All the way to Minnesota to take a shower?

I have really funny students. They are funny because they always have a comment. I cannot remember a time in my classroom when I have said something and one of my students has not had an immediate response to whatever I said. This past Friday was one of my favorites. The conversation went something like this:

Student: Ms. Rajanen, what are you going to do this weekend?

Me: Well, I'm actually going up to Minnesota for a wedding shower. Do you know what a wedding shower is?

Student: (big smile) Yep, I definitely know what a shower is!

Me: It might not be quite the kind of shower you're thinking of. This kind of shower is where people, usually women, get together and they give the person who is getting married presents. That's called a wedding shower.

(long pause)

Student: "Wow Ms. Rajanen, so you're going all the way to Minnesota to take a shower? They must have really nice showers!"

I did try several other angles...

Me: My mom is going to be there. Remember Mrs. Rajanen? She's going to be there to help me celebrate.

Student: Your mom is going to take a shower with you?

Another attempt...

Me: At wedding showers you play games and eat snacks and open presents!

Student: You're going to play games in the shower with your friends? Must be a huge shower, Ms. Rajanen!

Somewhere along the line, I gave up explaining. Partly because we didn't seem to be getting anywhere, but also because I had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard. It was just too funny for words.

The actual wedding shower that I traveled to Minnesota to attend was also beyond words. I have the most thoughtful friends and family and I felt so incredibly special all day long and have continued to feel the love all week. Life is beautiful and I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful people with me on the journey.

I had a professor in college who once told me, when life is too beautiful for words, just close your eyes and whisper thank you into the wind and know that it will land on the hearts of all the people you love. And so, I am sending my thank you's into the air for these beautiful people, my students, and so many others...

I love books!

I started this blog to write about adventures in teaching and doing things in my "tennies" but another one of my true loves is reading. I come from a family of readers and writers and inherited their love for getting lost in language. Too bad it didn't fit into the blog title!

When I'm at home, I try to read before bed every night. Try, is the key word here as I usually end up waking up to Scott gently prying the book out of my hands because I've fallen asleep once again after reading maybe 5 to 10 pages. For that reason, I make it through maybe a book every month or two. But, there is one time every year when I binge on books. Spring. Break.

My mom and I have been taking spring breaks together for the past 5 years and yes, it is as wonderful as it sounds. My mom and I are two pees in a pod and we love traveling together. We find a fairly remote beach in Mexico and we park our butts in the sand. We soak up the sun, laugh, and read. That's it. It's awesome. And so, with a margarita in hand, the beautiful sunshine and ocean, I read more than I have all year.

This year was extra special in the reading department because I would honestly recommend all of the books I read. In case you are a book lover like me, I thought I would share my favorites. These books are best enjoyed while listening to the ocean, but other settings will do as well.

1.) The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd



My mom read this one first and based on her reaction, I decided to download it on my kindle and read it right away. Sue Monk Kidd is a favorite author of mine and she does not disappoint in this new book. We even decided that this would be our pick if we were to give an award for best book of our trip. Please read it. I really think you'll love it. You can read the NPR review here. (I love their book reviews).

2.) Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunte














I would put this book in my top five favorite books of all time. Really, I loved it so much. It's a beautiful story that completely drew me in. I fell in love with the characters in this book and couldn't stop talking about it when I was done. This one is definitely worth a read. You can also read what NPR had to say here.

3.) You Before Me by Jojo Moyes



This was a really quick read and I enjoyed it. It was thought provoking and caused me to do a lot of thinking about what I would do in certain situations. I am warning you now, it also caused me to cry into my margarita on the beach...but don't let that scare you away, it's worth the read. NPR review here.

4.) Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple



This was a fun read. Again, great characters (I'm a big sucker for character development). I love books that have the perspective of someone dealing with mental health challenges and this one did not disappoint. It also has a heartwarming mother daughter relationship and especially given my travel companion, I loved that. Give it a try, it's worth it. NPR review here.

5.) A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra



I love when I read books that teach me about a corner of the world I previously knew next to nothing about. This book takes place in Chechnya and the author does an incredible job of weaving several stories together. This is one of those books where you get to the end and sigh because it's just so beautiful. You can read NPR's review here.

There you have it. Enjoy! I'm always looking for book suggestions, so let me know if you've read anything worth recommending lately. Happy reading!!

Dancing into Spring!

