I had a fantastic time with my mom yesterday, one that brought up a lot of memories for her and a lot of new ones for me.
It has been a little over five years since I began the quest to gather all of the documents I would need to official become a dual citizen in Italy. I have had mixed results over the years and honestly, haven't gotten very far. To apply for citizenship I essentially need every document that connects me to my great-grandfather who came here from Italy just after the turn of the 20th Century. I've learned a lot along the way about my ancestors. I have had varied emotions about my pursuit and wondered often if this would have been something he wanted his descendants to do some day down the road.
I came through these thoughts coming to the conclusion two years ago that YES, he would appreciate my efforts to regain the attachment to his homeland. The main persuasion came in the mail, via a copy of his naturalization record. He showed that he was naturalized just months after the birth of my grandfather, his youngest child. I think deep down he knew that he wanted to have all of his children, American born, before he himself became a citizen. Whether or not he knew that waiting until after they were all born would mean I had full access to obtaining citizenship is up for debate. (If he had been naturalized prior to my grandfather's birth, I couldn't gain citizenship). I think he waited on purpose. To think he had signed up for the US Military during WWI and waited all that time to officially gain American citizenship is amazing.
I found a great blog recently that expresses how these questions can be difficult for descendants. The woman who wrote this post lays it all out in the second half of this website.
My own grandfather died when I was in junior high school. I can remember him speaking a word of Italian now and then. He would raise his hands after he was done eating to signal he was finished. I always wondered if that was an Italian thing or just his thing. I didn't know many of my Italian relatives. I have met a few since I was a kid and it seems they are scattered around the country. I do know a lot of my Grandma's relatives (not Italians), since they were always living near each other in Florida or close by my immediate family in Illinois. But the Italian side was a pretty big mystery.
I've since learned that my Mom spend Sundays with her Italian relatives. She has told stories about the black pepper tortellini (or was it a ravioli?) that one lucky person would get on their plate. I've seen pictures of their gatherings. They all look happy. I think all of the pictures of my mom with her family on both sides always looked like a big group of happy people.
That is why yesterday was so special. We spent an hour or so before lunch calling to get marriage and birth certificates. We pinned down places where we might get an official naturalization record. I'm tasked with writing a church to get some sort of birth notice for my great-grandmother. We then went to lunch at a new spot (Tom & Eddies) and enjoyed conversation and specialty Cokes from the fancy coke machine (yes I had cherry sprite zero!).
We then drove to a nearby cemetery to visit the graves of my great-aunt and great-uncle who passed away in recent years. She had not visited their graves yet. At least, I thought that is what we were doing. Turns out, my great-grandfather who came here from Italy and great-grandmother are also buried in the same cemetery. Somehow I had missed that tidbit when we planned out the day a few weeks ago!
In the cemetery, once we headed towards my great-grandparents' grave, my mom started remembering details on where it was located. She came a lot as a child with my grandpa. She remembered the corner, the shrubs, the tree and a well where she could get water to water plants that were left there. I was impressed as it all flooded back. We stood at their grave and she introduced me to them (it was beyond touching - if cemeteries didn't creep me out so much I'd have cried!). I said a silent thank-you and hello.
We noticed some new things. My great-grandmother's middle initial is L. My great-grandfather's birth year is listed as 1892. Everything I have says 1893. (I've suspected he lied about his age when he arrived at immigration for some time now. He was 15 and 1 month from turning 16 so much have had some reason to claim he was 16 upon arrival). I expect there was some sort of child law that prevented those under 16 from traveling alone. Two of his older brothers had come over years earlier. You can read more about the immigration experience at Ellis Island here.
I still have a long way to go before I accomplish my goal of dual citizen. I need my great-grandfather's birth certificate, which seems to be non-existent in the place where his brothers' birth records are kept. I did attempt to research when I was in Italy three years ago but the records office was on strike. Poor timing!
I also need apostille on each document and translations into Italian for all records that are not from Italy - which is most of them. It will probably be another five years before my quest is complete, but it is so worth it!
So why the desire for citizenship? One, because it is possible and it is my heritage. I want to preserve it. I am the furthest generation allowed to earn it. If I don't do it, my descendants will never have the chance and may lose the connection to Italy which I think is so special. Secondly, having an EU passport makes travel in Europe much simpler. Have you ever been in a line waiting to get through Immigration at a major Euro airport? The EU lines entering the country are so short!
I'll update on this project as I progress. It may be few and far between though. We shall see!
KB
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Travel Bingo
This post has been in the works for years, and I'm finally getting around to writing it. It makes sense, really. Last weekend I made one of my final trips between Champaign and Chicagoland - twice. I came up to Chicago to see Sister Hazel, my favorite live band on Saturday night and then moved in Monday. With that much driving through almost nothing but farmland and an occasional town or wind turbine, you need something to keep yourself occupied. The radio doesn't always cut it. I've listened to Italian language programs, audiobooks and news radio. You need something to look for. A game of sorts. It helps on long drives.
