Work it.

Colorado will tell you whether or not you’re in shape. Straight up.

Also, skinny ≠ in shape. Just to clarify.

I can balance easily on skate blades, which is definitely part of athleticism. But I think my lungs need to catch up. The air up here is so thin and when I went on a run today I just couldn’t feel satisfied anytime I took a breath. A couple of years ago my lungs were in excellent shape; in marching band we were constantly doing breathing exercises, including ones where we had to take in all the air we could, hold it, and then take in more sips of air on top of that. They told us the point of it was to tear our lungs a little so they could become capable of holding more air. Not sure if that was true, but it felt like it!

So I’ll be working on it.  The Manitou Incline is beckoning!

Statistics show…

So yet another milestone in my life. My first year of teaching.

Not only am I the youngest teacher in the whole school, I am also the least experienced. Not sure how that makes me feel.

During our new teacher training for the district, they showed us a line graph explaining our emotions about teaching from right now on through the future. Apparently, this point in our lives is the most excited we’ll ever be about teaching. This is the peak. From this point on, we face reality, and the graph shows a significant line drop. The honeymoon stage will be over, and things will get really tough. The graph shows that it’ll eventually get better, but it will not be nearly as high as right now.

On one hand, it’s nice to know that people who have gone before us can explain what we should expect. But also, it was kind of a downer looking at that graph. Really? That’s what we have to look forward to? How hard is this going to be??

As always, I’m trying to enjoy my life right where I’m at. So I guess I could explain that as “relishing the calm before the storm.” I don’t know what lies ahead, but I know I’ve got lots of support at my school, a great roommate, and lots of friends a phone call away.

So bring on the unknown. Maybe I can defy the odds, but if not, I know I’ll be making a difference.