Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Pain

Balt is in a lot of pain. We ended up taking him earlier than his appointment because the pain was so bad. He has back issues. 2 Xrays indicated a slipped disc. He has pain meds to help but if healing doesn't come by next week, then an MRI is in order to see deeper tissue and to find out if he has a tumor in his spine. Because of the cancer in his eye, the thought was that it might spread to his brain, but the vet said the spine is also a possibility and would be a reason for his pain. I think if that were the case, I would just let him go (send him to dog heaven). It is a terrible thing to be with an animal in pain.

I woke up this morning, no dog walk, and went to Anytime Fitness for a work out. I'm trying to decide if I'm going pay for this or just end it after my free month. I waver back and forth from I need it, to I can do this on my own and don't have to pay for it. I have all the components at home to make it work for free, but will I do it!? That is the question. The problem is I might not do it even if I pay for it but I'm much more likely to. 

I had a 12 hour work day with parent teacher conferences that kicked off at 8am. I got in and no other art teachers were in the studio. I guess I was the only one with eager parents. I went non stop for about 1/2 hour and then the rest of the day was off and on with times available to deal with Balt. I was exhausted when I got home but was able to catch This Is Us before bed! 

Work Week

I'm in for a long week. Today was a regular long Monday without any meetings. My students were all in work mode. They get tomorrow off while I get 12 hours of Parent Teacher conferences. It's going to be tough but I have a lot of gaps in my schedule. I made an appointment for Balt to see a vet tomorrow during one of those gaps because he has been acting weird lately-- crying out in pain, easily startled, trembling and very lethargic. I'm hoping it isn't anything serious or expensive! I came home and made Erika homestyle mac and cheese for dinner. It came out surprisingly great. I decided to take the day off of any working out, take it easy and get to bed early tonight.

Birthday Celebrations

It's birthday season! Today I got up early and went to a 7am workout at Anytime Fitness. I finally got my heart rate up to a zone 4, 142. I have a very hard time getting my heart up past 120. After working out, I went to yoga and grocery shopping. Now that Monika is gone, I only need about $20 worth of items; some 1/2 & 1/2 and a few vegetables. Erika mostly eats out or buys her own groceries. I often eat her leftovers. For lunch today I took Erika and Kelly out to lunch to celebrate her birthday at the Nitty Gritty. I splurged and had a hamburger and onion rings. It was quite a celebration. I can't believe she's 28 today. She's works hard M-F and enjoys her weekends. I'm very proud of the adult she has become. The fact that of my 3 daughters, she and I are the only two that live together makes our relationship a bit different, a bit special. We have to respect each other's space and allow for our differences a bit more carefully. When it is just the two of us, I tend to blame every missing item or mess on her. When her stuff is missing, she knows I'm the one who moved it. Neither of us are confrontational, so frustration is usually unspoken. As much as she looks like me, she is a very different personality, reminding me more of my brother or mother than myself. She's family but I'm glad she's my friend too.

Saturday Workouts

Balt got me up at 5AM. We went for a very short walk with the hope of getting out again once the day warmed up. Well, the day never warmed up. At 9am I went to Anytime Fitness for a Team Training workout. I've only done a couple of small group (4 max) workouts, so this was my first team training (10 max). It was good but I sometimes feel foolish, not being able to do push ups, but I'm there working out and that is what matters. I went to a yoga class at 11am and I have to say, yoga has never been so wonderful. My body is so sore all the time. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night stiff with pain. I'm not sure I can keep it up. 

The rest of my day was just relaxing. I worked on an animation for most of the afternoon. I made a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch and ate Erika's leftovers for dinner. I had a big fire going most of the day and the temperatures outside never got out of the 20's.

 

I can't believe she's 24

Every year since Jessi graduated from high school, I make Jessi a collage on instagram and wish her a happy birthday. This year I sent her a couple of boxes as well. I'm excited to see her over Thanksgiving. Monika is now in California with my mom and in 1 1/2 weeks Erika and I will join them, but first I have lots to do.

