Simple Machines

Tonight for dinner I stood by my theory that I love to eat by volume...roast beef salad with cherry tomatoes, chopped zucchini and shredded cabbage with light honey mustard dressing.

Apparently, if you spend over a 100 bucks a month on protein powder you eventually work your way up to a free shaker from the protein company lol.

It feels like every week I am repeating myself with the comment "I am so glad tomorrow is Friday." Really, though I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. For one, we have meetings all day and the kids are out of school, I can sit through a day of meetings for a change...I need a break from teaching for a day, especially after the crazy projects my kids have been working on.

This week we learned about Simple Machines, machines that are used to make are life easier. I gave the students four days to create whatever machine they wanted, as long as it made work easier. I was surprised how creative the students were in their projects using just recyclable materials. Here are a few...

The Stop Light made out of old gum holders

A balancing scale made out of wood levers and plastic pop bottles

Another example of a balancing scale using erasers and wood

A zip line to help move objects from one place to another without wasting gas

Finally, a robot with moving hands to help you clean and store things inside it's stomach

I am always so amazed to see these creations they come up with!!

Workout Update

I was pretty pumped to hit up the gym this morning and get a good run in. I managed a 3 1/2 mile run and my Achilles started to get a little stiff again...grrrr. I had only planed on a three mile run, so I did more then planned, but I am still bummed that I am having Achilles problems. Throughout the day I had little pain, probably a 1 so not much at all. It just seems to go in spurts and I am unsure if I should even be running on it at all...I don't feel any pain at all when running so I figure I am okay. Saturday, depending on how it feels, I want to try for four miles. I just want to get back up to my 10k distance, but I am in no rush. Doing the elliptical and biking has worked just fine for me lately :) I did get a rocking upper body workout in though..I tell ya that new Lady Gaga song really pumps me up!!

If you could create a simple machine to make your life easier...what would you create?

I would love to have a machine that automatically makes my lunches for the next day, healthy and portioned sized differently...plus a different tasty lunch every day!

What song really gets your blood flowing when working out lately?

Lady Gaga You and I