The family curse

Our weekend was nice, albeit windy & frigid at times.  We got to spend time with Andrea, John, and baby Zane, and it was wonderful.  I won't post pictures, as not to invade the privacy of my friends and their new bundle of joy, but trust me when I say that Zane is scrumptious.  All smiles, rolls, and love.  I got my "baby fix", so that should keep me going for a while, till my next friend has another kid.  (Amy, might that be you?  ;p)

On our way back from San Antonio, we stopped in Buda to explore the Cabela store built there a few years ago.  I wasn't aware you could take your camera inside to snap photos, because most retail stores frown upon doing things like that, but it was quite the sight to be seen.  First, the place is enormous.  After researching online, I found out it is 185,000 square feet of homage to outdoorsmen & women.  Like I said, ENORMOUS.  We only went to check out their camping gear, since we're going on our camping trip in a few weeks, but walked away with only two small things.

Aaron got a pocket knife, similar to this one.

I got a pair of Life Is Good Snuggle socks.  You should feel these things!!

We didn't see anything else there that we couldn't buy somewhere else, for much cheaper, so we just soaked in the cool parts of the store (like their live coy pond) and headed back to Round Rock.  Once home, the boys went up to Lowe's to buy some wood to make their own homemade bird house, and I took a catnap.  They also ended up building a robot, from the leftover pieces of wood, and Z has been carrying this thing around with him everywhere.

Measuring.

Sanding.

Showing me how these two pieces look like "fast forward".

A man & his power tools.  Hotness.

Wood shavings on the dog.

Not bad, for their first time, AND making it up as they go along!

Painting the birdhouse will come next, maybe towards the end of this week.  I'll post final pics when it's done.

Yesterday was back to work, and also when I picked up my mail from over the weekend.  In it, there was a bit of bad news -- my blood work results from back in December.  A bit of history ... I went to see a doctor back towards the end of last year, just for preventative maintenance of sorts.  I have some pretty awful family history, as far as heart health, cancer, and high blood pressure are concerned.  The doctor was kind enough to take a blood panel to ease my mind, because I suspected I might be heading down the same path as my late aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  I thought it was only natural to be concerned, with all the heart problems I've endured alongside my Dad since 8th grade, and this doctor agreed.  (First one, mind you.  Everyone else I had seen or spoken with in the past dismissed me as "too young" to be worrying about this sort of thing.)  So, the results came in, and alas, I have been stricken by the family curse.  My cholesterol is pretty high, even though I workout, I watch what I eat, and my blood pressure appears normal each time it's taken.  Sigh.

The plan of action is to put me on an aggressive supplement regimen for the next 90 days.  I will be taking 500mg of Niacin, three times a day, as well as 1000mg of Curcumin with Bioperene, twice a day.  Both of these supplements are known for their positive effect on cardiovascular health, and my doctor is trying to rapidly bring down my LDL cholesterol levels.  They didn't say anything about modifying my diet, or increasing exercise, but I think I will do both anyway.  I will cut out meat as much as possible, if not altogether, as well as dairy, for the next 90 days.  At the end of 90 days, the doctor wants me to take a fasting blood test, so we can check for progress.  I hope this regimen pays off, as I don't have any interest in being cursed to a life-long commitment of cholesterol meds, beginning at the ripe old age of 34.

Aaron sounded surprised at my results, and promised to cut out any of the pasty-white vegetarian jokes.  I told him I won't make our dinners at home be vegetarian, but we might be eating a lot more lean protein, rather than roasts and salisbury steak, smothered in gravy & onions.  My Dad sounded pensive, as if he's hoping I don't become him (cardiovascular-speaking), and my Mom sounded worried.  My sister said she never really thinks about her cholesterol, but maybe now she'll go have it checked, as well as she thought I sounded like I was taking all of this "rather well".  What else can I do?  I'm trying to remain positive, and looking at it as a blessing that I found out now.  Hopefully, it will mean I don't end up like my Dad's sister, having a heart attack in the kitchen in my mid-40's.