Teachers and students all around Chicago are smiling from ear to ear today. Why? Well, it's a beautiful day, but also because as of 2:45 today, we are officially on spring break. In my mind, spring break is the ultimate treat. Most professions don't get a spring break (I'm really sorry!) and I don't know about other teachers, but it feels like I'm getting away with something. I feel like I need to walk around saying, shhhh don't tell, I'm not going to work for a whole week!

The week leading up to spring break was a busy one in my world. Coming off the high of the state swim meet, I jumped right into training for the Ironman 70.3 in Racine, Wisconsin. The race will take place on July 20th, which is almost exactly 16 weeks from last Saturday. This will be my second go-round with the 70.3 distance and I'm genuinely excited to learn and grow from the experience of doing it again. I am also hopeful that this will prepare me to take the giant leap into the 140.6 Ironman in 2015. Eek!

While I'm very excited to be starting training (I go a little nutty when I don't have a goal), the first week hit me like a slap in the face. Well, mostly the biking portion of the first week was what hit me hard. I love swimming and running and over the winter months I held onto my training in both sports. I had a lot of thoughts and goals of going to spin class over the winter, but well, that didn't happen. This week, there were a few minutes when I could have sworn I heard my bike laughing at me...and if you've ever suddenly stared biking, there is a very specific pain that you feel in your lower half. Yep, definitely felt a lot of that this week...

But, you know what? I made it through week one just fine. I'm thankful for the strong swimming and running base that I have and the biking will come. As always, I'm thankful for my dear friends who make running, swimming, and biking a blast. There is something really special about endurance athletes. I love them to pieces, as my grandmother used to say.

And so, today I walked my sore legs into school and got ready for our last day before the magical spring break. I think most teachers will tell you that any day before a break is pretty much a wash. Yes, we try to keep things calm and normal, but by about 10am, all hope is lost. As a middle school teacher, there was an additional exciting event today. A dance!

I love the tradition at my school of daytime dances. At 1pm, all the middle schoolers and their teachers head to the gym and rock out for about an hour. The kids love it and it is incredibly entertaining to observe. Many of my students run as fast as they can around the gym, others hide behind their friends, but most will join in the dancing when the Cupid Shuffle comes on. They dance their little hearts out, with and without a sense of rhythm, and I love every second of it.

It was an afternoon of pure joy and my students and I practically skipped out of the building at the end of the day. It is spring break!

I hope the beautiful sun is shining wherever you are and even if you aren't going on spring break, I recommend you dance for a few minutes. Not sure how? My kids will show you.

Happy Spring Break! I'm off to Mexico in the morning... :)

Race Report: ILMSA State Swim Meet

This past weekend I swam in the ILMSA State Masters Swim Meet at the RecPlex Aqua Arena in Pleasent Prairie, Wisconsin. I love swimming so much and I love swimming competitions. When the coach of the Swedish Fish (that's the name of my swim team, isn't that fun?) asked me if I wanted to participate in the meet, I didn't even flinch. Of course! My teammates and I have been working hard to prepare and I felt like I was back in high school the week leading up to the meet because I was so darn excited to swim.

Friday afternoon the meet started with the 1000 yard freestyle. This is the longest event of the meet (40 lengths of the pool) and is what I would describe as the slow burn race. It's definitely not a sprint, and it is definitely not something that you can jump into without training. I'm a sucker for any long distance event and so when I decided I would swim this meet, I knew I wanted to swim the 1000 for sure.

My dear aunt Carol (she's the best, seriously) offered to drive up to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin with me. "It'll be a road trip!" she told me. We're known in our family for doing slightly crazy things together, so it seemed like the perfect idea. I left my students 45 minutes early (I have the best co-workers) and made it out to the suburbs to meet Carol and we made our way to the meet. It was apparent as we arrived that this was quite a facility and while I'm sure the pictures do not do it justice, you can probably tell it was quite impressive.

I quickly got in the pool for warm up and immediately fell into the wonderful calm I feel when I swim. I love everything about the feeling...the smell of chlorine, the breathing pattern, the cool water, I could go on and on.

I jumped out of the pool when warm-ups ended and then I looked at what is called the heat sheet. This is where swimmers find out what heat and lane they will be in. When I signed up for the meet, I had to enter a seed time. For most people, this is simply writing down your personal best time and moving on. Well, I haven't swam the 1000...um, ever, so I just guessed using some estimates. What I learned upon finding the heat sheets was that I was in heat number 11. Shoot. It was going to be a while before I swam.