As a kid, we had little red plastic boards that had pull tabs, almost like a bingo board with different objects under the tabs. As you saw them on your roadtrip, you pulled the tab across. They looked something like these:
We had a roadtrip every year growing up. We travelled with three other families (the fathers had all been college roomates) who by the time I was a teen lived across the USA. Each year one family picked the destination. We did everything from Colorado, Virginia, Tennessee & New York. We did family trips, too, to see my grandparents and family in Florida and Virginia. In addition to the bingo games we did license plate searches, seeing who could get the most on a trip or even which color car we saw the most.
Weirdly, the license plate thing stuck with me even into adulthood. I tended to keep my eyes peeled for plates on my walk to work when I lived in the city. On an average day I saw six state plates. If I didn't see six on my way in I superstitiously believed it would be a rough day. I don't know if that was ever true, although I had my share of difficult days! There weren't many days I saw less than six. (You can see my previous post about this obsession here).
Moving on to my last four years living in Central Illinois, I needed a new thing to occupy my two and a half hour drive north (for the record, my best time was exactly two hours door to door). What I discovered was that early on in those first few drives the same trucks tended to pop up in my view. The one I recognized most often was the Sherwin Williams paint truck. It has a vibrant red and blue coloring on the back and sides and is hard to miss. Only once, in my many drives north and south did I not see one of these trucks. And last weekend I even saw one being hauled by a yellow cab, adding to the color mix. Here is a picture of one I took earlier this year:
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In fact, on that Saturday drive before I moved, I saw a record 11 Sherwin Williams trucks going north and seven coming back. I'd never seen that many. Apparently they are really on the move during the weekends!
So there you go. I'll probably come up with something new as I drive north to school and back each day. It will probably be license plates for a while. (I have just three left to find this year - Alaska, Delaware and Rhode Island - two of which I hope to see when I head to New York sometime later this year. And yes, I did see Hawaii. It was just north of Rantoul on I-57 about two months ago!)
What do you do to occupy yourself on your travels? I'd love to know. Leave a comment and share your travel tales!
KB
As a kid, we had little red plastic boards that had pull tabs, almost like a bingo board with different objects under the tabs. As you saw them on your roadtrip, you pulled the tab across. They looked something like these:
Weirdly, the license plate thing stuck with me even into adulthood. I tended to keep my eyes peeled for plates on my walk to work when I lived in the city. On an average day I saw six state plates. If I didn't see six on my way in I superstitiously believed it would be a rough day. I don't know if that was ever true, although I had my share of difficult days! There weren't many days I saw less than six. (You can see my previous post about this obsession here).
Moving on to my last four years living in Central Illinois, I needed a new thing to occupy my two and a half hour drive north (for the record, my best time was exactly two hours door to door). What I discovered was that early on in those first few drives the same trucks tended to pop up in my view. The one I recognized most often was the Sherwin Williams paint truck. It has a vibrant red and blue coloring on the back and sides and is hard to miss. Only once, in my many drives north and south did I not see one of these trucks. And last weekend I even saw one being hauled by a yellow cab, adding to the color mix. Here is a picture of one I took earlier this year:
.JPG)
In fact, on that Saturday drive before I moved, I saw a record 11 Sherwin Williams trucks going north and seven coming back. I'd never seen that many. Apparently they are really on the move during the weekends!
So there you go. I'll probably come up with something new as I drive north to school and back each day. It will probably be license plates for a while. (I have just three left to find this year - Alaska, Delaware and Rhode Island - two of which I hope to see when I head to New York sometime later this year. And yes, I did see Hawaii. It was just north of Rantoul on I-57 about two months ago!)
What do you do to occupy yourself on your travels? I'd love to know. Leave a comment and share your travel tales!
KB
Monday, April 29, 2013
Hello everyone! It's almost MAY!
As usual, I have just wrapped up a busy April with the Illinois Marathon races, PSAE testing week, Prom and a few other big things that I'll share in this space eventually.
Another post is coming soon once I have time later this week and have had a chance to upload race day photos.
(I've got some funny and fun race stories to share! For example, have you ever been passed by the lead runner in a marathon....twice...while running a shorter race? Yep, that happened while running the 10k on Saturday!)
In the meantime, I need to get some sleep. The dog has already beat me to it!
Buona Notte!
KB
As usual, I have just wrapped up a busy April with the Illinois Marathon races, PSAE testing week, Prom and a few other big things that I'll share in this space eventually.
Another post is coming soon once I have time later this week and have had a chance to upload race day photos.
(I've got some funny and fun race stories to share! For example, have you ever been passed by the lead runner in a marathon....twice...while running a shorter race? Yep, that happened while running the 10k on Saturday!)
In the meantime, I need to get some sleep. The dog has already beat me to it!
Buona Notte!
KB
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
A Trace of Childhood
I'm sharing something a bit different on this week's blog.
If you knew me as a kid, you may know we did a lot of family trips each year. Most of those trips were done by car and as a family, my parents, sister and I saw a lot of the Eastern U.S.A. on these vacations (Every state east of the Mississippi except Maine, oddly enough). Back in the day, there were card games, board games and other things that kept us occupied on such long drives. For example, do you recall the "coloring books" with the magic pens that somehow knew which color to create depending on where on the page it would touch? Between the hours of car games and the mega-hits of the 80's that played on the radio (can you say "We Are the World"?) as we traveled across the country, those trips were always fun. Well, except perhaps the time we drove back from Washington, D.C. when the timing belt on our car went kaput in Clyde, Ohio!
