Rollin'

As part of my "trying to work it out" kick, I went for a run yesterday. My Auntie Lita, my Manong Mark and his family, Tin, Michael and my parents were coming to visit me and I wanted to get a quick run in to start my day. I had the day all planned out. I would wake up early, go for a run along Lake Union, go to the store and get some fresh fruit to serve, clean up my apartment, get myself showered and ready, the guests would arrive, and then I'd go with them to sight-see around Seattle. That was the plan.

I felt good about my plan. I even woke up earlier than scheduled and got a head start on my day. I put my workout clothes on, grabbed my iPod and I hit the ground running. I was on my way down Mercer Street about 5 minutes into my run, when all of a sudden my right foot hit a patch of crooked concrete and my ankle rolled. . . HARD. (I'd rolled my ankle before, but it had never hurt this bad.) So, I had to stop because at the time, the pain was quite excruciating. Then I realized that my only way back home was to walk. I didn't have my cell phone with me, so I couldn't call anybody to pick me up. I could have stopped in QFC and asked to use a telephone, but I don't remember any numbers of friends who live close by. After about 5 minutes of squatting on the sidewalk and holding my ankle in pain, I got up and started limping back home. . . in tears (because I'm a big baby).

The tears were a result of physical pain and mental frustration. My thoughts were, My ankle is in serious pain and I have to walk all the way home on it? . . . and DAMN! I won't be able to do all the things I planned to do today. . . and I just want my mom! The pain had intensified and my ankle started to swell pretty bad, so when I got home I sat on the couch and put ice on it. I called my parents, told them what happened, and cried to them about how my ankle hurt and how I was frustrated. Then Tin called and she and Michael suggested to wrap it. I told them that I didn't have any Ace Bandage-like wraps, so Michael said pajama pants would do. After looking through my drawers, I found some leggings. They were stretchy and more Ace Bandage-ish, so I opted for the leggings (Ghetto, I know, but desperate times call for desperate measures). I sat on the couch for about an hour and half with my ankle wrapped and iced. It started to feel better, so I limped around to do a little tidying up and then got showered and ready for the guests to arrive.

When they arrived the ankle was topic of conversation. After consulting with 2 doctors (Auntie Lita and Manong Mark) and an athlete (Michael), I was diagnosed with a sprained ankle, so I'm out of commission for about 1-2 weeks (All my work out hopes and dreams are shattered). I knew I wouldn't be able to go around the city with everyone, but I really wanted to spend time with them. So, while my mom, Auntie Lita, Manong Mark and his family started walking to the Seattle Center, my dad drove Tin, Michael and me to Bartell's to buy an Ace Bandage and then he drove us to the Seattle Center to meet up with the rest of them for lunch. After lunch, I sat on a bench and watched Tin and Michael dominate the carnival games and win like 1000 prizes while the rest of them went up to the top of the Space Needle.

Although I didn't get to do the rest of the city tour with everyone, I was really thankful that they were willing to accommodate my gimp ankle. It was so nice to see everyone and hang out with them, even for just a short while.

Today my ankle feels different. There's not as much constant throbbing as there was yesterday, but it hurts more to walk on it. I'd put post a picture, but that requires me getting up and limping around to get my camera and the computer hook-ups, so pictures will have to come another time. . . Maybe in 1-2 weeks.

A Baby Story

My sister Mar put my nanny services to use this week. From 7am Monday morning to 8:30pm Wednesday evening, I was a live-in nanny at her and her husband's house to help her with Isaac and Mia while Vince was at work. Needless to say, there was never a dull moment. Much props to Mar and Vince for doing it every single day and night. You go!

Over the last 3 days I've learned that teaching a classroom full of 6 and 7 year old children is easier than raising 2 of my own. I've also learned to take advantage of their nap time because you are on the go every single second that their eyes are open. I've helped her out before, but not for any longer than 8 hours, so this was definitely a learning experience for me. Nevertheless, I had a ton of fun. I always have fun with those kiddos.

