Welcome to the December edition of the Ultimate Coffee Date hosted by Coco and Deborah.  It’s also time for another edition of Fit Five Friday hosted by My First 5K and More, Running with Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and me!  

This is the last coffee date of 2023!  What a year it has been.  I wanted to participate every month but made it to all except for two months.  Not bad at all.  It is fun to catch up and read everyone’s post.  Now, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, and let’s chat briefly!

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I was inspired while spectating the Chicago Marathon last month and entered the lottery for next year.  I will find out in a few days if I get picked.  I haven’t run a marathon since 2016.  I got a PR that year and bettered my time by 40 minutes from my first marathon in 2006.

I read my race recap and laughed.  Erica wrote about how disliked “The number of people who report being “disappointed” after running a personal best in the Chicago Marathon”.  I agree with her, but I wrote the same thing in 2016.

I may not have gotten a huge PR and I am a little disappointed in myself.  I trained hard this summer. OK, so I did miss a few runs and the last 3 weeks I hardly ran at all.  I am glad I was able to finish but I know I could have done better.  I was hoping to finish under 5 hours. Sigh. Maybe I should just stop here, let it go, and move on.  Another marathon in the books and call it a day.

I also entered the lottery for the NYC Half Marathon in March and I got picked.  I was actually surprised that I got picked again.  I am excited about it.  I hope to actually train for it and that it isn’t too cold like it was this year.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that even though I am not a big fan of Halloween, I had a good time that day.  It was wild!  I spent the morning going over reading and math, but the afternoon was all about Halloween.  We passed out candy; played musical chairs, bingo, and hot potato; we danced; and then we had a school parade.  My students said they had fun.  Mission accomplished!

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that last week I got the covid and a flu vaccines along with the second shingles booster.  Last year I only got the flu and shingles and was sick the next day.  The same thing happened this year.  I had a fever and my whole body ached.  I could barely get out of bed, but I managed because I had to eat and use the bathroom.  Priorities.  On Thursday I felt so much better and felt like a new woman.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that Kim will no longer host the Tuesday Linkup with me.  Her last post with me will be on December 26.  We had a good time together and am happy for those years we hosted it together.  I am pleased that Jenn will be hosting the linkup with me.  I have been working on a new graphic for us.  It was fun creating one and I even made one with our favorite pets but, no, we will not be using that one.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I’ve been looking for a race shirt.  I’ve always liked how Erica has one shirt she wears for her races.  During a big race it is “easy” to find her.  The shirt that I originally wanted wasn’t available in my size.  I found another one in a different color but in a men’s size.  It doesn’t fit quite well.  I will keep looking and hopefully will get one soon.

The topic for next week’s Fit Fit Friday – 5 running/fitness safety tips.  Feel free to write about this or any fitness topic you’d like.  We hope you’ll link up with us!

Welcome to the October edition of the Ultimate Coffee Date hosted by Coco and Deborah.  It’s also time for another edition of Fit Five Friday hosted by My First 5K and More, Running with Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and me!  

Now, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, and let’s chat briefly!

If we were having coffee…
I’d ask you if you’ve been a victim of credit card fraud.  I’ve had two credit cards that were both in my possession ALL OF THE time used by two different people  One person used my Chase card and purchased over $600 on the Adidas website and someone else used a debit card (from another bank) to make multiple purchases (almost $200) from Little Caesar and Uber Eats.  Luckily, Chase removed the charges and issued me a new card.  I am still waiting on the other card.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you I had the Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso from Starbucks and IT IS SO GOOD.  Thank you Marcia for the recommendation!

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that one of the things I hate about doing laundry at the laundromat is that I tend to lose some socks.  I don’t know how since I am careful and double-check the washer to ensure I don’t leave anything behind.  Well, somehow I “lost” a sock.  I noticed it when I got home and put the remaining one on top of the drawer meaning to throw it away but then I forgot about it.  Well, the other day I wore a jacket that I hadn’t worn in a while and guess what I found in the pocket?  Yep, the missing sock.  Running socks are not cheap so yes I was happy to find it.

If we were having coffee…
I’d ask you what your thoughts on about the cut-off time for the 2024 Boston Marathon.  It is unfortunate that even though people qualified, they cannot run it due to the cut-off time.  I understand the history of it, but why not just have a lottery like the other major marathons?  I wonder if people will still be drawn to it even though it doesn’t require a qualifying time.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I entered the lottery to win tickets to see Hamilton and I won.  Yep, I found out yesterday.  I was given 2 hours to claim the tickets and made it with 40 minutes to spare.  I asked my friend to go with me and we’ll be going on Wednesday.

The topic for next week’s Fit Fit Friday – 5 goals for the last 1/4 of the year.  Feel free to write about this or any fitness topic you’d like.  We hope you’ll link up with us!

Welcome to the September edition of the Ultimate Coffee Date hosted by Coco and Deborah.  It’s also time for another edition of Fit Five Friday hosted by My First 5K and More, Running with Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and me!  

Now, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, and let’s chat briefly!

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you about my first week of school.  Wow!  Tough, challenging, but I know we will have fun!  My kids will learn a lot too.  The AC broke on Thursday and we were all miserable.  Our school wasn’t the only one.  The whole situation was handled very poorly by the people above.  We all knew it was going to be HOT those days.  Administration should have let us do remote learning.  That is what ended up happening with another school.  I was really disappointed in them.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that we have a new Reading curriculum and have already had to do assessments – in English and in Spanish.  Let me also tell you that we weren’t really trained in doing these assessments.  It was a very short PD with minimal hands on exposure.  Don’t you love it when training is like that?  But thanks to a Reading Interventionist helping me, I am almost done with the assessments.  

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that as I was doing these assessments, I was very disappointed with how my students were doing.  Almost all CANNOT read.  Wow, I am still shocked!  I kept looking at the reading interventionist to tell her how they were doing.  I know last year some of my kids were low but I had some really good readers.  This year maybe 1 or 2 are readers.  It will be an interesting year.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I have a tough group this year.  Besides many being non readers, I have a couple with behavior issues.  And many just talk so much.  I know they’re kids, I get it.  But I tell them that there is a time to talk and there is a time to be quiet.  We are still working on the latter.  I may just have to bribe them.  I mean, reward them for good behavior.  I am off today and I think I will miss a little bit those kids.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I need to keep reminding myself to not do so much for work and to take care of myself.  I’ve stayed late almost every day since school started.  I’ve also gone in early too.  Work will never be done.  I don’t have “official” lesson plans but know what I need to do.  I don’t have emergency lesson plans done.  My classroom library isn’t set up.  I’ve mentioned the new reading curriculum and some changes were made to the dual language program.  Did I mention that our school day is now 30 minutes longer?  And the countdown begins till Winter Break!

The topic for next week’s Fit Fit Friday – 5 tips for fall running/fitness.  Feel free to write about this or any fitness topic you’d like.  We hope you’ll link up with us!