A sauté pan and the magic bullet

When I drive home from work, I think about my workout an eating. I love food. In college, Amanda graciously made homemade scones, tasty Asian dinners and fantastic fries. Megan would throw together a secret Italian sauce with some pasta for us too. What did I do? Provide wine, laughter and maybe a healthy salad.

Thanks to them, I had to learn to cook when I moved out. Or else I wouldn't eat anything but packaged goods. Me.

So today, I had these cute little mini squashes and an acorn squash. I made a fabulous almond orange pesto with cilantro. And too much garlic. I need to lay low on that. At least I warded off the vampires tonight. I sautéed some onions and microwave cooked the squash. I crave savory.

I threw some butter, brown sugar and raisins into the acorn squash. That'll be a delicious winter lunch tomorrow!

Don't forget the seeds! I baked them with salt and curry powder. Delicioso!

Another relaxing night by the oven side.

Tomorrow? Potato leek pizza!

New Year.... New Me? Yeah, right!

There is one new habit I do need to develop.

Flossing.

My dentist had me imagining a life without teeth when I was sitting in that chair. I had visions of applesauce, Jamba Juice, and flan flying across my taste buds. No more chewing gum!? Pass me the floss. Apparently, flossing every day is a big deal. So, here we go. I did not floss last night. But, I didn't really have a night that ended.... so tonight, I will floss.

The idea of new year = new habits is silly to me. I already am in pursuit of my best self. I'm a fire, an Aries. We already take life by the reins and compete with our best self. I can't lose, because I am keeping a tally of almost every big positive and negative event. When I see big gains in my students' scores? That earns big positives. When I forget to follow up with an email? A negative. But then, I take a tourist's photo for their family at the mountain. That is a positive. And fun because I get to play the accent game: Where are they from?

If I were to reflect on my competitive nature, I know my competitive spirit is like a piece of green play-doh. The essence is all there: the eye on the prize, the strategy to be #1, the determination and dedication. But, ask a high school friend, a college friend, a Teach for America friend and a present-day friend about my competitive spirit and I'll bet there are a few different interpretations. Every time I get a chance to mold something new, something better - I take it.

I like the present-day version best. Obviously. I'm an Aries and we improve - not go backwards.

When I look back on last year and look forward into this year, I know I will continue to make mistakes - just hopefully not the same ones. I made plenty of wrong turns in 2011 so I am ready for the time when I take a path and need to make a U-turn, and put myself back on the right track. I'm prepared to fail because it has happened often. I'm equally as prepared to win.

a new year? What does that really mean for me?

Make mistakes (again). Improve (again). Reflect and change course (again). Find a new challenge (again). Become a more effective teacher (again). Seek out my best self (again).

first world problems

some friends and I had a mini road trip and I caught up with the times.

I'm sure I've heard it in the past, but I've got buzzing between my ears all hours of the day. So, I became fluent in the phrase:

"that's a first world problem"


1 - facebook changes AGAIN. how do I block that crazy stalker?
2 - google plus. what is the purpose? no one uses it!
3 - I can't remember the log-in and password for my student loans website. wait, I have ANOTHER student loan to pay off? shoot!
4 - damn traffic lights. Oh yeah, I have a car to drive, money for gas and no payments
5 - I-70 traffic is horrible coming down from the mountains on a Saturday evening!
6- my bike helmet doesn't match my bike.
7- no PBR on tap!? WHAT! How can I be a hipster!?
8 - I forgot my iPhone charger. No cell today.
9 - Our dryer does not dry clothes well. It takes 2 rounds
10 - ah! the garage door opener sticks and it drives me nuts!

Here's some perspective
1- Less than 60% of Denver Hispanic students graduate from high school
2- Less than 50% of Denver students who enter in 9th grade graduate from high school
3 - By 8th grade, there is a 32% gap in Hispanic students' and white students' math scores on the national test
4- Latino and Black students in Colorado are unsatisfactory in 10th grade math. That means, they are significantly failing the state math test. That is a score of below 50% on the math test.
5- 70% of special education students nation-wide are African-American. Can someone stop and check that out, please?
6- Fewer than 10% of black and Hispanic students participate in higher level, rigorous courses. Why NOT!?
7- There is a 31 point difference in 8th grade math standardized test scores between black and white students. 31 points!
8 - The gap between male and female black and white students widens between 4th and 8th grade
9 - there is a 30 million word gap by age 3 for children from low income homes versus children from middle-income homes. 30 millions words! That is already 3 years - or more - behind in reading
10 - The black student college graduation rate is 42%. Black women are far more likely to graduate than black men: 47% vs. 36%

Think twice before complaining that you are out of dishwasher soap. And remind me to think before I am sad my snowboard wasn't waxed before a big powder day.

Ask yourself this question -
How much money do you have invested in yourself right now?
How much is it worth to invest in someone else?