It was a great Friday with not a lot going on. My yearbook kids wore their new t-shirts. My 4th hour took a photo but by 7th hour more than 1/2 my class were absent so we did not take a photo. After school I went to hot yoga and spent the rest of my evening taking it easy.

Dressed for Diwali

I've been trying to figure out an appropriate time to wear my Indian outfit. Cultural appropriation is not cool. When I realized that Diwali might be a good day to dress up, I asked a few of my students if they'd up for and one student in my yearbook class got very excited. He even offered to bring outfits for his friends. We made sure to take a photo in class. 

As for my Wednesday? We are dipping into the 20's tonight and a bit of snow is in the forecast. The cold makes dog walks a little less fun, but it helps get me to hot yoga. Tonight I had my first evening Anytime Fitness weight lifting session. I think I like morning workouts better. Tonight's session was not fun, but I come home even more eager for bed!

He's older than me now!

I forgot it was Balt's birthday yesterday! He is now 56 in dog years, which means he's older than me now. He's my buddy and even more mellow as he ages. This morning he absolutely would not go for a walk. He just wanted to sniff around the front yard but no matter how much I pulled, he wouldn't get going. I left home early to go vote. I was #16 in line. I got in about 10 minutes before the polls opened and there was already a bit of a line. I heard poll workers talking that the crowd was bigger than the presidential election.

I had a great day, lot of work done. After school I signed up for a google certification class. As I look at the future of teaching, technology is playing a bigger part, but as a digital art teacher, I am utilizing more technology to teach technology because it makes sense. Technology really is help me with differentiation and scaffolding.

I didn't get home until after 8pm and then turned on the news right away. Tammy Baldwin won her race but lots of others are still up in the air so I'll just wait until the morning to find out how it all panned out.

So Monday

;Balt woke me up at 4am, eager for breakfast. I yelled him to go back to bed several times but I finally gave in at 4:45am. I took him for an early walk and then went to Anytime Fitness at 6am for a workout session that was killer. I came home feeling like I could vomit. I'm not sure if I can keep it up, but I should. My Monday flew by with the shortened schedule and PCT with both the art and business dept to talk about a new pathway for incoming freshmen. It was a productive meeting but as you can see from Josh's photo, it wasn't necessarily fun.

I went home and backed pumpkin bread, watched the news, build a fire, listened to the rain and vegged out, deciding I was too tired to go to yoga. Below: Monika is in Denver!

Rainy Autumn Sunday

With this morning's time change, I had to yell at Balt to go back to sleep when he started asking for breakfast at 3:45am this morning. With the pouring rain, even once we got up this morning, we did not go for a walk. Instead I spent the morning installing my new closet doors finally. It's a project I've wanted to do for years. At 10am I met up with Joe, Josh and Grace for a department brunch. Grace decided we needed a month Sunday brunch club and I thoroughly concur! We enjoyed chatting it up, mostly about politics. I went home and started working on an animation idea I've had for a bit. What a time suck! I spent over 2 hours on less than 2 seconds of animation and I'm not sure it's even usable, but it's work I'm going to have to figure out by next year, as I'll be teaching animation. I had a fire going and with rain outside, it made for a nice afternoon regardless. I went to a 4pm hot yoga class and then went grocery shopping this evening. 

Double it up...

Today was my first day of training at Anytime Fitness. Only an hour class with a coach and 2 participants, me and another younger woman. We were supposed to do 4 sets of 10 of most exercises but I usually just did 8 since I went slower and was not counting. I wore a heart monitor which indicated my heart rate was not rising even though I was sweating profusely and winded. I ran some errands, did a bit of housework and then went to yoga. For the next two weeks I'm going to try to double up my work outs to adding weight training to my yoga regime. We'll see how it goes. I won't be able to do it every day but I'm going to give it a shot.