At any rate, one of my favorite memories in these car rides was counting license plates on the cars that went by. There used to be little boards that were red with little sliding panels that you could use to mark off the states or scenes you passed by (silos, cows, barns, water towers, horses, etc.). To this day, I still count state plates. When I lived in Chicago and walked to work, I averaged 5 state plates per morning on my walk. I held to the superstition that if I didn't see 5 plates it was going to be tough day. More than 5, and things were going to be great! It is nonsense, but it made the day interesting.
Enter the era of phone apps and now I can use my phone to track which states I see. From Thanksgiving, November of 2011 through the end of 2012, I counted 45 plates. The ones I had not found included Vermont, Nevada, D.C. (it counts), Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. Not bad for someone who basically stayed in Illinois the entire year!
I have since restarted the clock and in the last 5 days alone, these are the plates I have seen:
Did you notice that all three of these are plates are ones that I never once saw last year?
I see a lot of cars from Texas and Iowa for some reason. There are the typical nearby states such as Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. On my drives back and forth to Chicago I see a lot of trucks from Maine, Oklahoma and Minnesota. Those are all fairly typical. I also managed to see quite a few plates from Canada, such as Quebec and Ontario, even one from Saskatchewan. Too bad those don't show up on plate apps.
With the way this year is going, perhaps I may even catch Hawaii and Alaska!
I'll keep you posted!
KB
If you knew me as a kid, you may know we did a lot of family trips each year. Most of those trips were done by car and as a family, my parents, sister and I saw a lot of the Eastern U.S.A. on these vacations (Every state east of the Mississippi except Maine, oddly enough). Back in the day, there were card games, board games and other things that kept us occupied on such long drives. For example, do you recall the "coloring books" with the magic pens that somehow knew which color to create depending on where on the page it would touch? Between the hours of car games and the mega-hits of the 80's that played on the radio (can you say "We Are the World"?) as we traveled across the country, those trips were always fun. Well, except perhaps the time we drove back from Washington, D.C. when the timing belt on our car went kaput in Clyde, Ohio!
At any rate, one of my favorite memories in these car rides was counting license plates on the cars that went by. There used to be little boards that were red with little sliding panels that you could use to mark off the states or scenes you passed by (silos, cows, barns, water towers, horses, etc.). To this day, I still count state plates. When I lived in Chicago and walked to work, I averaged 5 state plates per morning on my walk. I held to the superstition that if I didn't see 5 plates it was going to be tough day. More than 5, and things were going to be great! It is nonsense, but it made the day interesting.
Enter the era of phone apps and now I can use my phone to track which states I see. From Thanksgiving, November of 2011 through the end of 2012, I counted 45 plates. The ones I had not found included Vermont, Nevada, D.C. (it counts), Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. Not bad for someone who basically stayed in Illinois the entire year!
I have since restarted the clock and in the last 5 days alone, these are the plates I have seen:
Did you notice that all three of these are plates are ones that I never once saw last year?
I see a lot of cars from Texas and Iowa for some reason. There are the typical nearby states such as Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. On my drives back and forth to Chicago I see a lot of trucks from Maine, Oklahoma and Minnesota. Those are all fairly typical. I also managed to see quite a few plates from Canada, such as Quebec and Ontario, even one from Saskatchewan. Too bad those don't show up on plate apps.
With the way this year is going, perhaps I may even catch Hawaii and Alaska!
I'll keep you posted!
KB
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Welcome to Teaching 2013-Style
Knock! Knock! Knock! Anyone still here? A little dusty in this space. Time to spruce it up!
Okay, I know I've been really tardy on writing blogs the last 18 months or so. Only one blog in 2012. Really? Yes, really. It was a great year, but I'm hoping to make this space a bit of a re-awakening of sorts.
(side note: I'm wondering where the phrase 'spruce it up' came from)
(side note #2: The Baltimore/Denver playoff game is on an it is GOOD! This may take longer to write than normal!)
Anyway, I need to get back to writing here because this has been one heck of a week back to start the second semester of School.
I kicked off the school year last Friday, going in for a few hours despite a throbbing headache I assumed was a cold. When my head pounds, it is usually due to changes in the weather, but this one was a bad. At any rate, going in before the semester starts is more of a peace of mind activity. I had everything prepared for the first day of classes and my room was clean and organized. I didn't really have to do anything. I just needed to make sure. One of my life mottoes is be prepared. I knew I was but another motto is: double check. So that's what I did last Friday.
My classes are smaller this semester, which I love but wouldn't mind having a few more students, especially in my keyboarding class, my first class of the day this semester.
As a recap, the day begins at 8. I aim to be there before 7:30 (again, remember my two mottoes). I head up the stairs to the 3rd floor and dump my belongings in the office. That Monday, I didn't go back to the opposite side of the building on the 2nd floor to my classroom, but just straight down the hall to the business computer lab to mark my seating chart. I encountered my first (but manageable) problem upon entering the lab - our grade database was not working. I had no access to my student roster! No problem, as I had seen the list previously. As the kids walked in around 7:55 I realized I have a GOOD group of kids. I can see one is going to be pretty talkative (freshman) and the rest, although mostly underclassmen, were kids who already seemed to be on task. One of my favorite kids from my law class last semester was in my keyboarding class and she was super excited to begin. I love enthusiasm. Class was interrupted a few times by one of our assistant principals who had to quickly reschedule our hall duty assignments for the following period (every teacher has either hall duty or is on a Team who meets twice a week). No problem.