Yesterday we went to the University Village to play, eat, and shop a little. When we arrived there, Mar stayed in the car as she fed Mia and I took Isaac straight to the playground area. I almost had a heart attack at one point because I thought he was going to fall from the top of the big toy all the way to the ground. Luckily, he got to the top and turned right back around to backtrack his way down. After feeding, Mar and Mia met us at the playground. It was time for the rest of us to eat too, so we went to a pasta restaurant in he village to get Isaac some of his favorite dish--Mac and Cheese! We all ate until Isaac got full, which didn't take long at all. He started to get antsy, so we decided to look around the stores. Our first and only stop was Pottery Barn Kids. Isaac had a blast because of the basketballs and the basketball hoop. Even more fun for him was the pink kid-sized baby stroller, with which he managed to run over some strangers' toes. Because he was such a threat to shoppers, I had to take the stroller away from him and return it back to the corner where it belonged. As I was putting it back, Mar was trying to talk to me, and mid-sentence Mar stops and says, "Isaac?" and no reply. She says it again, and still no reply. We start looking around the store a little, and no Isaac. Finally, Mar looks outside and there he is walking away from the store. Yikes! We decided it was time to start heading back home.

We start making our way to the car, and I'm pushing Mia's stroller without Mia in it. So, behind me is Mar holding Mia in the Baby Bjorn and holding Isaac's hand at the same time. We pass through the courtyard where people are eating at little bistro tables, and there's music playing. All of a sudden I hear Isaac fussing and Mar saying, "C'mon, Isaac, let's go," and then I hear her laughing. I look back and Isaac had stopped in the middle of the courtyard to dance to the music ("Just Another Day" by John Secada. LOL), and everyone is watching. He danced for maybe a good 3 or 4 minutes, keeping the diners and other passers by quite entertained. In the middle of his show, Mar told me to get him, so I walked over there and reached for his hand and he pushed me away and continued dancing. I you can't beat them, join them, so I took a step back and started dancing with him and he pushed me away again! He totally loved being in the spotlight! All the while, Mia was peacefully sleeping in her Baby Bjorn. It was the cutest thing. This was most certainly one of the highlights of my last 3 days.

I recorded some of Isaac's impromptu performance on my phone. Enjoy the show!

Trying to Work it Out!

So, within the last year I have really been slacking on eating healthy and being active. Before that, I hardly ate any white rice, pasta, potatoes, or white bread. I ate much more wheat based pastas and breads, lots of fruits, veggies, and proteins, and I made sure to take a walk around the city or go for a run. I even joined 24 Hour Fitness and got a trainer for a couple of months. Last summer, I was in the best shape of my life. I could run forever, do at least 20 real push-ups, and I just felt really good inside and out. September came and it seemed like I just could not find any time or anymore energy to even put my workout clothes on. My students wore me out! I think I've actually run maybe 5 or 6 times within all these months. I just kept telling myself, "You've gone to work and the gym in the same day many many many times. It's possible! You have no excuses." But I felt so drained by the end of the day that I just couldn't do it. Now my clothes are a little more snug, some I don't even wear anymore, and I look at pictures of myself from this time last year and think, "I want to look like that again!"

Well, school is out and weather is gorgeous, so I've been making an effort to start running and working out again to get back into shape. Man, has it been really hard! Last summer, I was running for at least 45 minutes straight, sometimes twice or 3 times around Greenlake. I know I'm not going to run 45 minutes straight anytime this week, and it'll be a while building up to that, but I have to start somewhere. Right now I'm starting at 20 minutes, with intervals of different speeds to avoid monotony. As far as diet. . . Well, I'm still working on that. My diet could be much better than it is right now, but I find myself eating socially quite often. I yet have to cook a meal at home on my own since school has been out.

It's really just an energy cycle. When I work out and eat right, I have more energy and motivation to do it again the next day. When I don't work out and eat like crap, I have less energy and less or no motivation to get up and do anything. I'm not feeling super great about my condition quite yet because I know I have a ways to go, but I'm excited that I'm a day closer to getting back into shape and being healthier again. I'm definitely motivated to being a better and healthier me.

