. She cracks me up! You just never know what's going to come out of her mouth.

*I am reminded every Sunday why we chose the church we attend. Savannah told me recently that she feels like she's learned more about the Bible in the past few years than she has learned in her whole life. Part of that, I'm sure, is just due to her age & her hunger for learning about life, about God, about everything. But I suspect it also has a lot to do with the people who teach our kids. They don't just teach to fill a slot on Sundays. They have a passion for the kids they work with & the Word. It's awe-inspiring just to listen to them talk in the parking lot, much less in the classroom. I'm so grateful for every one of them!

The worship service is awesome every week. The teaching is strong. The pastors are available & friendly & kind. I know that describes every really cool church in North America & if you've found that place too, high five! But if you're local & haven't found the right place, contact me! I'd love for you to visit our church. It really is a 2nd home for me!

*The lady who teaches in the classroom where I work has been out on medical leave. The school hired a long-term sub to fill her spot until she returns. As it turns out, that long-term sub is an old friend of the family. She went to the same church I did when I was a kid. She is closer to my mom's age than mine, but it has been such a great joy to work alongside her every day. She is on a trip right now, so we have another sub to fill her spot. A sub for the sub! ha ha!

Today, the sub asked me a question I've heard a lot over the years. I thought some of you might have wondered, too, so I'm going to answer it here.

She asked, "Why didn't you get your teacher's certificate? You are good at this!"

To be honest, when I went to college I wasn't planning to be a teacher. {That love didn't arise in my life for another decade!} When I was in college, I thought I wanted to own & run a day care center, so my focus was an Early Childhood degree. The school I attended didn't offer an Early Childhood degree program, though. I was told that it fell under the Homemaking Department, and that's what I should get a degree in. I had no desire for a Homemaking Degree, though. My faculty adviser didn't see things eye to eye with me, so I switched my major to "undecided" to get out from under her 'ruling'. She wasn't helpful at all & made me feel like dirt every time I talked with her. I figured that we would move elsewhere later on & I could switch colleges & finally get to work on my actual degree. I just took basics that semester, as I had the summer prior. After subbing at a day care in the town where I attended school, I talked myself out of wanting to own & run one. It was a pretty yucky center & they scared me out of wanting to do that for life! At the time, running a day care was the ONLY thing I had considered career-wise so when that didn't work out, I just quit college altogether. I had no idea what I was working toward & felt like I was wasting my time (and my parent's money.) I thought I would take a few semesters off, work & save up some money and then go back when I figured out what I wanted to do. That was at the end of the Fall '94 semester. I worked for all of '95 & most of '96 before having our first baby. And the rest is history. I never made it back to college & never finished.

Over the years, it has crossed my mind a time or two. Sort of like the way Larry has considered getting orthodontic work done when all of our kids are done with their braces. It sounds like something I might (or might not) do later on in life, but there is no particular plan or goal in mind for that just yet.

What I know is that IF I did, I would get my teaching degree. At this point in my life, we can't afford for me to quit working & go to school full time and I really don't want to do just 1 class per semester like some working adults because it would take me about 20 years to finish! ha ha! (Remember, I only have about 16 hrs of college at this point, so it would take a lonnnngggg time!!) So we'll see what happens in the future. I suspect this falls into the same category as so many other things. You know, the "what I'll do when I'm rich" category. ha ha!

So there ya go. That's why I never finished school & probably never will. But if you would like to hire me & pay me piles of cash to teach your preschool program, I'm your girl. 'Til then, I'll stick with what I've got. I like it too & the hours & benefits are great!

*I never, ever dreamed that I would enjoying the rush of a good workout. I mean, let's be clear on some things.

I don't like getting hot. I don't like to sweat. I am a big girl so there are no "cute" workout clothes available for me. (I wear cut-off sweat pants & a big Bass Pro Shoppe Tshirt of Larry's when I go to the YMCA.) I don't run. There is too much of me that bounces & jiggles to run. I didn't do athletics & basketball & track & volleyball in junior high & high school & never understood the girls who were into that. It just seemed a little crazy to me to WANT to go run in circles around a gravel track when you could be indoors in the air conditioned rooms talking to friends or reading a book. I've never enjoyed sports (other than watching the ones my kids play!) I usually have no idea what's going on & who's winning at the high school football games we faithfully attend every Friday night in the Fall (to hear our daughter play in the band). And I am also about the least competitive person IN THE WORLD. So, me? Enjoying exercise? That's laughable.

But somehow, even with all that in mind, I am enjoying the rush AFTER I work out these days. Today I did 35 minutes on a bike. I rode 7.9 miles (but shhh...I'm calling that 8 miles to anyone who wasn't there & didn't see the picture I posted on facebook!) I really wanted to quit at the 10 minute mark, but I didn't. I pushed through & made it to the 28 minute mark before losing my steam again. At that point, I added another few minutes to the timer & closed my magazine I was reading & really focused on pedaling hard & fast. And I did it! I had cheerleaders texting me some motivation (I asked for it on facebook---gotta love being able to text in a status update requesting as much). When I'm done I am always glad I did it. And so I plug along.

The scale's at a stand-still again. But I haven't been eating enough fruit & veggies and haven't been drinking enough water lately. I'm positive that's why the scale's sitting still. At least I'm not gaining, right?

Last week I realized that a shirt I put on fit GREATLY different than it had when I bought it a couple years ago. Either I've lost inches or my taste in how clothes fit has changed drastically....and I don't think that's it. Little victories!

*I'll leave you with one last little tidbit. Warning: it's gross.

It's official. I am disgusting. Today before work, I was hunting for a hand towel to wipe my mouth after brushing my teeth. I saw a pile of Larry's clothes (taken off before the shower & tossed in the floor.... that's where they go right?) next to the cabinet & reached down to grab the hand towel from the pile. I wiped my mouth before realizing that it wasn't a towel. I will leave it to your imagination which article of his dirty clothing it was. :::shudder::: Don't worry. I promptly washed my lips with bleach.


So....what have you been up to?