Being in heat 11 meant that 10 groups of people would swim the 1000 freestyle and the heats are ranked slowest to fastest. The first heats were about 20 minutes long and all of a sudden it was already 6pm. I knew doing some simple math that it would be 7:30 before I swam. I kept looking up in the stands at Carol and offered several times that she didn't have to stay, I could find my own way home. But my awesome aunt? She told me she was just fine and read her book while I chatted with my teammates down on the deck.

Finally it was time to swim the 1000 and I have to admit, my nerves kind of went away. The idea of 40 lengths was exciting in that I wouldn't have to sprint until at least the last 100-200 yards. My coach told me to build gradually through the race and one of my teammates told me to just add a little more pep as I went. Perfect advice.

I found my lane, waved to Carol...

Hi Carol!

...and before I knew it, we were off. I had a fantastic high school coach who used to tell me to repeat to myself "smooth, strong, long" with every stroke. That mantra popped into my head the moment I hit the water and carried me through to at least the 600 mark. At that point, I started to notice another swimmer to my left. Early on in the race he started to pull ahead of me and I had let that go. My coach told me to focus on myself and "stay in my lane" and I was...until there were about 300 yards left and I was gaining on this swimmer.

I'm really not a very competitive person, but when there are just a few minutes left and a possibility of scoring some points for my team? I'm ready. I pushed and pushed. I could see one of my teammates pointing to the other swimmer and motioning that we were close. The cards at the end of the pool flashed 37 and then red to indicate that I was on my last length. Push, push, push. I hit the wall and immediately looked up at the timer. She told me my time, 13:27.39, but I kept asking, did I get him? A very kind teammate was standing behind her and was able to answer my question. Yes, you got him. Small victories are the best, aren't they?

While touching out my neighbor in the pool was great, the important part for me team was scoring points for the team, which are given based on age group. There is a lot of competition in my age group because there are a lot of young swimmers who are quite speedy, but I managed to place fourth in my age group which was a good thing for my Swedish Fish.

After my swim, I quickly changed and Carol and I headed straight for Mexican food (so good) and then home.

The meet continued Saturday and my team rocked as they scored many, many points while I was back in Chicago doing other fun things with family and friends. By Sunday morning I could hardly wait to get back to that pool and keep swimming.

My amazing friend Kylene has recently joined the swim team but wasn't quite ready to swim in a meet this year (next year, Kylene!). But, because she's so wonderful, offered to drive up with me and cheer on our team as well as be a counter for the 500. Isn't she cute?

Sunday was a blast of swimming many races: 500 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 mixed free relay, and 200 mixed medley relay. It was fun to swim personally and meet some personal goals, but it was also a big honor to swim with such a gracious team. I joined in January and have felt a part of the team from day one. My coaches and teammates are there for the right reason-- to enjoy a sport that we all love, to encourage one another in some friendly competion, and to just have fun. 

We placed 5th over all which is a huge victory for our team and our wonderful coach received Coach of the Year from ILMSA. Way to go, Swedish Fish! I am proud to be a part of the team.

I loved every minute of the experience. I can't wait for next year. Happy swimming!

Spelling words

Monday is the day for new spelling words in my classroom. Yes, every single Monday, and oh boy is it a problem when we have a Monday off...we can't have spelling words on Tuesday, that's just wrong!

I have my students grouped by their ability when it comes to spelling and they get a list of 10 words to study that week. On Mondays I feel like my whole world revolves around spelling words. We play games with their words, draw pictures of their words, write stories about their words, try to have conversations containing their words (my personal favorite, so funny), and finally the kids write a sentence to go along with each word. Writing sentences is old school, I'm aware, but I've found that going back to that basic activity helps them not only learn to spell the word but actually learn what the word means.

And so, this past Monday was like any other. I sat with one group of students while they worked on their spelling sentences. A couple asked questions about the word, one asked if he could write about his favorite word "mustard" instead (no, but thanks for asking!), and the others worked quietly. 

All of a sudden one of my boys, I'll call him Fred, gasped. He slapped his hand on the table and started to laugh. "Oh Ms. Rajanen, you have GOT to read my sentence. I wrote it just to make you laugh!" 

"I just don't like it when people smell dirty every day  Like dude take a shower."