So, aside from that crappy news, and the Niacin-headaches I'm fighting off, life is still well & good.  Aaron's still getting acclimated to his new job, and looking forward to our impending spring break trip.  Z is fighting off a cold, but we kind of expected that with all the time he spent outside in the cold wind this weekend.  I stayed home sick from work today, because I woke up feeling like ass, but it's diminished as the day has gone on.  I caught up on all my recorded DVR shows like Intervention and Scrubs, I added more music to my iPod, and I napped.  Eating has been a challenge, because nothing really sounds too good, but I have to have food to take my supplements.  Note to self:  eating soup while blogging is entirely too difficult.

Three things I'm grateful for today:

1.  Quiet.

2.  Warning signs.

3.  Intuition.

Hope everyone is having a fair week so far.  Friday is only 3 1/2 days away, kids.  Peace & pastries.

TGI ... S?

Another week, come and gone, and somehow it went by quickly.  When it first started, I was sure it was going to be one of those weeks that drug out, but luckily, time was kind and escaped me on several occasions.

Aaron has his first week of training under his belt, and it's been an interesting week.  Of course, there is that initial awkwardness of starting a new job, getting to know new people, and the pressure of being in charge of a store you know nothing about.  It will be some time before he can really get into a rhythm and see if it's a good fit, so he's plans to go with the flow until then.  We're still grateful he got this job so quickly, and that he was able to even *get* a new job these days.  We'll keep you updated.

I'm very excited to report that we are heading down to San Antonio today to visit one of my oldest and dearest friends, Andrea, and her husband, and their new baby!  He was born last July, and I've been dying to meet him ever since.  Of course, the first three months or so after he's born, it's only right to give the new parents their space, not bug them with requests for their time.  But, then after those first few months went by, the holidays were upon us.  After the holidays, it was time to settle in to the new year and getting back to work.  Luckily, all of that is now behind us and I get some quality bonding time with her little guy.  You see, all my friends' children are the closest thing I have to nieces or nephews, so I treasure every moment.  I've always wanted to be an Aunt, and I think this is the closest I'm ever going to get.  My poor sister just hasn't had much luck in starting a family, so I have to make the best of what life has dealt us, as far as that is concerned.  But, I scare myself -- if I want to be an Aunt this badly, what am I going to be like in 20 years about grandkids?  Uh-oh.  Sorry son, in advance.

I'm also happy to report that I think I may be able to cancel my gym membership.  I was venting on the phone to my Dad a few days ago, about how my workout regimen is really starting to irritate me.  It pisses me off, actually, and I was trying to figure out a new way to balance everything I have to do each day.  Some people can live this way, denying themselves any time for creativity or hobbies for the sake of their familial obligations, but I cannot.  I have learned this about myself, and everyone here will be better off for me getting a few hours each night to do things that make me happy.  And by "things", I only mean having time to blog, play with my photographs, create things with my photography, finish loading my damn iPod, etc.  My Dad was kind enough to offer up his elliptical machine that has been gathering dust at his house for a few years.  Eureka!  Thank you, Dad!  Having that thing here, I can workout morning, noon, and night, if I so desire, and that takes care of the cardio aspect.  Aaron & I bought free-weights a few years ago, which are sitting in our garage, so that takes care of the weight-lifting aspect.  I can do this at home now, which means I can cancel my gym membership.  All I ever do is elliptical and free-weights there anyway.  This will free up $46.00 a month, and for me, that's like hitting the lottery.  I'm a simple girl.  Easy to please.  Hallelujah.

So, I am happy I only have my daily, piddly shit problems to deal with and write about.  I know how lucky I am that I have nothing major to discuss, unlike many others out there.   For example, the most annoying thing that's happened in my day thus far is my two neighbors who were in their backyards at 7:15am making all kinds of racket - one mowing his grass, and the other cutting some sort of metal, with sparks flying everywhere.  How good do I have it?

Things I'm grateful for today:

1.  Zane.

2.  Kind gestures, from other people.

3.  Strong coffee.

May everyone have a blessed & enlightened day.  Peace & pastries to all, in abundance.