Just Shootin' the Breeze

Yesterday I took a road trip and a ferry boat ride to Herron Island. Every year for the school auction, each team of teachers must come up with an auction prize. In the past, some of the auction prizes included a day on the beach with your teachers, baking cookies with your teachers, a baseball game with your teachers, or a soccer clinic with your teachers. This year Donna, Mason and I thought it would be fun idea for our prize to be a day on Herron Island with the Team 2 teachers. The student that won the auction was allowed to invite 2 of his friends from the team, so in all we invited 3 children and their families. Knowing the students who were coming and their families, Donna, Mason and I were really excited to spend the day on the island.

Herron Island is a small private island in the Puget Sound. It's about 3 miles around, and the houses there are owned by retirees or by people who want to own a getaway home. Donna bought a place there about 6 or 7 years ago, and just this year she and her husband Mark have been renovating it. They finished this spring, just in time to host our auction prize.

I had an early morning because I had to catch the 9am ferry, and it would take about an hour and a half to get there. So, I got up at 6, got myself ready, and was out of the house by 7. I needed to actually get to the dock earlier than 9 in order to get on the ferry because the ferry is so small. It only fits up to 9 compact cars, so I needed to make sure I was at the front of the line. I arrived there at about 8:45 with about 12 cars in front of me. Luckily Mason had a super early start and was 2nd in the line of cars, so I parked my car, hopped in his and we made the 9am ferry. We were welcomed by Mark at the other dock, and he led he way from the dock to their house.

All the other families arrived in the ferry ride behind Mason and me, which gave us just enough time to help Donna put breakfast on the table. So our students Jackson, Lucas, and Marlee all arrived with their families and we had breakfast together. We all chatted over coffee, popovers, croissants, and fruit. After breakfast, we headed to the beach. Right off the beach is also a boat dock, where Mark put down a couple of crab traps. Jackson's parents brought over some kayaks, Marlee's parents brought down a cooler of beer and snacks, and Lucas' parents brought over some good wine, as did Jackson's parents, so there was a lot to do for all the adults and the children. None of us communicated with each other about bringing anything, but everyone just brought something different on their own, and it was great. While the children ran around the beach and up and down the dock checking the crab trap, the adults sat and talked, laughing and drinking. After a while, the ladies stayed behind while the men and the children took Mark's motor boat over to another part of the coast and dug for clams. They were gone for probably an hour, and they came back with a large bucketful of clams! Stewart, Jackson's dad, has a clam digging license, so don't worry. . . it' was totally legal.

By the time we left the beach and headed back to the Donna's place, it was already time to start preparing for dinner. As Donna and Mark prepared dinner, the children and Dana (Jackson's mom) started tie-dying some t-shirts, while the rest of us sat around some more and told more stories. Dinner was absolutely delicious. We had bugers, hotdogs, Mark's tasty potato salad and even tastier baked beans. The most delicious of all were the clams. They were so good and fresh. And for dessert we had s'mores. By 6pm it seemed the eventful day began to wind down. We helped Donna and Mark start to put things away and the families began packing up their cars. We headed to the dock by about 6:20 and got onto the 6:30 ferry back.

I had a lot of fun on the island with everyone. I got to know some great families I wouldn't have really gotten to know otherwise. I know Marlee's family, but I have only chit chatted with Jackson and Lucas' parents in passing, but we hadn't sat down and talked to each other before. To spend a day with them was really enriching. I'm sad I won't have them on the team next year again, since they're children are moving on to 2nd grade. Neverthless, I'm so glad I got to know them.

On my way home, I visited Stephanie at home since I passed it by on my way home to Seattle. She and Carson were chillin' at home. He had just gotten his bath and was ready for dinner. Steph and I just hung out and watched Carson and laughed at anything he did. That kid is so funny.

I had a good day just shootin' the breeze with great company wherever I went.

Adventures in the NW and Father's Day.