I had to include the picture because without it, it loses something. The spelling word, in case you were wondering, was "dirty" and yes, we have some work to do on sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation, but put that aside for a moment and enjoy it for what it is. In typical middle school boy fashion, he wrote about stinky people-- a very big deal in his world of adolescent boys in varying stages of the process of learning about hygiene. I died. I started laughing and he started laughing and I couldn't stop. Tears streamed down my face, because as I'm sure we all know from different moments in our lives, sometimes there is nothing to do but laugh until you cry.

I thought about my student Fred and his funny sentence that he wrote "just to make me laugh" when I saw this ted-talk that a friend posted earlier in the week. The speaker is incredible and the first time I watched it, I cried in my living room because it hit so close to home. I highly recommend you take a few minutes to watch it here:

http://www.upworthy.com/a-super-smart-teacher-makes-an-important-point-about-the-not-so-good-parts-of-his-students-lives?g=2&c=ufb1

I have this link bookmarked on my computer and I hope I remember his words often. "Instead of focusing on the quicksand, think of those who refuse to drown." My students are resilient, incredibly talented and hilarious. They make me a better person every day simply by allowing me to be their teacher. I have no doubt, they will do amazing things for this world some day. And in the mean time, they will keep cracking me up with their spelling words every Monday morning!

Race Report: Paleozoic Trail Race

I am a sucker for a new experience, and yesterday was definitely a race experience unlike any I've had before. It was my first trail race, The Paleozoic Trail Race, and it was simply awesome.

The morning started as most other mornings of a race for me, kind of a crazy mess. Waking up early, trying to drink just the right amount of coffee, eating oatmeal made in the exact right way, obsessing over what to wear, and packing an obscene amount of gear into my bag for "just in case." I promise I really am a fairly laid back person, but put me in a situation where I will be active for an extended period of time and I suddenly turn into someone with a slight case of obsessive tendencies. It's ok, it's very temporary.

My friend Tammy picked me up at 7:30, we made our way to find our other friend Janelle, and off we went into the unknown world of Palos Park where the race took place. I've lived in Chicago for about 6 years and while I know the city well, ask me to go anywhere outside the city other than my grandpa's house in Mt. Prospect, I probably have no idea where it is. Thank goodness for google maps and friends who knew where we were going!

We turned off of highway 55 onto a smaller highway, and then onto a smaller road and the car went silent. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing. Hills, trees, snow...we were not in Chicago anymore. We had been sent very informative emails from the race directors about needing yax trax and trail shoes, but I don't think any of us really believed it. Surely the course wouldn't be that bad, it was just a run on a trail. Ha...

We made it to the packet pick-up in about two minutes-- small races are the best. Got our race shirts that have dinosaurs on them (my students are going to love seeing it!) and race bibs and then had plenty of time to sit in the car and be nervous/excited. The beautiful thing about these two friends is that they're up for just about anything. I've told them before, but I'm pretty sure I'd follow them into a burning building because I think they're so bad ass. They were the perfect people to sit with while I wondered silently if this would be the best or worst decision I'd made in a while.

When it got close to 9:30, we followed the "crowd" of maybe 50 people over to the picnic shelter and the race director told us we'd get started in about 10 minutes. He got up on a picnic table and gave us a few announcements. I stood there smiling because he reminded me so much of my sweet dad. He told us to be careful out there, that safety and having fun should come first, that this might not be the day for a personal best, and to remember that the course was not ideal. He also was wearing just a fleece and jeans in pretty chilly weather and had a slight Minnesota accent (at least it sounded like it). It seriously could have been my dad, who is the perfect person to talk to before anything challenging. My nerves calmed down and I pretended we were in Minnesota. And then, just like that, we huddled up to the starting mat, the race director sounded a horn, and off we went.

Ready to start the race!

The first few steps were the worst of the race in my mind. The director had told us that we'd get nice and muddy right from the beginning, and he was right. There was no option but to run right into the grassy, wet, mud and by the time we had run maybe 50 yards my feet were cold and wet. Sounds miserable, right? I have to say, no! I was smiling. I was already loving it.

We took a turn onto a gravel path, which quickly turned into a snowy/muddy/icy mix. We splashed through puddles and ran in kind of a line through the "nicest" part of the trail that had some matted down leaves over mud. It took maybe a mile or two for Tammy, Janelle and I to all find each other and be able to talk about what the heck was going on. We were all panting and working hard to adjust to this new style of running and I think Tammy said it best, it was both awful and awesome all at the same time. Janelle and I grunted our agreement and we kept going.