I made some lunch, watched a movie, talked to my mom, talked to Jim, gave Balt a late walk, made a big fire and purchased new closet doors for my bedroom but was not able to install them. By 8pm I was ready for bed... 

All Hallows' Eve

I try to go all out for Halloween and then year was no exception. I came up with the idea of Wonder Woman last week and got the tshirt and pants on Amazon and then went shopping over the weekend for accessories. I wore the leggings with a red tank for yoga on Saturday which was billed as a dress up day at the studio. I spent $50 on the tiara, wrist bands, skirt and lasso at Party City after spending $30 on Amazon for the original outfit. I got tons of compliments and the kids love it. Usually Josh dresses up but he actually forgot, so it was just Grace, Geof and I. I stayed late after school working on the yearbook trying to get the senior section in order, then afterward to went to a old friends for a Halloween gathering. It was lots of fun but a late night for me!

Halloween's Eve

Jessi had her first solo flight on a T6 Texan! She posted this photo on social media. I am, of course, pretty darn proud of her! Other than her huge accomplishment, it was pretty uneventful for me-- just a work day. After school I went to a hot yoga class and then after that I went to Anytime Fitness for a consultation. I'm thinking of joining since Jim is out of town for the year, Monika is leaving and I don't want to spend the winter moping around at home. I got home just in time for This Is Us!

Club Monday

Mondays can be crazy busy when we have the shortened schedule. I have newspaper club at lunch and a department meeting after school. The good thing is that the day kind of flies by. I get home exhausted. I wanted to go to hot yoga but I was too tired. I took a nap and then ran to the store and then to a late yoga class. I'm in bed early, even though I had a nap! I thought about trying to start a big project, like a quilt or something, but it's going to have to wait until after the holidays, I think.

A Bath for Balt

Balt got me up at 5am like normal. I wanted to sleep in but to no avail. I took Balt out for a very short walk and watched some news. I went grocery shopping early and I had to go to the bank for the condo association. I went to a late morning yoga class and then came home to shower. That was the perfect time to get Balt in shower with me! I lather him up and boy, does he shed tons of hair as I rinse him down. He seemed genuinely happy to be bathed. I took him out after for a bit of some Halloween shopping time. We took a long walk late in the afternoon once it warmed up (mid 40's). I baked cookies, made a big fire and spent the rest of the evening on my computer, eager to go to bed early.

Autumn

I really enjoy dogwalks in the early morning hours and even though they are not as enjoyable in the dark morning hours, I've been venturing out anyway. Eventually I am going to have switch my routine up as it gets colder. Today I decided to take a day off yoga and take Balt out for an afternoon walk. You can really see them in the photo but the fields were filled with geese. The day was beautiful.

Wonderful Monday

The weather was wonderful today. We had a regular schedule, so the day was a great work day without any meetings. My kids are all working really hard! I had a dentist appointment at lunch to get a pit filled. I volunteered to have the work done without any drugs. I went home for lunch, enjoyed a salad with Monika and then finished the day. After school I decided to enjoy the great weather and hang my Christmas lights. It's too early to turn them on but now when it is time, I won't have to deal with the cold! Because it's going to get cold!

Full Autumn Colors

I heard on the news that this weekend was peak Autumn in Madison, so I wanted to make sure I got out for a good dog walk. It was a beautiful day but it was not warm. I got a great yoga class in, baked some pumpkin bread and went shopping. I made a big fire and spent some down time watching news and Netflix. I feel like as soon as October is over, winter and the holidays will be upon us and life will pick up a bit, but for now, I'm enjoying the free weekends, although I'm starting to miss Jim. 

