Running Out of Steam

 Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! 

The last time Christmas Day fell on a Monday was in 2017. (Answers was able to tell me that since my birth in 1972, Christmas has been on a Monday eight times. Only two of those times have been while my blog was up and running, including today. I composed this blog on Saturday so I could focus on the holiday with my family.) 

I'm tired. I could definitely use the break.

One hint that my energy level was not up to its usual standard was our student council's door decoration contest. I wasn't too concerned because I thought only the classroom teachers would participate. Then I saw our ESL/music teacher and our French teacher with décor on the door and I started to sweat. What was I going to produce in a very short period of time? The student council declared that the theme was "Winter Wonderland" and even had judging criteria posted. 

This was my entry. Excuse the blurry first photo. The second photo gives you a better idea of the way I addressed the theme.

Thankfully, this effort was enough to put a smile on the faces of some of the adults and looks of puzzlement and intense concentration as some of the students tried to find the listed items on the door. I didn't win any of the prizes but the other doors were amazing. I was going to post the photos I took, but I realized that many of them have student faces as part of the decorations, so I can't.

This past week was filled with holiday singalongs, our staff social, a jazz quartet concert, games day, and PJ day. I was brave enough to try a Audience Reception Theory lesson involving the Grinch (see www.aml.ca for the synopsis) and foolish enough to attempt to give a social studies test to five classes on the last day of school. (Don't judge me - I needed the marks!) 

There are always extra duties and activities on top of the usual required tasks during these holidays. Even though I'm not a cook, a week or so ago, I prepared garlic pork, a traditional Christmas dish in my family of origin. 

Hubby and I also continued going to the gym three times a week. Last Saturday (December 16), we had a team challenge where we had to build a snowperson using equipment in the gym; we could only add a piece after complete 100 sets of a particular exercise. Here's a picture of our team's snowperson, plus some of the others from the 9:00 am and 10:00 am classes. (Our snowperson is completing a handstand push up, in case you wondered why he/she/they was upside-down.)

This week (December 23), we had a "12 Days of Christmas" themed workout, where, just like in the song, you had to return/revisit previously done exercises. For instance, in round 7, we completed

• 7 wall balls
• 6 push up
• 5 ab-mat sit-ups
• 4 toes-to-bar
• 3 burpees
• 2 ring dips
• 1 rope climb

In round 8, we did 8 alternating hand dumbbell snatches, plus everything listed above. I only made it to 10 rounds before the time cut-off. I was relieved! These workouts tucker me out.

I'll leave it here for now. I have lots to do over the break (like preparing presentations, reading Forest of Reading books, and getting ready for report cards as well as the winter session of the York University TL AQs), but I will try to get some R&R in there as well.