Pockets of Treasures

Yesterday at our daily briefing greathusbandbob shared his cardio doctor results.  When they first began monitoring "ejection fraction" he was at 25%.  This is the percentage of blood that your left ventricle pumps out.  The red danger zone begins at 40%.  41-49% is normal.  As of yesterday appointment he was at 45% which takes him out of the danger zone!  Thank you enteresta.

He also found out that the woman who owns the most beautiful Victorian house on the block may be selling in a year or so.  Right now it's one of the recovery houses but the owner says she is planning on stepping away from that.  He asked the price and immediately told her we would buy it when it became available.  A lot can happen in a year but seriously, if I can live in a Victorian house while I'm doing it, I will work for another 10 years!

Then a really weird thing happened.  Secretarysandy came to lunch today, sat down and immediately said "I had the best dream about you last night." And proceeded to tell me that I was living in the perfect house and she came over and spent the night and it was the happiest feeling ever.  When she described the entrance to the house in her dream it she described the house mentioned above. (*twilight zone music*) I hadn't had time to even tell her about the news beforehand.  (I've got to keep a lid on it because gets me way to excited and equally disappointed)

This morning as I was walking toward bus sidewalk duty, Jordan, a kindergartener stopped me on his way to breakfast and said "Hey!  Guess What?!"    I said "I don't know- tell me what!"  He said "I LOVE YOU!"  Again if every day had such a start it would be much easier to keep going.

I went to the high school basking in the good feels.  While the kids were eating their grab and go mid morning snacks a group of middle school girls peeked into the classroom waving and laughing and being general paparazzi.  The high school kids laughed at my "celebrity status" and I told them the story from the kindergartener.  Class goes on as usual and when the bell rings my favorite goth artist kid (they're all my favorites- just favorites in different categories) stays behind and says "Hey Mrs. Terry, guess what!"  I smiled and said "What?"  He said "I love you!"  I said "I love you too."  My face hurts from smiling even as I type this.

And finally- Usually I am the extra friendly hi how ya doin' person at Zumba.  I finally got over myself and realized I didn't have to make everyone in the room like me. One girl, who I have seen their often, struck up a conversation.  It came out that I was a music teacher and she said she was an oboe major for 5 semesters until she couldn't take it anymore.  I asked her where she went to school and she said "WVU-I graduated in 2006."  She said this AS IF I could have possibly graduated anywhere near that date.  When I didn't immediately share my matriculation date (knowing I had former students as old as her) she asked.   I mumbled 1987.... her eyes became saucers and she said "but you don't have any wrinkles."

The moral of this story is that when you think everything really sucks a lot, eventually pockets of treasures appear.

Stupid Fitbit ionic

You save and pay for the cool toy and then it doesn’t work.  Thank you impermanence.  I’m hoping it’s just the charger but I have the feeling this tracker is the Windows Vista of the Fitbit world.  Useless.  When a new one (versa) is released within six months its a bad sign.

I’ve come to depend on it for steps, for rehearsals, for lesson timing, for inspiration.  Garmin to the rescue.  It doesn’t hold any tunes like the ionic.  It also doesn’t have a timer with which to cook my food and I can’t put a picture of my hey lets be healthy friend on the screen but it’s getting the job done. 

Most annoying request from the Fitbit helpline.  "We need to have a 15 second video of you trying to reset it with the case number on a piece of paper next to it."  Um... o.k. But as I have already pointed out it s completely out of charge and will not respond in any way.  "We need it anyway."  Sign number two of faulty products? Ridiculous hoops to jump through to get it replaced.

Not a huge deal in the scope of the world but annoying.

Music appreciation update- we had to listen to country singers today.  Jim Reeves, George Jones.  Ugh.  I said it was torture for me just like Gregorian chant was torture for them.  I did have some Patsy Cline for my own sanity.  

Kasey said "we should watch an episode of Hee Haw." And he is correct.  Today they each did a slide on famous stars that we didn’t get to. Tomorrow we will present them and finish talking about country music of the 80's to the present.  We also might try to learn a walking bass line oft found in Boogie Woogie.  Because as far as I can tell the only thing that makes something boogie woogie is in fact that walking bass line and the use of the word boogie woogie in the lyrics.

I let Quin (who seems to enjoy the country music unit as much- or as little- as I do) pick the next genre. She picked Rap.  She doesn’t really strike me as a rap music fan.  I think she did it just to see what I’d come up with.  Come to find that a Yale fellow named Henry A. Rhodes at the Yale institute of teaching or something or other in New Haven did extensive and interesting historical research and connected it to specific events in the Bronx and Jamaica as well as to the graffiti artists of the time. (Google "the evolution of rap" if you’re interested in his article-with lesson plan activities What the Actual what? Included.)

Finally I allowed myself to see exercise friend's posts again only to have Sarah Huckabee Sanders' picture appear with the words "I love her...she'll be the first woman president." Sigh.  I’m hoping if I don’t follow her and we never acknowledge the existence of politics we can at least be exercise friends.  She’s the first person who's really forced me to question the sanity of our world with her dichotomous beliefs

Supah Zumbah supah food

Yesterday there was a Zumbathon (which is actually 90 instead of 60 minutes.). It was a relay for life zumbathon.  Money raised on entry ($10) and Chinese auction went to the cause.

I went with newfriendmaureen who is a puzzle to me.  She’s educated, has an adopted Korean son, doesn’t listen to country music or fox radio on the drive and yet she’s had a few reprehensible Facebook posts. 

 I want to be friends with her.  I don’t want to be friends with someone who belittles those Florida high school kids.  I unfollowed her for a while but am following again with hopes that I was mistaken in my first Facebook impression.

Another invented recipe that wasn’t a disaster today. Yellow squash, zucchini, okra, red lentils, tomatoes juice and canned tomatoes and cannelini beans.  4 hours on low, an hour on high in the crockpot. Served over a brown/wild rice mix with chopped up fried egg added.  I guess it’s sort of a vegetable chili.  Only pepper added.  It was time to take a break on poorly mixed spices.