Category: Tuesday Topics

Tuesday Topics: My favorite food

This week’s Tuesday Topic: Today is National Food Day.  Tell us about your favorite food.  You can write about this topic or post any running-related blog post.  Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida!  Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier!  Remember to come back for later linkers! 

Hello there!  Another week went by too fast.  Just when I thought I was caught up on a few things at home and work, I am back to where I was.  Yesterday was the end of the quarter and I spent hours this past weekend on grades and lesson planning.  I have two weeks’ worth of laundry in a basket in my room and no idea when I will put the clothes away.  And yes, I am still behind on reading and responding to blog posts.  

It was hard to pick one food so I am listing a couple:

❤️ Pizza – I like pepperoni and sausage but I prefer mine with cheese only.  Sometimes I go wild and get pineapple, green, banana, and jalapeño peppers.

❤️ Sushi – Anything with shrimp is my preference.

❤️ Tacos – The neat thing is that there are so many options!  I love chicken, steak, and al pastor.  My mom and I found a food truck that serves really good tacos.  They’re not cheap and the tortilla is small, but the meat is good and each taco always comes with plenty of meat.

❤️ Shrimp – I could eat this every day but I won’t.

❤️ Cheeseburger I like mine with mayonnaise and lettuce.  One of the best burgers I’ve eaten is at Portillo’s.  I’ve also had some good ones at Red Robin.  I love eating a burger with a beer after a long run or a race.  

Next week is a FREE topic.  Feel free to write about any running-related topic.  We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tuesday Topics: My thoughts on Halloween

This week’s Tuesday Topic:  NRR: Do you like or dislike Halloween?  Tell us why or why not.  You can write about this topic or post any running-related blog post.  Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida!  Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier!  Remember to come back for later linkers!

As a teacher, I only care about it because of the students.  They are excited because of their costume, the classroom party, the parade, and the treats.  I get excited because of them.  It makes me happy to see them happy.  However, we don’t get much work done that day and I get home exhausted.

I am looking forward to Halloween with my students this year.  It’s been a rough couple of weeks together.  Because of the new curriculum/schedule and how fast-paced everything is, we haven’t had much time to do fun things (last year we used to paint with watercolors and dance almost every Friday).  I will purchase a TpT Halloween Party Games Bundle so we can have a lot of fun that day.  Check out the various games!

As an adult, I do not care for it AT ALL.  I wouldn’t say I like it.  I don’t see the point of it.  🤪 🤷🏽‍♀️  Then again many things in life do not have a point.

The topic for next week:  Today is National Food Day.  Tell us about your favorite food.  Feel free to write about this or any running-related topic.  We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tuesday Topics: The house/street I grew up in

 

This week’s Tuesday Topic:  Let’s go down memory lane and tell us about the house/street you grew up inYou can write about this topic or post any running-related blog post.  Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida!  Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier!  Remember to come back for later linkers! 

Happy Tuesday!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I am still on cloud 9 from spectating the marathon.  I had a lot of fun going to Pilsen to cheer on the runners.  The best part was seeing Desi.  I saw my niece and a couple of other friends.  I was even inspired to enter the lottery for next year’s marathon.  We’ll see.  The first thing I need to do is start running again.  I ran yesterday for 20 minutes.  Baby steps.  

I emigrated to Chicago on July 4, 1978.  My dad was already living here so I came here with my mom and my 6 siblings.  My dad already had a house for us to live in.  It was a big building with about 10 apartments which he rented out.

We lived in a one-bedroom apartment by the middle front door, where I circled the AC unit.  Let’s count.  It was my parents and 6 girls.  My brother was lucky and had a room in the basement.  I remember my parent’s room was really small (I don’t think it was an actual bedroom) but it was big enough for a twin-size bed and a dresser.

There was a door that separated our apartment and the apartment next door.  The tenants must have moved out because then we also occupied that space.  The additional room gave us another bathroom and another living room/bedroom.  I don’t remember a kitchen so there’s that.

Next to the building was the alley and then next to it was a fire station.

Our school was diagonal from us.  The circle on the right of the photo is the church and the other circle is the actual school.  I don’t remember what the building in the middle was for, but I am sure it was part of the school.  Only 6 of us attended the grammar school and graduated from there.  I don’t think any of us were ever late to school!

I don’t remember how long we lived there but we then moved to another apartment building owned by my dad.  It was either my sophomore or junior year of high school because I remember my senior year living in the other building.  We then lived there until my dad passed away in 1991.  

I was tempted to drive by the old building to take pictures but instead used Google Maps.  I must have been back there maybe once or twice.  I have memories of living there but not that many.  I remember some of the neighbors, walking to Zayre (anyone else remembers that store) with my mom so she could buy me a bike, roller skating, and hanging out with family members and friends.  I remember walking 2 blocks to the bus stop to go to my high school.  There was a Farm Foods two blocks away where we did our grocery shopping.  I also remember going there to take bottles of Coca-Cola, RC, etc, and getting money for the empty bottles.  I remember the library.  I guess I do remember more than I thought I did.