Second hour was my hall duty, now located at the bottom of the main stairwell, tucked in a bit of a corner. Last semester I had hall duty during 1st period and was in a more trafficked area, meaning I had to write a LOT of tardy passes.
Third hour is my Coop 1 class, a bit larger than last semester and 4th hour is my Coop 2 course, my seniors, about the same size it had been.
In all 3 classes we went through the syllabus and then I did an personality/learning styles assessment that is called True Colors. It is pretty accurate and I think all of my students enjoyed it. I learned a lot about them, seeing who needs more structure and less structure. (Next week I am rearranging my seating chart by their colors to see if that makes a difference in their talkativeness, especially in my Coop 2 group).
The rest of the week went along pretty well. No major issues with any students, except for the four who had no job (a requirement before school began!!!). One student had quit her job, another hadn't had one in a few months since they'd been fired a few months earlier and another one had a job but it turned out to be a seasonal job so she needed a new place. Two other students came in on Monday saying they needed a job but both found employment quickly, with my help.
Luckily, I have some amazing employers in the area who want to work with high schoolers. The manager of the Culvers in South Champaign gets an especially big nod, as I've never seen an employer who wants their employees to be as well-rounded or as open with him about their lives as he does. They go so far as to call him Dad sometimes. Amazing guy. Jimmy Johns (headquartered in town) also hires many students and I had a new student join my program on Wednesday. We meet later that afternoon and together we called Jimmy Johns and asked if they were hiring. We got him an interview at 4pm and he was hired on the spot. Seems like a great kid and I can't wait to see how he flourishes.
At any rate, Friday came, and although I'd had lessons planned for the week, they needed to be adjusted based on what feedback I was getting from the kids. In every class I adjusted my plans (hooray, good teacher qualities!!!). The first week back is always tough, as both teachers and the students are getting used to being in the routine again. Still not feeling well (or sleeping well) I was giving my all during the day and crashing on the couch in front of the tv every night. I had by Thursday recognized that I didn't have a cold and was instead a strange sinus infection. My doc is out of town so I was told to go to Convenient Care. Thank goodness I keep an antibiotic pill or two (or three) each time I get a prescription. I am not going to Convenient Care and being around people who are there with the flu (an epidemic at the moment).
I digress....
Friday was Pay Day lunch in the teacher lounge followed by time for me to run around working on two separate projects. The first was getting notices out to the 70-odd seniors who want to attend the senior trip in March and the other was to talk to the counselors about those two students who were still jobless. I got the first project done during 6th hour. 7th hour, on my way to the counselors office, I saw one of my favorite Coop students crying in the hallway. She hadn't been herself during class, keeping her head down on the desk and mumbling inaudibly so I had sent her to her dean. (Turns out that was good because she was sent to the Study Hall room where the auto teacher was presiding that hour and she could talk about her ailing car with him). Aaaaannnnnyway, I saw this particular student in the hall just before the 7th hour bell rang and she came up to me asking if she could talk. Her eyes were so red it looked like she had pink-eye. She was crying once I said yes. We found a quite spot in the teacher copy room which was vacant for the moment. She then laid out the difficulties she had faced over the two weeks of break. Now, this kid works two jobs, 30+ hours a week and goes to school. She is sweet as could be and I know her home-life was a little tough, but it had gone down hill. As she sobbed and told her story, I tried to just listen and give advice where I could. I was feeling a bit guilty for not sending her to history but this was partly about Coop so I let her talk...for 35 minutes. Hopefully I was enough of a sage to make her feel better over the weekend. I am hoping that Monday finds this kid smiling again. She reminds me of myself in several ways. Big heart, positive and determined to do her best. She helps everyone she can, often overlooking herself, a lesson I had learned into my late 20's. I walked her back to class, a bit more at ease than before and then headed to the counseling office. I saw the social worker and gave her a heads up as I waited for the counselors to open their doors from various meetings with students who were making last minute schedule changes.
By the end of the day, I had gotten both of those jobless students to meet with their counselors. Both were heading to open interviews at Taco Bell and had done or were about to do a few online applications. One was hopefully going to hear from my guy at Culvers this weekend about being hired.
I'm resting this weekend (obviously watching more tv). I really have a good feeling about this semester. There are a lot of other things in the works, which I'll keep secret for now. More about those as they develop!
Have a great weekend folks. And thanks for coming back to read my teaching-life journey!
KB
Okay, I know I've been really tardy on writing blogs the last 18 months or so. Only one blog in 2012. Really? Yes, really. It was a great year, but I'm hoping to make this space a bit of a re-awakening of sorts.
(side note: I'm wondering where the phrase 'spruce it up' came from)
(side note #2: The Baltimore/Denver playoff game is on an it is GOOD! This may take longer to write than normal!)
Anyway, I need to get back to writing here because this has been one heck of a week back to start the second semester of School.