My dad has 6 brothers and sisters, all of whom live in the Puget Sound area with the exception of one of his sisters, my Auntie Lea. She lives in San Jose with her family--my Uncle Roger and my 2 cousins Mark and Leanne. They came up to Tacoma to visit last week for Father's Day weekend and to celebrate Auntie Lea's 50th birthday. It's always exciting to hang out with my out-of-town cousins. Mark comes to Washington at least once a year, and out of his family, he's the one we see most often. He has come to visit almost every summer since he was young, and for the last couple of years the cousins have made it our "thing" to do something adventurous when he's here. The other year it was going to Family Fun Center (as a teen it's adventurous, I guess), last year we went kayaking, and this year we topped it all, but it wasn't just one thing. It felt like a week of adventures and that's what made it so great.


The Thursday before Father's Day, G, Tan, and Mark came up to Seattle to visit me after work,
and David stopped by too. We all decided we were hungry, so I thought we could eat at The 5 Spot on top of Queen Anne Hill. It was a gorgeous evening, so we stopped at Kerry Park, also at the top of the hill, to see the view. I'm not exactly sure if Tan or G had ever seen the view from the park, but I knew Mark hadn't seen it, so I thought it would be nice for all of us to see the city skyline and take pictures. After a quick photo shoot, we proceeded to dinner. Food at The 5 Spot was really delicious and the servings were quite generous, so we were content. We all ordered something totally different, but Tan and Mark ended up finishing everything. They were our garbage disposals. After dinner, we took a night ride to Fremont to see the Fremont Troll underneath the Aurora Bridge. I remember seeing the troll during the day and feeling a little creeped out, so for sure I was a little scared at 9 o'clock at night. It was a fun night. Any time spent with the family on a weekday is always a pleasure. It makes my work week feel less monotonous. Any time spent with the family on any given day is always a pleasure!

Two days later on Saturday, we rented scooters for the whole day and scooted our way throughout every inch of Seattle. It was so awesome! A couple of weeks ago Ardon and I were driving down Mercer Street and we drove by a scooter rental called Scoot About. Ardon thought it would be fun to rent scooters, so when we got back to my place he did some research on rates, which weren't bad at all. One thing that caught his eye was that if we could get 5 or more people together, we would get a group rate with a 10% discount. I mentioned that Mark was coming into town for Father's Day weekend, and that my other cousins would love to do it, so we planned for then. I rallied the troops--Tan, Mark, and David--and we were good to go. A couple of days before the scooter adventure I was a little apprehensive because I wasn't sure how I'd fit on a scooter since I'm so short. I didn't even know if I'd be able to get my own scooter or if I'd have ride behind somebody. And even if I did get my own scooter, what if I rev up when I'm supposed to brake and crash?! To ease my anxiety, Ardon called in ahead of time and told them that he's got somebody who is 4'9" and wants to ride, and they said that I could ride the Honda Metropolitan since it's lowest to the ground. It did make me feel a little better knowing that they had something for me. Saturday morning comes along and Mark, Tan, David, and Ardon arrive at my place around 9:30 so we could be at the scooter place by 10am and scoot around from 10-6, since that's the time frame that you can get a group discount with. We get to Scoot About and we get all the paperwork done, and then they bring us out to the vast parking lot to introduce us to our scooters. Mark, Tan, David and Ardon have bright yellow bad-ass looking scooters and I have a cream colored little scooter with pink accents. It was love at first sight for me. They give us the whole run down of what all the buttons are for, how to fill up the gas tank, etc. Then, it's judgment time. I get on my scooter and I FIT! I could sit on it and still touch the ground. They have us do a trial run around the parking lot, and I must admit, my trial run made me even more nervous than I already was. I pretty much sucked. . . but I knew I could do it. I was determined to scoot! I did more trial runs than anyone else in the group just to get more comfortable, and after a little while, I was ready to hit the road, and that's what we did. Our first stop was Fremont, we passed the Troll and then stopped to eat. Then we went to Gasworks, through the U-District, through Laurelhurst, up to Capitol Hill, back to Queen Anne, then down south to the Seward Park area. After about half an hour on the road, I got so used to it and scooted around with ease. (I'm actually considering investing in one. It's such a gas saver, which is a bonus, especially with the insane gas prices these days.) It was an amazingly fun time. I told the boys they look like delinquents because they all had black hoodies, jeans, tennis shoes, and the same yellow scooter, and then there's little old me on my little pink scooter. When we were on our way to Seward Park, I remember overhearing a lady on the side of the street say, "Oh, and there's a lady too!" I can't even describe how much fun I had that day. Great company, great weather, and great scooters. Such a wonderful way to start my summer, and definitely a day I'll never forget.