Within the first couple of miles, we went up a massive hill. We had seen this hill when hiding in the car before the start of the race, and had in fact watched some kids who could have been my students roll down the hill. We laughed at the time that hoped we weren't going up or down that during the race. Well, sure enough, we were going up! And, not only were we going up, we'd be coming down later as it was an out and back course. The massive hill was not just a hill, it was covered in ice. I would call our technique to get up it, the laughing side step. There was no running involved here, we were literally walking sideways up that hill. It was hilarious and I loved it.

The course continued on...snow and ice that had us walk-running with arms flailing, mud that would pull on our shoes and make us wonder if the shoe would stay in the mud, giant and I mean giant puddles that we had no choice to run through. I think my favorite was the puddles. As Janelle said, it felt kind of refreshing. I can't decided which I disliked more, the sticky mud or the ice. Probably the ice. Check out this picture Tammy took of the course:

By far the best part of the course was the half way point where there was literally a buffet of snacks and a lovely volunteer keeping it stocked. Unlike a road race where you throw water down your throat and keep running, during an ultra trail race, you come to a complete stop and enjoy yourself. I drank a cup of gatorade and water, ate a half a banana and stuffed jelly beans in my pockets. We also stretched, talked to the volunteer, and tightened our shoe laces.

Check out those snacks!

After we relaxed at the rest stop, it was time to head back. It was both easier and harder to make our way back to where we started. Easier because we recognized certain hills and parts of the course that reminded us we were getting closer. But more difficult because as we became more and more tired, it was more and more challenging to watch the footing. Luckily we all stayed safe and made it through just fine.

I crossed the finish line smiling. Like really, really smiling. It was such a challenge and my body aches today from really putting it through a tough course, but I also feel so refreshed and relaxed. There were no crowds, there was no pressure in terms of time, I didn't feel sick from pushing myself too hard, I just felt happy that I had spent the morning with great friends out in the wilderness enjoying life. I think this is the beginning of something great, I can feel it. I think the 50k is in my future... :)

Let It Go!

If you haven't seen the movie Frozen, you have GOT to go see it. I knew it was a movie I would love when I first saw the previews, but held back seeing as I'm a grown adult without any children to bring with me to a Disney movie in theaters. Enter my best friend and her husband visiting Chicago over their spring break and our collective idea to go see the movie in theaters. Best. Idea. Ever. The four of us laughed and danced (ok, I was doing most of the dancing) through the whole thing and I admit, I bought the sound track the second we got home.

One of the best songs in the movie is called "Let It Go." It's beautiful and sung by the amazingly talented Idina Menzel. I loved it the second I heard it and I quickly put it on my play list for my after school yoga group.

My little yoga group is full of 4th and 5th grade girls on Thursday afternoons. They are spunky, full of life, and absolutely pure joy every single time I see them. They're incredible.

What I didn't know was that putting the song "Let It Go" on my playlist would turn yoga class into a full on dance party. It really was like something out of a movie. The first line of the song played while we were in one of our warrior poses and one of the girls started tapping her foot. The other girls started to smile, and before I could even say a thing, it was a dance party. Yep, dancing around the classroom, singing at the top of our lungs, I'm guessing the other after school programs were wondering what happened to yoga.

It was perfect. Absolutely perfect, and I'm not sure the words to the song could have been more perfect. Those girls 'let it go'!

On the running end of things, I am also learning to let it go. Let go of being perfectly prepared for a race, that is.

A few months ago, a few friends and I decided to sign up for a 15 mile trail race. At the time, it was mid-January and signing up for something in late March seemed like a very safe bet in terms of weather. Well, not so much. We got an email on Sunday with pictures of the course and let's just say that it prompted me to buy yax trax and my friend to buy new trail running shoes so that we can survive the icy conditions. We are all crossing our fingers and toes for some warm weather tomorrow.

We are in for an adventure, that is for sure. I have let go of the fact that it was a rough winter and I know I'm not fully trained for a 15 mile race. My honest plan is to put the Frozen soundtrack on my ipod and listen to it on repeat...and maybe even bust out a few dance moves if necessary. How's that for letting go? My yogi girls would be proud.

I hope you are letting go too. It's almost spring. And if that doesn't make you smile, I hope this does:

whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17QQcK4l6Yw