Reflection

Man, the weeks are flying by. It didn't help that last weekend was a holiday weekend for Hawaii (King Kamehameha Day) and so this was only a 4 day work week. It seems like yesterday I posted what this week's resolution was going to be and now I already have to figure out a new one?!?!

A lot has been going on and my postings have been short and not too detailed. I've been busy and last weekend really wore me out. I spent Saturday watching the first two seasons of Weeds. Not an amazing show, but I have seen it on Netflix a lot and decided to see what it was like. Then, they hook you with what crazy thing may happen next and two seasons later I finally got off the couch. I have been sticking to the workout though and took a break to do that.

Sunday was spent at the roomie's soccer game and then we went to Ewa Beach Park (Pronounced Eva as in for-eva lol). She had never been to Ewa Beach (the actual beach part) and so we went. In the 15 min we decided to sit and eat lunch before changing and putting on more sunscreen we both fried. It didn't show up until we were home though and yesterday I started peeling. No amount of aloe and lotions could stop it this time. I did take a "before" picture though! Even if it is still almost halfway (next week!) through the year. This is kind of an Insanity before photo.

6-10-12 Not fat, but needs some toning...

Ewa Beach looking towards Honolulu. Diamond head near the right side on the horizon.

Ewa Beach looking to Waianae direction

A view near the beginning of the hike. that is a storage shed. Lots of plants...

Monday being a holiday the roomie and I got with our other old roomie and did a hike. It was a short, tourist kind of hike to Manoa Falls. Of all the water falls on the island that I have seen, this one is the least interesting.

Left is a picture of one of 2 or 3 big Ficus trees that are on a little side trail surrounded by a bamboo forest. The picture is maybe a third of what I could see of the tree from the angle I was at. It is crazy to think that these are the cute little office trees that are so popular (and I kill all the time...).

P.S. If anyone knows where I can get panoramic prints for an ok price, let me know!

This week was spent with more teaching of course and I am loving it! Today I was really proud of myself too. I have a student who is epileptic. Because of this he has what I would call a processing delay. He is smart, but it takes time for him to connect things to previous knowledge, to recall information, and to verbalize what he is thinking. Most days I can tell he gives up and kind of shuts his brain off. Yesterday and today though I have been able to get him in on conversations and giving me answers with reasons to back them up based upon what we have done.

I also learned in the morning by watching the other aide that I have somehow gained all the patience my oldest sister has lost with kids. One kid drives everyone up the wall; teachers, aides, the other students, everyone! Apparently he is way better than in years past and that has to be saying a lot because he isn't that behaved this year. The other aide, a recent high school grad, gets so frustrated with him and demands instructions of him as I would have a few years ago. Instead, the one day he was really driving us nuts, I sat back and observed for a little bit. I realized something was bothering him and had been since he arrived that morning. After she got on to him about something he got more upset and within a few minutes kicked a chair so another student couldn't use it as a foot rest.

It's true that we told them not to use the chairs as foot rests, but the manner he went about it was not acceptable for me. One thing to be in a mood, another to take it out like that. So, I pulled him outside and asked what was wrong and what was going on. He said he was fine and was trying to let the other kid know not to put his feet on the chair. We talked about how kicking the chair is not an appropriate way to go about this. Something was still on his mind so I figured I'd either get him to talk about it or distract him from it. After talking to him about whatever came up from a few simple questions he was distracted and back to his usual talkative self. Just before sending him back in the room, I reminded him of some group participation rules and he was good the rest of class. I did have to remind him once or twice to focus and not goof off when working in the group, but he did fine. Apparently not in the afternoon which he spent most of in the office... not sure what happened. Since then, it has been the same. He's pretty good for us in the morning and horrible in the afternoon.

This weekends plans include a brunch with some of the roomies coworkers/classmates, country dancing!!!!, possible stand up paddling, and planning for next week.

In Colorado news, I officially have a teacher e-mail address, my contract was approved by the school board, and I GOT A PLACE TO LIVE!!! It is half of a duplex which the teacher assigned as my mentor is in the other half. It has a huge fenced yard which my dog will love and it is decently cheap! It is a 2 bedroom, one bath apartment. 2 story with the bottom level being at "garden level", or half buried. The kitchen and bathrooms are a little retro with the avocado green in the counters and linoleum, but I'm excited. It also has a wood fireplace (a must for Colorado lol) and deep window sills perfect for plants. I cannot wait! Oh, and the bedrooms are both 15'x10'... that's pretty big for bedrooms. One will be a sewing room/spare bedroom. The living room will probably end up being more an office/tv room. It is hard to judge the size of the living room from the pictures for what will fit and how in there.

Another good thing is that they are currently doing some repairs in it and they will be finishing up around mid to end of July. This means... no having to pay July rent just to hold the place! The drawback? Having to fork out a deposit equal to the rent and another $400. All refundable, but still! $200 utility deposit and $200 pet deposit. The way the utilities work is they are in the landlord's name, but I get a copy of the bill and pay them back for it. It'll be nice to be able to move in the night I get to town and not have to worry about electric, water, heat and all that. I'll post pictures when I get out there probably.

Working out is going good. I can make it most of the way through a workout now. I do have to take breaks during some of the moves. The ones with a lot of up and down movement make me dizzy quickly so those get hard, but otherwise I try to do everything. I may not do it at the pace on the video, but I do it! I'm starting week two of Insanity and I'm actually starting to feel improvements even if they are subtle... like finishing most of a workout, hiking a simple trail with no pain, no knee pain, etc.

Any ideas for this coming week's resolution?

And a cute green gecko to end the post. First green gecko I have ever seen here. Most are brown.