Think happy thoughts.

Merry Christmas virtual world!

It's not a secret that this school year has been a rough one. Sure, it's a great gig at a successful high school. But I am light years behind in my relationships with students. And I can't seem to get my head out of the sand.

At Christmas, I end up sifting through my goodies from high school- trophies, photos, notes from friends during class, birthday cards ands graduation cards, and other bobbles and knick knacks. This year, the year I need it, I find some quality long-forgotten notes. And hid some not so great memories...

Kappa sisters wrote notes to graduating seniors and what do I find? Notes from sisters! About my ability to motivate, my sense of life and my pursuit of excellence. That I'm an inspiration and have a strong presence. A few were scared of me at first (imagine that!!?)- until I smiled or hugged them and personally knew their story. They were sad to see me go!

In short, in sweet notes written years ago, my sisters shared their love and respect for me. Now, those words mean so much in a time where I need to feel hope. I needed a boost- some encouragement that my purpose is to teach these hoodlums and inspire them, motivate them - when the times are tough. If that's the role I've been practicing for since college, or earlier, I need to get it together.

I need to find strength in my history and find motivation- the same motivation that I need to sell to teenagers. I need to recognize my ability to inspire and my powerful presence. I've been blessed with developing strong relationships quickly and also finding a way to help others find their path.

Someone help me. What is my path? Is it teaching?

Thanks to all those lovely sorority sisters out there who wrote me notes to wish me well for graduation, I know I'm into teaching and need to experience a rebirth. Those notes probably took 5 minutes to write, but today, 8 years later, I read them for 30 minutes.

And they've reminded me I'm destined to teach. So I need to suck it up and figure out a way to make this year better.

Food. And Denver food

A friend and I went out to eat tonight to catch up and eat. And we ate! It made me realize that Denver has a great variety of damn good food.

Tonight- Euclid Hall, but we got there and it was closed for a private event. Luckily, the guy gave us free drink cards. I'll take it. It's known for small batch brews from around the world with a great German menu.

So we ended up at Rioja. I've been waiting to go there. Mediterranean. They are known for their Colorado lamb. We went to Africa on that plate. It was full of spice and flavor. There was a sausage with a cream sauce, a few different sauces. A couscous bundle of joy and flavorful, roasted leeks. Ah! So good. And, the Thai scallops with a hint of pineapple and a small polenta with the scallop. Yummmmm.

A few other great finds:
Root Down. Linger. Olivea. Duo. Shells and Sauce. Denver Biscuit co. Lucille's. Jelly. Sushi den. Ale House. Any Mexican or pho on federal ave. Watercourse. Madison st. Über sausage. Sweet action ice cream. Table 6. Lala. Lola. St marks. Il posto.

There are more, yet to be discovered.

I love yoga, running and snowboarding. I get to fuel up at great places and then play hard.

Thanks to all our Denver chefs for making Denver a new foodie city!

Thanksgiving food!

First, we made prime rib medium rare. It was done perfectly!

We had a tasty goat cheese, roasted pear salad with an apricot vinaigrette. Because I sautéed the pears, the goat cheese melted a little and mixed with the vinaigrette. So delicious! The sweet potatoes were done perfectly with a little brown sugar and pecans.

I made my bourbon pumpkin pie with pecan streusel topping. The bourbon and crushed pecans in the pie make this a party in your mouth and a step away from diabetes.

And. We made the most delicious, messy sandwich with leftover prime rib. Imagine this: prime rib bacon, onion, a fried egg, some mustard and horseradish all on toasted bread. We made it up, mostly Kathleen.

This ones really great. We took all our salsas and the horseradish and mixed them up to make a dipping sauce for the fingerling taters I made, baked with garlic and pepper, and dill.

I'm thankful for...college!

How much fun my amazing friends are!

Lexie moved to Denver and life got so much better. She's my lifelong friend and we are both so fortunate to have each other. Awe, so sentimental but so true!
Steve is moving here in a few months. What?! Is this real? He's our first friend at Loyola, he took some big consequences for us that first night of living in Creighton hall......We are indebted for a few more years.
I get to visit my Chicago crew every few months, and they come here too! We love food and when ya'll are back, I've got a list of places for us to check out! We run, hike, drink, laugh and recover together. We even play iPad games and have fun. Ha
And my sister even moved west! Thanks Ash!
I'm thankful every day for the beautiful, strong, smart, loyal, honest, hilarious, positive people that make me who I am.
I'd like to think each of us borrows the best of each other and makes it part of who we are.
When I get a mani/pedi, I think of ______*?
When I'm being a foodie, I think of :
____*?
When I'm in a little pain from working out, I remember to send good karma to...*?
When international travel crosses my mind, I always think of __*?
When I pass St. Mary's glacier, I send love to Chicago!