I kicked off the school year last Friday, going in for a few hours despite a throbbing headache I assumed was a cold. When my head pounds, it is usually due to changes in the weather, but this one was a bad. At any rate, going in before the semester starts is more of a peace of mind activity. I had everything prepared for the first day of classes and my room was clean and organized. I didn't really have to do anything. I just needed to make sure. One of my life mottoes is be prepared. I knew I was but another motto is: double check. So that's what I did last Friday.
My classes are smaller this semester, which I love but wouldn't mind having a few more students, especially in my keyboarding class, my first class of the day this semester.
As a recap, the day begins at 8. I aim to be there before 7:30 (again, remember my two mottoes). I head up the stairs to the 3rd floor and dump my belongings in the office. That Monday, I didn't go back to the opposite side of the building on the 2nd floor to my classroom, but just straight down the hall to the business computer lab to mark my seating chart. I encountered my first (but manageable) problem upon entering the lab - our grade database was not working. I had no access to my student roster! No problem, as I had seen the list previously. As the kids walked in around 7:55 I realized I have a GOOD group of kids. I can see one is going to be pretty talkative (freshman) and the rest, although mostly underclassmen, were kids who already seemed to be on task. One of my favorite kids from my law class last semester was in my keyboarding class and she was super excited to begin. I love enthusiasm. Class was interrupted a few times by one of our assistant principals who had to quickly reschedule our hall duty assignments for the following period (every teacher has either hall duty or is on a Team who meets twice a week). No problem.
Second hour was my hall duty, now located at the bottom of the main stairwell, tucked in a bit of a corner. Last semester I had hall duty during 1st period and was in a more trafficked area, meaning I had to write a LOT of tardy passes.
Third hour is my Coop 1 class, a bit larger than last semester and 4th hour is my Coop 2 course, my seniors, about the same size it had been.
In all 3 classes we went through the syllabus and then I did an personality/learning styles assessment that is called True Colors. It is pretty accurate and I think all of my students enjoyed it. I learned a lot about them, seeing who needs more structure and less structure. (Next week I am rearranging my seating chart by their colors to see if that makes a difference in their talkativeness, especially in my Coop 2 group).
The rest of the week went along pretty well. No major issues with any students, except for the four who had no job (a requirement before school began!!!). One student had quit her job, another hadn't had one in a few months since they'd been fired a few months earlier and another one had a job but it turned out to be a seasonal job so she needed a new place. Two other students came in on Monday saying they needed a job but both found employment quickly, with my help.
Luckily, I have some amazing employers in the area who want to work with high schoolers. The manager of the Culvers in South Champaign gets an especially big nod, as I've never seen an employer who wants their employees to be as well-rounded or as open with him about their lives as he does. They go so far as to call him Dad sometimes. Amazing guy. Jimmy Johns (headquartered in town) also hires many students and I had a new student join my program on Wednesday. We meet later that afternoon and together we called Jimmy Johns and asked if they were hiring. We got him an interview at 4pm and he was hired on the spot. Seems like a great kid and I can't wait to see how he flourishes.
At any rate, Friday came, and although I'd had lessons planned for the week, they needed to be adjusted based on what feedback I was getting from the kids. In every class I adjusted my plans (hooray, good teacher qualities!!!). The first week back is always tough, as both teachers and the students are getting used to being in the routine again. Still not feeling well (or sleeping well) I was giving my all during the day and crashing on the couch in front of the tv every night. I had by Thursday recognized that I didn't have a cold and was instead a strange sinus infection. My doc is out of town so I was told to go to Convenient Care. Thank goodness I keep an antibiotic pill or two (or three) each time I get a prescription. I am not going to Convenient Care and being around people who are there with the flu (an epidemic at the moment).
I digress....
Friday was Pay Day lunch in the teacher lounge followed by time for me to run around working on two separate projects. The first was getting notices out to the 70-odd seniors who want to attend the senior trip in March and the other was to talk to the counselors about those two students who were still jobless. I got the first project done during 6th hour. 7th hour, on my way to the counselors office, I saw one of my favorite Coop students crying in the hallway. She hadn't been herself during class, keeping her head down on the desk and mumbling inaudibly so I had sent her to her dean. (Turns out that was good because she was sent to the Study Hall room where the auto teacher was presiding that hour and she could talk about her ailing car with him). Aaaaannnnnyway, I saw this particular student in the hall just before the 7th hour bell rang and she came up to me asking if she could talk. Her eyes were so red it looked like she had pink-eye. She was crying once I said yes. We found a quite spot in the teacher copy room which was vacant for the moment. She then laid out the difficulties she had faced over the two weeks of break. Now, this kid works two jobs, 30+ hours a week and goes to school. She is sweet as could be and I know her home-life was a little tough, but it had gone down hill. As she sobbed and told her story, I tried to just listen and give advice where I could. I was feeling a bit guilty for not sending her to history but this was partly about Coop so I let her talk...for 35 minutes. Hopefully I was enough of a sage to make her feel better over the weekend. I am hoping that Monday finds this kid smiling again. She reminds me of myself in several ways. Big heart, positive and determined to do her best. She helps everyone she can, often overlooking herself, a lesson I had learned into my late 20's. I walked her back to class, a bit more at ease than before and then headed to the counseling office. I saw the social worker and gave her a heads up as I waited for the counselors to open their doors from various meetings with students who were making last minute schedule changes.
