Gung Hay Fat Choy - Happy New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year that is! According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, it is 4706 this year. Totally blows the mind that Chinese civilization is over 4700 years old. I am a rabbit, so not my year yet. It is nice to be able to get a second chance at a new year. I am going to make my new resolutions again:

1. To lose weight.
2. To adopt a healthier lifestyle.
3. To not over extend myself at work.
4. To spend less.

I know talk is cheap, but I am really going to try harder. I am also inspired because I paid off another credit card debt - totally awesome. I didn't think I would be able to pull it off. Slowly, but surely I am taking control of my finances and managing a bit better.

My writing diet is really helping my inner soul, but I haven't seen the weight come off yet. I am trying to exercise more and will be checking out a local gym tomorrow. I had to give up yoga because my schedule just sucks and the traffic to get to the yoga spa sucks. I am trying to find a closer yoga class, but it is really super expensive at the one closest to me, so I am going to keep looking. I love yoga and recommend that everyone try Bikram Yoga (hot yoga). It is super hot, but it feels great! Yoga is good for calming the soul as well. Absolutely loved it! Just can't seem to make it work with the schedule. I hate the fact the studio is kind of small and when I get to class, there are no spaces left and I feel crunched in. So not the ideal workout space for me. I really want to take swimming lessons, but haven't been able to find a facility that offers reasonably priced and convenient schedules for lessons. I know I keep complaining and making excuses, so I am going to check out a local gym tomorrow - end of story. I have started roller skating, even though the weather hasn't been too cooperative lately. I want to skate some more, but the sidewalk and streets aren't ideal for skating. I am going to try skating at the park. Wish me luck, so I don't crash and break all my bones ;-)

My calorie counting has been going well though. I find that I am definitely more conscious of what I eat because I have to record it in my food log, so I feel guilty eating something I shouldn't. Although, yesterday I cheated alot ={ It was New Year's Eve dinner, an extremely important dinner, so I kind of went a little overboard, but I didn't really eat all day because I knew I was going to really eat at dinner. I clocked a total of 280 calories before I ate dinner, so I didn't do too bad overal. I made it a point to stay away from most of the carbs and limited myself to a scoop of fried rice. Oh, the temptation! The New Year is all about fresh starts, and I am going to take one!

I am going to turn in. It has been a long week. Enjoy your weekend! Happy New Year! May the New Year bring you Happiness, Health and Prosperity!

Time Flies!

I know I am a bad blogger. Friends and family have sent their love and support because of my blog, and I haven't blogged in over a week. Sorry about that. I have been super busy with work. The week I started my blog was Regents (NYS exams), and I was in charge of coordinating the schedule for the test, executing the schedule and grading the Global History exams, so I had to put in really long hours - 13 hour days to be exact, so my overtime is going to be monstrous. After the calm of the exams, I had to meet the Fund for Teachers deadline this past Thursday. Funds for Teachers provides grant me to teachers who are interested in doing some professional development of their own design, so I submitted a proposal to do a study tour of the Silk Road this summer. The proposal took me forever, not to mention I had social engagements with my friends this week, so that cut into my proposal time. Cross your fingers, I really hope I get funding for my proposal :P

My friends, my sister and I went to see Young Frankenstein on Broadway this week. I bought the tickets as a Christmas present for them and we went together. It was really alot of fun! Cris, Vanessa and I went for dinner at Churrascuria Plataforma, a Brazilian Rodizio. It was too much food, but we had fun! Cris was really sweet and paid for dinner, and then off to the show. I am not really a big Mel Brooks fan, nor have I ever seen the movie, but it was cute. I liked it better than The Producers and Spamalot. The actor who played Young Frankenstein was the guy who played George the pharmacist on Desperate Houswives. Megan Mulhally was also in it - she was so funny! All in all it was a fun evening for everyone!

I am excited about this week because this will be my first attempt at teaching a drama class. Me teaching drama, who would have thought =P It is going to be so much fun, I hope so anyway. I signed up to bring the Stage Doors program into my school. Stage Doors provides free Broadway theatre tickets to our students and sends in a teaching artist to teach some of the drama classes. I am really excited because it is the 11th and 12th graders, and the program will go better because they are more proficient with their English speaking skills and they are excited about having a drama class. Half the battle is engaging the kids, so it is great that they are so excited about the class! We will be seeing "Passing Strange" this term - all about sex, drugs and rock-n-roll, what more could a teenager want! This program was a huge success the first term, with the "Color Purple," so hopefullly, our second term will be a bigger success. Our teaching artist, JoAnna is great with the kids and she is coming back to work with us too, so it is going to be really fun!

As a prep for teaching my drama class this term, Stage Doors required that we see the movie "The Great Debaters." OMG, what an awesome movie! If you haven't seen the movie yet, get off your butt and go see it. The movie is produced by Oprah and stars Oscar winners Denzel Washington (so sweet on the eyes) and Forest Whitaker. It is so good! I won't give you too much information, but it is about a debate team at a small Black, Texas college in the 1930s. The team goes through many trials and tribulations to become a winning debate team, and be able to compete against some white colleges, the finale being Harvard. The movie is so inspirational and moving, everyone should definitely go see it! If it is still playing, I will be taking me drama class to see it. It has so many great life lessons to share with everyone. My new motto for my classroom comes from this movie - "Do what you have to do, so you can do what you want to do." I had my students reflect on that quote as an assignment, and it went over really well, so hopefully, it will motivate them to finish the year strong.

Shout out to Gayle for being so supportive of me! Love you, Gayle! Thank you so much for your support!

Enjoy!