The next day was Father's Day and Auntie Lea's birthday. We had a family celebration at Auntie Venus's house. Needless to say there was a kitchenfull of an endless supply of food and lots of laughter. It was the first time in a long while that the entire Picardal clan was all together, with the exception of Christian and Tan because they had to work. We all saw it as a great opportunity to take a Picardal family photo.


School finally ended on Tuesday the 17th. I was dead tired and Ardon was really sweet and brought me some take-out from McMenamin's and we watched the Celtics beat the Lakers for the NBA championship. The next day we went for a hike at Snoqualmie Falls. Earlier that morning, the weather was still pretty cloudy and we weren't sure if we should go because it looked like it could start to rain, but we decided that since both of us were on vacation, we should go. I'm glad be decided to do it because the weather cleared and it turned out to be another beautiful day.

So, in the last 2 months . . .

I completely acknowledge that I have not been stellar at keeping up with my blog within the last couple of months. In all this time, I just kept thinking "There's nothing exciting to write about." As I look back at the time that my blog has been idle, I have to admit that I was so totally wrong! I've had a lot of exciting things happen, I guess I've just been too lazy to blog about it. Now that school is out, I've got all the time in the world! In this post, I will do my best to reflect on the really cool things that I've experienced in the past 2 months. Beware. It's gonna be a long one! . . .

May 5 (Cinco de Mayo): My new niece Mia was born! All 6 pounds and 7 ounces of her came crying quite loudly into the world. None of my family made it to the hospital in time to see it because she came out so quickly. Now Isaac has a little sister, and it's so exciting to see the 2 of them grow. My aunties think she looks a lot like me, so I say she's going to grow up to be really hot. She is quite the looker!Baby Mia.

Vince, Isaac, Mia, and Mar. Their first family photo.

May 9: The weather was really pretty for a while. (Operative word "WAS." What's up with the weather these days?) It just so happens that the school that I teach at, Gatewood Elementary, is located very closely to Lowman beach, so when my teammates and I got too lazy to plan any lessons, we decided to take a walking field trip to Lowman Beach. We're so fortunate to have the option to just get up and go. Well, what about permission slips, you ask? Have no fear. In the beginning of the year, we had all the parents/guardians fill out a general walking field trip permission slip which is valid for any walking field trips throughout the year, so we were good to go. The children had so much fun. They were so fascinated by all the creatures, objects, and plants that live at the beach. The baby crabs and smooth rocks were the most commonly collected creatures and objects. They could have spent the entire day there. The teachers enjoyed the time at the beach as well. It's really refreshing for everyone to step out of the classroom for a while. The following week, we took another walking field trip to Lincoln Park.

Walking down to Lowman Beach. Stay on the path!

The kids found so many crawly critters.

May 16: I finally got to watch Ardon perform!!! I was super excited because word on the street is that he's pretty awesome at scratching, so as soon as I found out that he was going to perform, I made sure to free up the night so I could go watch. So, Ardon has been scratching since he was 13 or 14 or so, he has toured around the country and won a number of competitions scratching. Scratching and music is his love. He has put his music on hold for the last 2 years because he chose to go back to school and finish college at the University of Washington, something that I'm really proud of him for. He and I have been together for less than a year, so I had not seen him perform. I was excited to be in the audience, and he was even more excited to be on stage again. He performed with his buddy, Ced and they did about 15 minutes of scratching to beats that Ardon made, which were pretty dope. It was so great to watch Ardon in his element. I could tell he was really hyped to be up there again and he was awesome. I'm a big fan.

Ced and Ardon scratching.

May 19: Tin and Michael visited my classroom for the first time. It was a Monday afternoon and they had just spent that weekend in Michigan. Tin called me earlier that day and said that she and Michael were on their way home from the airport, and had nothing else to do, so they wanted to come visit me in the classroom with my kids. I was so excited to have them come and watch me teach. Tin had not seen me in action before, so not only was I excited but, a little nervous because she's a teacher too. She's also my sister, so I knew she would be totally honest with her opinions on my teaching style. I had just finished teaching the lesson and the children began their individual work time as Tin and Michael walked in. I thought the group was a little loud and some were off task, and it felt a little chaotic to me, so I was expecting Tin and Michael to agree with my own observations. To my surprise, they had nothing but really great things to say about my class. They told me how good the kids were, and how patient they were with teaching Michael how to make paper claws. They said that when they walked in, they were impressed with how well the kids were working, and even the kids who weren't really working, weren't disrupting the class. Their observations made me realize what a great group I have and how picky I am as a teacher. After that day, I truly felt better about my class and about myself as a teacher.

Michael, the children, and paper claws!

May 30: Ardon is the concert coordinator the for the University of Washington. Basically he and his crew put their heads together to find acts to book on campus at the UW, and it's their job to put the shows together. It's quite a perk dating somebody who works in "show biz" because I've got to meet a number of up and coming comedians, bands, and singers. His final big show of the year was the "Concert on the Lawn" where a number of bands played throughout the afternoon and the evening. There were some really great bands that played, and they brought out Judah Friedlander to host the show. You might know him as "Frank" from the NBC comedy "30 Rock." Concert on the Lawn was a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful that afternoon and even more gorgeous in the evening. I had the opportunity to sit and chat with Trevor (Ardon's boss) and his wife Sandy, and I really enjoyed their company. Sandy teaches high school history, so she and I had a lot talk about, but even deeper than that, she and Trevor are just really good people. We all really just talked and laughed for hours. It was a really nice evening spent.

Backstage with Ardon and Judah Friedlander.
Looking down at their shirtswithout making a face.

June 11: It's Team 2 Camp Time!!! Wow, do the children look forward to this every year! At the end of each school year, we have camp. We don't go off to a camp site, we don't stay overnight. We simply just put all the desks, chairs, and shelves aside, bring in our sleeping bags, and pitch a tent. We have it during regular school hours--the children come to school in the morning, we cook breakfast in the classroom, we have camp, and they go home in the afternoon. Every year, I try to make a camp theme in the classroom that is special to the group. Last year, I made a big tree in the middle of the classroom and put a treehouse in the tree because we read through the entire series of "The Magic Treehouse." Needless to say, the children loved it. This year, I didn't read through a series, so it was a little more difficult to come up with a theme. I was shopping through Target and came upon a tent in the shape of a giraffe, and it was PERFECT! We had studied about being "giraffes" and sticking our necks out to help other people, so there was my theme! I also got a huge rustic looking flower pot, stuck it in the middle of the classroom, filled it with books, and we called it the "Watering Hole." Just like water nourishes the animals, books nourish our brains. Cheesy, I know, but I had to come up with something, so I went with it. I put tables in the corners of each classroom and they used the tables as their tents. I had so many things planned for the children to do during camp, but all they wanted to do was chill in their sleeping bags. Man, was it quiet all week! Bust out the sleeping bags, and it will quiet those kids down. It's so calming for them to be confined to a cozy sleeping bag. Let the kids go into their sleeping bags with a book, pop in a nature CD, and it's quiet for at least an hour. Even better, we called the giraffe the "Gentle Giraffe" and the children that are managing themselves in their table tents will have the privilege to go into the gentle giraffe and do whatever they want to do all by themselves so long as they are being gentle in the giraffe. Camp is so much fun for the teachers and the kids. I'm definitely looking forward to it again.

Team 2 Camp: Gentle Giraffe, The Watering Hole, and table tents!

These are the highlights of my life the last couple of months. This summer will be full of even more highlights, and I won't be too lazy to blog about it!