By the end of the day, I had gotten both of those jobless students to meet with their counselors. Both were heading to open interviews at Taco Bell and had done or were about to do a few online applications. One was hopefully going to hear from my guy at Culvers this weekend about being hired.
I'm resting this weekend (obviously watching more tv). I really have a good feeling about this semester. There are a lot of other things in the works, which I'll keep secret for now. More about those as they develop!
Have a great weekend folks. And thanks for coming back to read my teaching-life journey!
KB
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The Skinny Rules - A Review
As many of you know, I've spent the last year and a half trying to lose weight. I've upped my workout 150% and been eating better than ever. Yet nothing has happened. And then spring came in late February with the worst allergy season on record in Illinois (so far, as it is still going and going and going...) and I couldn't cope with feeling miserable all the time so I started eating desserts. I still stuck to my rule that I could only eat homemade desserts. But what does that matter when you are starting to eat dessert after EVERY meal, even breakfast? That post-breakfast dessert began when I couldn't run my 10k at the end of April, having been to the urgent care facility two nights earlier and the duty of running Prom the same day.
Then, at the start of May, I saw a post on Twitter by Biggest Loser trainer, Bob Harper. He had a new book out called The Skinny Rules. I was curious.
I read the exerpt on Amazon which outlined the 20 rules he says will get you skinny. And I read anything else I could find on the internet to feed my curiosity that had exerpts. It was like a lightbulb went on. These rules made sense!
I had read books for a while about how to tame insulin resistance, something I had found out about 1.5 years ago. Most of what I read suggested less carbs and more protein. Some even said to match 1 gram of protein to every 2 grams of carbs you eat. That's great but when you aren't sure what gives you protein outside of meat and nuts and eggs - you get sick of feeling like a guy's guy eating meat every meal and little to no bread and a side of veg.
At the peak of frustration came this Tweet. 20 rules. I needed clearer rules. Of course! Here they are:
Easy
#1 - Drink a large glass of water before every meal
#2 - Don't drink your calories
#8 - Learn to read food labels
#10 - No more added sweeteners
#13 - Get rid of fast foods and fried foods
#14 - Eat a real breakfast
#15 - Make your own food and eat at least 10 meals at home per week
#16 - Banish high salt foods
#19 - Sleep right
#20 - Plan 1 splurge meal a week
Not bad right? Thats 10 rules I already stick to! (Well, except #20 but that's an easy fix)
Medium
#3 - Eat protein at every meal
#6 - Eat apples and berries every day
#9 - Stop guessing about portion size and get it right
#11- Get rid of white potatoes
#12 - Make 1 day a week meatless
#17 - Eat your vegetables
All of these are doable. In fact, two of them are to eat more of something PLUS I already was attempting the protein rule. I just didn't know what else was a high-protein food! Portion size - no problem, that's learning. No white potatoes? I rarely eat them anyway!
So that's 16 rules I can do. That leaves four. And these are the tough ones.
Hard
#4 - Slash your intake of refined flours and grains
#5 - Eat 30-50 grams of fiber per day
#7 - No carbs after lunch
#18 - Go to bed hungry
Ouch. Essentially he says no more eating refined-flour foods. No bagels. No bread unless it is specifically whole grain (Harder to find than you think. Whole wheat does not mean whole grain). Lots of fiber? Even on his "detox" plan this week I'm getting about 20g fiber. Still below his target. Perhaps that is good since fiber and I are not best friends! Then there is the two biggest - No carbs after lunch (I eat pasta nearly every night because it is cheap and versatile). And go to bed hungry.
Now, at first, I was nervous about the go to bed hungry idea. I never do that. I used to. I used to think, heck, I'll be hungry when I wake up so what's the use in eating one more thing now? Turns out I was right back then!
So I've started the "Detox" to get all of these cravings, habits and tastes that I'm used to to diminish. I've been out to eat 3 times this week since I started and while tempted by things, I wasn't overwhelmed. I looked over the tortilla chips last night and the hamburger bun. I ignored (without problem) the fries, cheese sticks, wings, chicken fingers and other fried items at our faculty party today. And at breakfast this morning I passed the delicious bagels, biscuits, pancakes and granola that cover the majority of the buffet and instead got sausage, egg whites, berries and apple slices.
I've purposely not worked out this week. I wanted to see if these changes really did help me feel better and lose weight. And I proud to say it is - 4 pounds in 5 days. It comes down to loading up calories on lean meats, egg whites, greek yogurt, veggies and fruit. It's not my ideal and it's not going to be how I eat forever. I want to eat in a way that still allows the real world to be there and function in it. I know I can follow the rules. I just need to get over the cravings.
I'm excited about this journey. I'm excited to see my body function properly for what may be the first time in my adult years. It may finally snap that frustration I've felt about feeling like an athlete inside, trying to workout like one (on a continuous work schedule) but not look like one.
Thanks Bob Harper! And thanks to you, friends and family, who've supported me along this crazy ride.
