Back in the game

I'm sticking to my no-diet plan and I'm down a whopping 5 pounds. Glorious! All the things I've been avoiding by eating too often are getting some attention and I'm feeling more like a productive member of my life. I feel lighter, faster, happier and more stable in so many ways at 156 pounds.

I'm going to eat a hamburger at Five Guys now... I can do that because I'm actually hungry.

I've been riding my bike to work now for about two weeks. The students and teachers now know me as 'that teacher who rides her bike to work'. A testament to students who don't pay attention:

Me (teaching a lesson today about air quality and ways we can help reduce pollution):
"It IS better to take the bus and metro than to drive a car, but if you only need to go a short distance, a bicycle is fantastic!"

Jordon (6th grade science student): "How come you don't ride YOUR bike to school, Ms. Moore?"

All other students in the class (pointing to my bike in the classroom): "SHE DOES!!"

My students have been quite curious about an adult who RIDES A BIKE. They have seen the 'crazies' who ride in the cold in shorts and who wear spandex proudly. What they don't realize is that I'm one of those people. I run in 20 degree weather and like it. I ride to school in the rain and I can change my clothes and look better than some teachers in 8 minutes flat. I walk my bike through the hallway, usually before the students invade, and teachers ask me, "Did you ride your bike here?" Do they ask because they don't have anything else to say, or do they really wonder if I don my helmet and clackety shoes for show-and-tell?

For now I'm enjoying my strange existence but sometimes I feel a bit on the outside of ...

everything 'normal'.