The Hair

I have a free weekend with nothing of note to do but a pretty long list of things I should do. On my list are things like do a 90 minute hot yoga class, plant daffodils, buy 2 bathroom round light bulbs, and get my hair done. Today I got all of those things done today. I have to admit the most expensive and time consuming item on that list was do my hair. I never wanted to get into the habit of dying (highlighting) my hair but I now do it twice a year, pretty regularly-- once in the Fall and once in the Spring. I keep it pretty subtle so that when it grows out, it's not obvious. I certainly don't want ever want to see a skunk line at my part. Luckily  most of my grey is growing at the sides of my head, not on top where my part is. While I like to keep my hair as simple as possible, just having long hair actually needs a lot of maintenance. I've learned you can't just grow your hair out. Today I was told I had gone too long without a haircut and had about an inch and a half of damaged ends. Anyway, the cut, color and some product cost exactly $200! I think that's a lot of money, but I certainly like the results, so I splurge exactly twice a year on it.

The day was quite chilly, so a perfect build a big fire and watch Netflix kind of evening. Monika and watched 9 episodes of Designated Survivor-- not a very productive evening, but entertaining.

School Spirit

My work weekday starts at 5am with Balt wanting breakfast and a walk. Lately I've been walking in the dark with my coffee in hand listening to NYT Daily podcast. I get back and get ready for work. I try to be in my classroom by 7:30am so I have time to do email and prep for the day. At lunch I'm usually talking to students or running around the school. Today the staff gathered at lunch for a spirited picture. The football coach is front and center and just was honored by the Packers. After school I get to yoga. Today I stayed after for a bit getting camera equipment for a student who was going to the game. I popped in at home to change and then went to a 5:30 hot class. I had a salad for dinner after before showering because I'm trying not to eat too late. I had thought about popping into the football game this evening but after changing my bed sheets, I just was to lay in my bed. The boys are currently losing as I type (21 to 0), so there's no reason to go now. I am ready for a weekend!

Just Work

I'm feeling like I don't have a lot going on, other than work. I have a painting 1/2 done I could pull out and work on and a t-shirt quilt for Monika I need to start but there is no hurry on either project. After work today I went straight to yoga and then came home and vacuumed my room. The dog really builds up if I don't get to it weekly. I worked on the yearbook t-shirt (pictured) and watched This Is Us. Jim called and we chatted about holidays. It's going to be hard to get everyone together this year with him in El Paso, Jessi in Corpus Christi and Erika working full time in Madison. I'm going to California for Thanksgiving but I'm not sure where to go for Christmas?

Autumn in Full

We are experiencing some exciting color changes here in Madison which certainly make our morning walk quite pretty. Balt has allowed me to sleep in this weekend which made the weekend very restful. I finally made it to a late morning yoga class but other than that, I did very little. I did some prep for school, warmed up the chili for lunch and watch SNL with Monika. I did a bit of laundry and house cleaning but mostly just sat around and enjoyed my fire. I'm not 100% healthy yet, but close. I'm hoping to be back to normal this week.

Weekend Brunch

An old friend was driving through Madison this morning and I got to meet her for brunch. She was helping a friend move from Pittsburgh to Vancouver and Madison was right on the way. A long time ago I helped her move from Madison to Pittsburgh. Monika and her son were playmates when we lived in Eagle Heights. Monika joined us and we talked about the ol'days in Eagle Heights and the happy childhood our children had because of the tight neighborhood, surplus of kids and playgrounds. Those school days with toddlers are so long ago. My friend, Sandi, shared that are lives are actually not short but long and filled with many versions of who we are, which I found very meaningful. Time is funny how it seems like runs slow and yet fast depending on perspective. 

This past week seemed very slow as I dealt with illness. I decided to take the day without any drugs to see if I was indeed better. I spent the morning finishing moving all the logs over. As much of a pain it all was, I do love having a fire for my winter days off. After brunch, I went to shopping and after all my errands, I made a fire and enjoyed some tv with Monika. I made a big pot of chili for dinner which was perfect for the cold Autumn evening. 