KB
Then, at the start of May, I saw a post on Twitter by Biggest Loser trainer, Bob Harper. He had a new book out called The Skinny Rules. I was curious.
I read the exerpt on Amazon which outlined the 20 rules he says will get you skinny. And I read anything else I could find on the internet to feed my curiosity that had exerpts. It was like a lightbulb went on. These rules made sense!
I had read books for a while about how to tame insulin resistance, something I had found out about 1.5 years ago. Most of what I read suggested less carbs and more protein. Some even said to match 1 gram of protein to every 2 grams of carbs you eat. That's great but when you aren't sure what gives you protein outside of meat and nuts and eggs - you get sick of feeling like a guy's guy eating meat every meal and little to no bread and a side of veg.
At the peak of frustration came this Tweet. 20 rules. I needed clearer rules. Of course! Here they are:
Easy
#1 - Drink a large glass of water before every meal#2 - Don't drink your calories
#8 - Learn to read food labels
#10 - No more added sweeteners
#13 - Get rid of fast foods and fried foods
#14 - Eat a real breakfast
#15 - Make your own food and eat at least 10 meals at home per week
#16 - Banish high salt foods
#19 - Sleep right
#20 - Plan 1 splurge meal a week
Not bad right? Thats 10 rules I already stick to! (Well, except #20 but that's an easy fix)
Medium
#3 - Eat protein at every meal
#6 - Eat apples and berries every day
#9 - Stop guessing about portion size and get it right
#11- Get rid of white potatoes
#12 - Make 1 day a week meatless
#17 - Eat your vegetables
All of these are doable. In fact, two of them are to eat more of something PLUS I already was attempting the protein rule. I just didn't know what else was a high-protein food! Portion size - no problem, that's learning. No white potatoes? I rarely eat them anyway!
So that's 16 rules I can do. That leaves four. And these are the tough ones.
Hard
#4 - Slash your intake of refined flours and grains
#5 - Eat 30-50 grams of fiber per day
#7 - No carbs after lunch
#18 - Go to bed hungry
Ouch. Essentially he says no more eating refined-flour foods. No bagels. No bread unless it is specifically whole grain (Harder to find than you think. Whole wheat does not mean whole grain). Lots of fiber? Even on his "detox" plan this week I'm getting about 20g fiber. Still below his target. Perhaps that is good since fiber and I are not best friends! Then there is the two biggest - No carbs after lunch (I eat pasta nearly every night because it is cheap and versatile). And go to bed hungry.
Now, at first, I was nervous about the go to bed hungry idea. I never do that. I used to. I used to think, heck, I'll be hungry when I wake up so what's the use in eating one more thing now? Turns out I was right back then!
So I've started the "Detox" to get all of these cravings, habits and tastes that I'm used to to diminish. I've been out to eat 3 times this week since I started and while tempted by things, I wasn't overwhelmed. I looked over the tortilla chips last night and the hamburger bun. I ignored (without problem) the fries, cheese sticks, wings, chicken fingers and other fried items at our faculty party today. And at breakfast this morning I passed the delicious bagels, biscuits, pancakes and granola that cover the majority of the buffet and instead got sausage, egg whites, berries and apple slices.
I've purposely not worked out this week. I wanted to see if these changes really did help me feel better and lose weight. And I proud to say it is - 4 pounds in 5 days. It comes down to loading up calories on lean meats, egg whites, greek yogurt, veggies and fruit. It's not my ideal and it's not going to be how I eat forever. I want to eat in a way that still allows the real world to be there and function in it. I know I can follow the rules. I just need to get over the cravings.
I'm excited about this journey. I'm excited to see my body function properly for what may be the first time in my adult years. It may finally snap that frustration I've felt about feeling like an athlete inside, trying to workout like one (on a continuous work schedule) but not look like one.
Thanks Bob Harper! And thanks to you, friends and family, who've supported me along this crazy ride.
KB
Friday, December 30, 2011
One Year Ago...
I know, I know, I know...where have you BEEN Kristen?
It's been a super busy semester. I recreated 2 of my classes and I've felt as close to a 1st year teacher as I want to get. There's been tons of puppy training and lots of workouts/training for myself in my continued effort to get fit. Kickboxing has been a GREAT workout for both body and mind as well as got me out of the house a bunch. A lot of my evenings have been spent doing these things in addition to visiting my students at work, many of whom work after 5pm which means a lot of nights gone on my own time. That's something I'm going to work on for next semester...
Anyway, A year ago today I was recovering from my 2nd sinus surgery. I can remember feeling really, really good about it as I sat on the couch with my mom watching TV that night. I knew it worked this time and had full confidence that I could finally pursue being healthy again. I was right! Not that it is easy to see progress from day 1, but I've come further in the last 365 days than I have in 4 years and I'm committed to continuing my quest!
I've also continued my passion to cook healthier, home-cooked meals for myself. The guy who got me cooking, Jamie Oliver, just released a new cookbook full of meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes. I made my 1st tonight ($30 and 50 minutes later) it wasn't exactly frugal for 1 person but it tasted delicious and I'll have leftovers for the next few days! (BTW it is tray baked chicken, crushed potatoes with rosemary and garlic and creamy spinach paired with a strawberry fizz with mint).
