The latest

I haven't posted much lately and I don't even have a good excuse. So here is what is new.

ME:
I have officially lost 35 pounds (or 1 toddler). I have been eating better, but not any crazy dieting and working out. I still workout with my trainer 1 day a week, take a fitness class with him 3 days a week, and add at least 1 other day of cardio on the weekend. I'm feeling better physically and working on mentally. Tonight Cole and I signed up for a "Reindeer Run" in a few weeks, 5K for me and 1K for him.

I only have 3 more days of "total teach" left. These last few weeks have been flying by at warp speed. It has been great. I had my last formal observation by my professor and will now just be wrapping things up. I'm really looking forward to next week. One of the perks of teaching is holidays off! I no longer will have to use vacation time and barter for time off around the holidays. I have Wed-Fri off next week. I can't wait to hang out with Cole, make pies, and shop. What do I miss about BAH? I miss having people know me and care about me and sharing stories and my life with them.

I've been gathering stuff to apply to the local districts. It's a part-time job just applying, but graduation is in December and then I'm a free agent!

COLE:
Fall baseball is officially over. It's a relief, Cole didn't enjoy it too much so therefore neither did I. It's tough on your heart to watch your child struggle to do something. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he still doesn't want to play in the spring.

He wants to try basketball. Everyone says at the YMCA it is a lot of fun and being a shrimpo doesn't matter. He is signed up for winter ball that starts in January.

He is still taking Karate at the gym. It has been 1 year now and he still loves it. This past Saturday he had testing for his next belt. The test lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes. I couldn't believe he could stay that focused for so long. Being quite was the worse thing for him, I think. Afterwards he talked 90 mph. He couldn't talk enough. He should get his new belt in the next few weeks.

He's also taking hip-hop classes now. Isn't that funny? He loves it. He has wanted to take them for awhile. I made him choose between this and the gymnastics class he was already in and he choose hip-hop (I was secretly relieve because being at the gymnastics gym with all the pushy, overeager moms that want to see their daughters be the next Olympians was driving me crazy).

School for Cole? Not so good. His teacher is very strict. She has even rubbed me the wrong way a few times and I am very understanding of teachers (for obvious reasons). He is learning to adjust his behavior to meet her expectations. She has a "zero tolerance" policy, so it has been a little rocky for him. He used to LOVE school, so it is sad to see him becoming frustrated so early on. He has lots of years left. He loves math and science but is struggling with reading and writing. Part of the issue with reading is that they don't get to choose what books they read for the most part, so usually he's bored to tears. As he improves though, hopefully he will get more free choice. He got a "needs improvement" on his handwriting on his report card. And while I'll admit it's not beautiful he already writes neater than three of the boys in my 3rd grade class. We are continuing to supplement at home, so hopefully things will get better for him.

So are you all caught up now?