Piles of Wood

Last night I had my annual cord of wood delivered. I have a guy from the country who drives in to deliver it on my lawn every autumn. It certainly is a luxury in the winter and just in case I lose power or heat, I know I have plenty of fuel for fire. After a pretty non-eventful day of school I came home, put some work gloves on and started hauling logs. I made a pile in the back patio this time and started a pile by the door. I wasn't able to finish before it got dark and I started coughing. So I went in for the evening to get to bed early. As I was working, I wondered how many times had my parents been doing hard work around the house when I was inside watching tv or doing my own thing without thought to help them. I suppose it's payback time. My young adult children don't seem the least bit interested in hard work around the house, inside or out. Someday, maybe they will be doing some laborious job around their own home and wish their kids would help out. That is, if they have kids.

Better

I woke up feeling like I was completely healthy, no stuffiness and no cough. But once I was up, my symptoms returned to me which prompted me to take medication. Medicated, I am fine but I can feel it when it starts wearing off. I feel myself being kind of grouchy and short, especially at home with the girls. I did not walk Balt yesterday so I made sure to get a walk in this morning, even though it was dark and very cold (39 degrees). I got coffee on the way into work to help with my mood. After lunch I covered for my gym teacher friend. It was my very first time being a gym teacher. The kids were all very excited to play and have "free choice" activities. Had I felt better, I might have gotten up to play too. After work I went to hot yoga with the plan to take it easy and just enjoy the heat but I ended up feeling great throughout the class. I went home and took Monika to Costco to get vegetables. I can certainly tell the difference in food cost with her home, as she likes to eat healthy home-cooked food.

I'm Sick

I pride myself with saying that I never get sick, so I'm not sure what happened. I've got a terrible cough with a lot congestion and even with drugs, I sound bad. I have a CD student (down syndrome) who was quite grossed out by my coughing while helping her and let me know adamantly that I needed to stay away from her if I was sick. I thought, what if everyone shared so openly how grossed out we were when people were sick near us!

I went home after school and went to bed.

Sunday off

I met up with Grace and Josh for Sunday brunch this morning. It is the beginning of a brunch club for our art department but I have a feeling it may end up being just Grace, Josh and I most of the time. I made sure to walk Balt before going out, as it was supposed to rain this afternoon. I thought about going shopping or making muffins afterward but I came home built a big fire and watched a movie with Monika. I watched the news but never got around to making muffins. I have a sore throat and feel like I'm fighting something which was all the excuse I needed to take it easy.

Beautiful Autumn

I had an eye exam during my lunch hour. I had my eyes dilated so I wore sunglasses all afternoon which really weirded my students out but when I took them off, they were even more weirded out by eye balls. I stayed after school working on newspaper and yearbook. My mom called after 5pm which prompted me to go home. I took Balt for an afternoon walk which was glorious. The weather was over 80 but breezy. I know we are enjoying the last days of warmth, so I sat outside with Balt, reading the news and listening to music. 

Rainy Tuesday

My mornings walking Balt are in the dark, which makes taking morning dogwalk photos very difficult. Work is going great. After work I ran to hot yoga and then came home and showered. I made a broccoli salad for dinner. I worked on yearbook templates (above is a student life banner), watched the Voice and This Is Us. 

Clean Teeth

Over the summer, my teeth got very stained. When school started, I bleached them but I was still aware they needed to be cleaned. Today I got them cleaned during my lunch. I also have a pit in one of my back teeth that will get filled later this month. It's not a cavity yet but why wait? 

It was short Monday schedule with a department meeting at the end of the day. I got caught up working until 5pm and then came home to work on the sink. The pipe I replaced last week was leaking. I worked on the sink and then went to yin yoga with Erika. It was a rainy day, so it was nice to stretch in a warm room before bed. 

First Fire of the Season

It's been dipping down into the 40's lately early in the morning and staying in the 50's, today just barely. It was a perfect day for a big fire. I ended up burning years of old taxes after help Jim in the basement for a while. He's organizing his things to be stored for a year and I'm just trying to make space. Early this morning it was raining, so I did not get a long walk in. I did get all caught up in grading and posted my progress reports. I did some class planning before going out to breakfast with Monika and Jim. It was a pretty relaxing day spent with family at home.