I'm hoping to step up my running this coming year too. After doing my 1st 10k race in the spring, my friend Sarah has convinced and inspired me to run a half marathon. I'm still searching for a destination but I did see one in California in October.... =) It doesn't hurt that Sean Astin has been writing about all of his half marathons this year and if he can do it, I can do it. That guy has inspired me a lot over the years (and is now following me on Twitter!).
Anyway, I am still prepping for next semester. Teaching keyboarding for the 1st time (I at least have the 1st week planned and the semester scaffolding in place) and I'm facing the challenge of teaching 2 separate classes in the same 50 minute period head-on (Still have planning to do on that).
On the family front, I had a great holiday season. I spent a lot of great days with my parents at the MSI and on walks and just enjoying their company. I saw my niece three days in a row. I saw my sister 3 days and my brother-in-law two days straight. I got to meet my brand new cousin, Ellen and her parents whom I haven't seen since Christmas season. Plus my cousin Lauren and my Aunt, both of whom I am so happy to see! Thank goodness the internet exists and I can keep up with these folks all year long.
Then there was the big birthday bash in Chicago. Friends from all over Chicagoland and Ohio came in and joined in a great evening of conversation, reunion, laughter and cheer. I think everyone walked out with more things than they walked in the door with, which just shows you the kind of folks I'm close with. Special food. Homemade beverages. Framed photos. Cards. So lucky.
We've got 366 days next year. Bonus! And with the mild winter we've had so far, there are only about 3 months of winter left which I won't complain about. We could have had a whole 5 months of cold like last year so raise a glass to that not happening!
2012 is going to be fantastic. Can you feel it? Let's wrap up 2011 for all the joys and hardships it brought us and the lessons we learned, taught and shared with each other and from each other. Toast the year that has passed and the year to come. May yours be joyful, happy and filled with memories to cherish! Happy New Year!
(FYI, How I Met Your Mother is on and I'm struck as I type this of Neil Patrick Harris aka Doogie Howser...you know...)
It's been a super busy semester. I recreated 2 of my classes and I've felt as close to a 1st year teacher as I want to get. There's been tons of puppy training and lots of workouts/training for myself in my continued effort to get fit. Kickboxing has been a GREAT workout for both body and mind as well as got me out of the house a bunch. A lot of my evenings have been spent doing these things in addition to visiting my students at work, many of whom work after 5pm which means a lot of nights gone on my own time. That's something I'm going to work on for next semester...
Anyway, A year ago today I was recovering from my 2nd sinus surgery. I can remember feeling really, really good about it as I sat on the couch with my mom watching TV that night. I knew it worked this time and had full confidence that I could finally pursue being healthy again. I was right! Not that it is easy to see progress from day 1, but I've come further in the last 365 days than I have in 4 years and I'm committed to continuing my quest!
I've also continued my passion to cook healthier, home-cooked meals for myself. The guy who got me cooking, Jamie Oliver, just released a new cookbook full of meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes. I made my 1st tonight ($30 and 50 minutes later) it wasn't exactly frugal for 1 person but it tasted delicious and I'll have leftovers for the next few days! (BTW it is tray baked chicken, crushed potatoes with rosemary and garlic and creamy spinach paired with a strawberry fizz with mint).
I'm hoping to step up my running this coming year too. After doing my 1st 10k race in the spring, my friend Sarah has convinced and inspired me to run a half marathon. I'm still searching for a destination but I did see one in California in October.... =) It doesn't hurt that Sean Astin has been writing about all of his half marathons this year and if he can do it, I can do it. That guy has inspired me a lot over the years (and is now following me on Twitter!).
Anyway, I am still prepping for next semester. Teaching keyboarding for the 1st time (I at least have the 1st week planned and the semester scaffolding in place) and I'm facing the challenge of teaching 2 separate classes in the same 50 minute period head-on (Still have planning to do on that).
On the family front, I had a great holiday season. I spent a lot of great days with my parents at the MSI and on walks and just enjoying their company. I saw my niece three days in a row. I saw my sister 3 days and my brother-in-law two days straight. I got to meet my brand new cousin, Ellen and her parents whom I haven't seen since Christmas season. Plus my cousin Lauren and my Aunt, both of whom I am so happy to see! Thank goodness the internet exists and I can keep up with these folks all year long.
Then there was the big birthday bash in Chicago. Friends from all over Chicagoland and Ohio came in and joined in a great evening of conversation, reunion, laughter and cheer. I think everyone walked out with more things than they walked in the door with, which just shows you the kind of folks I'm close with. Special food. Homemade beverages. Framed photos. Cards. So lucky.
We've got 366 days next year. Bonus! And with the mild winter we've had so far, there are only about 3 months of winter left which I won't complain about. We could have had a whole 5 months of cold like last year so raise a glass to that not happening!
2012 is going to be fantastic. Can you feel it? Let's wrap up 2011 for all the joys and hardships it brought us and the lessons we learned, taught and shared with each other and from each other. Toast the year that has passed and the year to come. May yours be joyful, happy and filled with memories to cherish! Happy New Year!
(FYI, How I Met Your Mother is on and I'm struck as I type this of Neil Patrick Harris aka Doogie Howser...you know...)
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