I still know how to ride a bike, but how the heck did I forget how to rollerskate?  I didn’t have the actual skates but instead had the detachable ones.  🤨 🤔

I am behind on reading posts from Friday’s link-up.  I promise I will get to them.

The topic for next week:  NRR: Do you like or dislike Halloween?  Tell us why or why not.  Feel free to write about this or any running-related topic.  We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tuesday Topics: 5 things I love about Chicago

 

This week’s Tuesday Topic:  Tell us what you love about living in your town/city/stateYou can write about this topic or post any running-related blog post.  Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida!  Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier!  Remember to come back for later linkers! 

Hello October and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Topics!  Today we are discussing what you love about living in your town/city/state.

I have lived in Chicago for over 40 years.  I also lived in Berwyn for about 1-2 years and in DeKalb when I was in college.  

Chicago is a great city with plenty of things to do.  There are many things to love about it, but I am listing only a couple of them.

🌃 The Lakefront Trail – The best place to go for a walk or go on a bike ride.  You’ll also find many people running as they train for a race or running for fun.  I have spent many, many hours along the 18-mile trail.

🌃 ‘El’ train – The best way to get downtown and many surrounding areas, as well as O’Hare and Midway Airport.  We have the Red, Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, Purple, Pink, and Yellow​​ train lines.  I used to ride on the train every day when I worked downtown and I loved it!  

🌃 Chicago-style Pizza – What more is there to say about it?  It is delicious, take my word for it.  Have I mentioned that I love pizza?

🌃 Diverse neighborhoods – While running the Chicago Marathon, you run through 29 different neighborhoods.  Of course, there are more than that in the city – you can find a Polish, Mexican, El Salvadorian, Korean, German, Greek, Muslim, or Jewish areas as you take a walk or go on a drive.

🌃 My family’s hometown – 99% of my family lives in Chicago or in a surrounding area.  I love that we live close together to see each other as much as we can.

The topic for next week:  Let’s go down memory lane and tell us about the house/street you grew up in.  Feel free to write about this or any running-related topic.  We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tuesday Topics: September 2023 Review

This week’s Tuesday Topic is a FREE topic.  Feel free to post any running-related blog post.  Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida!  Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier!  Remember to come back for later linkers!

Yay for September being almost over!  I am rarely ever excited for a month to be over.  Now I am because it has been one heck of a month.  As I’ve mentioned, school is a circus, and I am learning to walk carefully on the tighrope without falling.  I haven’t been lucky.

Let me tell you about how September went for me:

Mileage:  September was not a good month of running.  I went out running yesterday for 20 minutes.  Before that, my last run was on September 1.  To date, I’ve run 2.48 and walked 16.29 miles.

Current Book:  I finished reading “The Guide” and was very happy when I finished it.  It wasn’t that exciting but I also didn’t want to stop reading it.  I was determined to finish it.  

I am currently reading “Beautiful World, Where Are You”.  So far it is OK but more interesting than The Guide.  😀

2023 Running Goal:  I am saying goodbye to my goal.  No way will I run 386 miles in 3 months.  This year wasn’t my year for running.  I did the best I could and am OK with it.  I will continue to run and will be happy with whatever number I end up with on December 31. 

What I would like to do now is run or walk every day.  

Injuries:  None.  I am sore from yesterday’s run.  I know I need to keep showing up to either run or walk and I will no longer be sore.

Races:  None.

Health:  I am doing OK.  I am sleeping better but now need to watch what I eat.  I’ve noticed my shorts feel a bit tight.

School:  I was looking forward to the new school year.  I began the school year with 21 students and now have 20.  One student came in 2 weeks after school started and then two students were moved to a GE (English-only) classroom.

It’s been a rough 5 weeks.  My students talk a lot and don’t follow directions.  When I ask them a question, many do not answer.  I am left wondering if it is me or them.  Regardless, it is frustrating.

We have a new Reading curriculum.  We’ve had minimal training yet I was expected to assess my students in English and Spanish.  Luckily, one of the interventionists helped me.  I have to teach Reading in both languages (remember, no training) and have spent HOURS reviewing lessons and trying to figure out what to do.  The assessments are long and they’re pen and paper so I have to manually grade each assessment.  Then we enter the data into one program (MasterConnect) and then into another one (PowerSchool) for grades.  I do this for 3 different components of the curriculum (Knowledge and then Skills in English and Spanish).  Let’s not forget that I also teach Math, Science, and Social Studies.

New this year is an extra 30 minutes we spend with the students either helping them in Reading or Math.  I am doing Math.  Each day is a different lesson and thankfully I don’t have to write the lessons but it is another session I need to prepare for every day. 

I am mentally exhausted.  I have been neglecting myself.  I am actually surprised I haven’t quit yet.  Yesterday was a good day for me.  I went out for a run.  I had a good day with my students.  We couldn’t go out for recess because of the rain but had fun doing various indoor activities.  We did the Chicken Dance and the Macarena (school version).  I think they were surprised to see me have fun with them!

Thanks for reading.  I hope that for next month’s review, I will write more positive things about school.  Or maybe write about something more exciting.

The topic for next week:  Tell us what you love about living in your town/city/state.  Feel free to write about this or any running-related topic.  We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter