Well, I am now at the half way mark of my TESOL certification course. While taking it, my thoughts range from, "Oh, I know this"! to "Oh crap, what are they talking about?" My grades are in the middle to high 90's, so I guess I am doing something right! In addition to the certification, I continue to lead (t

Thanks to my wonderful husband, I now have a fancy new laptop (ThinkPad T430) with the newest version of Flash. Plus it's portable! Did you all know about this? It's quite a nice feature. And with said laptop in place, I was able to officially sign up for my TESOL* Certification course. I am doing the 10

Ok, where was I? Ah yes, the epiphany. Once I realized that changing the population and subject of what I would teach could fix most of the problems, I became overjoyed. And I realized, whether the subject is swimming, in

After a recent horrible phone interview, which left one of us in tears of frustration (Can you guess who?) I decided to take a step back from my job search. Way back, back to high school and personality type tests. I took one and I came up with "Harmony Seeking

I've been getting allergy shots since November and when I tell people about it I get asked the same question. "Did they make your seasonal allergies go away?" I would reply that I wasn't sure yet because I wasn't sure when my season started. Well, April 1, 2013 it started. And the answer to the above question is NO!

I've been called sensitive, dramatic, tender and soft, and it's all because when things really move me, I have the tendency to cry. I often try to hide it, especially when no one else in the room is crying, but I have also found it has some nice benefits: 1) stress release 2) sinus relief 3) dry eye relief. So,

I realized lately that over the years, I have had a number of male friends who were/are obese. While most people considered them to be scary or mean, I have found them to be the sweetest guys I know. When my friend J. enters the pool, I can see strangers visibly stiffen when they see him. I think it's because h

I've been feeling a little uninspired lately. While fitness stuff is going well, the job search continues to drag on. But I have some new ideas so stay tuned. After talking about this with a new friend, I had the idea to start looking at online courses and seminars instead of watching stupid television shows. (Good-b

It's time to switch my swimming workout. The total length is the same, but the drills focus on new things and each set is longer. I'm glad to be making a change, it's nice to have new challenges. I print four sets of each routine on a page, print it out and then cut it in four. I take one to the pool with me an

In some circles, I am know mostly for my Type 1 diabetes. But I realized I haven't blogged about it in ages. So, if I don't blog about diabetes do I still have it? Yep. I AM Still checking my blood sugar 10+ times a day Still wearing my One Touch Animas insulin pump Still

I have a number of friends and family who have been in or are currently in a band. It is usually for fun, but sometimes it really takes off. My friend since childhood, Alastair Moock, is a good example. I can still remember going canoeing with him at Sandy Island YMCA camp

Last year, I almost had a heart attack when I learned that Mark Zupan, star of the movie Murderball, would be speaking at our little Vancouver campus of Washi

When I don't feel well, I tend to like watching cartoons (Monsters, Inc. is an all time favorite) or nature shows. I guess I find them calming. Well, when I recently was down for the count for 11 days (a bad cold with a chaser of gastroenteritis), I remembered my luck with streaming

I often put inspirational messages near by bedside, so that when I wake up I am extra motivated to workout. My previous message was "Exercise is medicine" (from Men's Health Magazine) but I decided it was time for something new. I created this word cloud with a theme of "Reasons to exercise" and now have it printed out and

Hey Lia, what are you eating for lunch these days? Ah, good question. I like easy but tasty food, and just created another dish (based on a much more extensive recipe) that I plan on adding to my rotation schedule. Quinoa with Shrimp and Avocado

Why Lia, I can see what you are doing each week for fitness (you've thoughtfully listed it in the sidebar of your blog) but can you break down the actual routines for me? Why sure! 1. Swimming (or swimmiling, as my husband calls it) 3x a week, about 45 minutes each time Th

One of the reasons I started swimming at the local pool was to meet new friends. Mistake #1: Swimming is a solitary activity. Mistake #2: 7pm is not a popular time to be at the pool. Mistake #3: Fighting for an open lane can make people, let's say, cranky. But somehow, I s

I have been getting allergy shots (immunotherapy) for the last few months and I thought I would share with you what I have learned. 1. Do not assume that your doctor uses the word "shots" because he is talking about them over a spa

I have been a fan of the TV show, This Old House, for as long as I can remember. I can even recall watching it at my cousins' house in Needham, Massachusetts in the little den on the first floor of their house. More recently, Martin and I watched it on Sunday afternoons after returning from the day trips we too

Although this blog is purely for fun (and hopefully educational) purposes, and although I do not make a dime off of it (notice any ads? Nope!), I wanted you to know that I have not fallen off the face of the earth. My allergy shots are making me tired, and I find that the energy I do have needs to

Last week I did an interview with the local community access television channel. On camera. At the pool. In my bathing suit, towel, and bathing cap. I was minding my own business, doing laps, when one of the lifeguards asked me if I would mind doing a quick interview with

I recently read that whenever you go out into the wilderness, you need to have at least 3 sources of fire. So, for our cross country ski trips I created a fire starter kit. It is composed of matches, a tea light, a lighter and 4 tampons. Why tampons, you ask? Well, they fit in a small space for packing but expand to a huge

Whenever I have a hard time falling asleep at night, I* play a game. The game is distracting but also simple enough to let my mind calm down so that I can fall asleep. It goes like this ... you pick a subject and must name items in alphabetical order. For example, if you pick the subject: fruit

I have been swimming for about 8 weeks now. And although I have purchased a number of things to make swimming even more fun, I must say that the most important item to have is goggles. Without goggles you cannot open your eyes underwater. And thus you miss many clues: how far you have left in the lane, if you a

History has shown that gun sales go up after reports of public shootings. The one yesterday in a Oregon suburb about 45 minutes from where I live has surely scared many in my community. And so I beg those who are considering the purchase of a firearm (because they are scared) to pause for a moment. Ow

  On December 6, 2012, thanks to the v

About a year ago, I switched my Women's Health Magazine subscription to a Men's Health subscription. (Technically I had to cancel one and start another, it was not an easy switcheroo.) I did this because both magazines have the same health news, but I much pref

2 years ago in November I was working at a crazy company with some fabulous people. 3 years ago in November I was healing from emergency back surgery. 5 years ago in November, I started blogging. I have now posted here 447 times. Technically, I posted 8 times on the first day (I

A friend of mine is going though a break up. Having been married now for 12 years, and since I'm an old, old, lady, break ups are a distant memory for me. The only sage advice I had for her was to take good care of herself. Oh, and to find as much eye candy as possible. Our eyes have muscles, and they ne

I have been trying to put together an Emergency Preparedness kit for years. I research what the Red Cross and others suggest we have on hand, and start to collect the items but I never seemed to finish. I tried to cheap out once and just refill plastic juice bottles with water. When I finally got back to workin