A lengthy post

I just put on Ryan Farish, and am winding down for the day. Today has been such a struggle to get through, for some weird reason. I don't know if it's the drab, rainy weather (which I usually love), or that it's a Monday ... maybe a combination of the two? Either way, I have been so lethargic and I'm already thinking about bedtime. It's 8:32pm. Call me Grandma.

To catch up on the past few things we've done, I've decided to just put them all in one blog. For starters, we took a trip to The Blanton Museum on UT campus, as well as another trip to the capital for Zach to run around. I absolutely fell in love with this museum. So much so, I have been trying to figure out how to volunteer there in the near future. I took some photos of my favorite pieces, as well as a few that were ... well, interesting, to say the least. The pictures did not come out nearly as nice as I would have liked them to because, though the lighting in the museum is lovely for art pieces, it's horrid for photos. (And you are forbidden to use flash photography.) Understandable, but frustrating. The most frustrating part is that I know my kick-ass camera probably has a way to get around these sorts of lighting issues, but I just haven't figured out how to work it yet. Gah.

The first exhibit you see, and it's outside.

That's Z, starting to run through them.

Standing inside of them, looking up.

This is supposed to be the Virgin Mary, receiving an apocryhpal premonition of Christ's birth.

A piece that caught Z's eye, though it was like a car wreck for him;

he wanted to look away, but couldn't.

He can talk about this in therapy in a few years.

The bust of the Roman Emperor that Z is named after.

Hmmm. I have artwork from Z in pre-K that's more interesting than this.

Those were bones hanging from the top, and pennies on the bottom.

Another "interesting" piece.

Loved this.

Seventy-two pieces in one, all of household pots & pans.

Close-up.

My brain can't believe someone's hand could be that steady.

Another one we loved, by artist Kazuya Sakai (1927-2001)

These are all identical one-inch thick white slabs, made by a woman in Chile. She set herself the task of making as many as she could in six months, and ended up with 2,244 in total.

She stamped each one with the date that it was made.

The next few are from an artist from Argentina, Marcelo Pombo, who quickly shot up to the top of our favorites list. I need prints of his work in my house. I don't know why, but his stuff spoke to me ... and Aaron. He loved them too.

The detail is amazing.

Naturally, the lighting seemed to be the most horrible in the room displaying Pombo's work. Therefore, these photos do not remotely do his paintings justice, but trust me when I say they are truly beautiful. The detail is something marvel at, in person. Moving on ...

Another favorite of me & Aaron. Apparently, everyone else's, too.

This print is plastered all over everything in the gift shop.

The stuff on the ground was part of the piece.

It was meant to look like this tiny guy was shoveling all that "dirt" by himself.

After our few hours in the museum, as thoroughly intrigued as Z was, he was still a six year old boy & needed space to run off some energy. We strolled the grounds outside the Blanton, then headed toward the capital.

An eye-popping quinceañera photo shoot taking place.

Those crazy squirrels.

My sweet angel.

Looking out my back car window, driving home that evening.

It was a magical day.

The next event was Valentine's Day. As most of you know, I'm not a huge V-Day fan. I'm not particularly intrigued by made-up, orchestrated holidays, so Aaron is off the hook each year. I'd much more prefer a random gesture of love or kindness on a day other than V-Day, and he's always very good about doing just that. Anyway, I had to make the obligatory cupcakes for Z's kinder class, being the room-parent and all. Then, I was also recruited by co-workers to help create goodies for our lobby, for our residents.

For Z's class, part I.

For Z's class, part II.

My tuxedo strawberries, for work.

Z's loot, from his V-Day party at school. Sheesh.

Aaron had to work his last Borders shift (a closing shift) on Valentine's Day, so we went to a movie on the night before. We generally never go out on V-Day, so we just used that as an excuse for a date night. I won't even bother talking about the film, it was so horrible. Ninety-minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Since Valentine's, there has been a lot of outside & park time. The weather has been pretty mild, and really gorgeous, so you'll find us outside most days.

Z, with his friend Preston.

A sunset, the other night, above our house.

Spring is coming ...

Two "hearts" Aaron picked for me at the park. Awwww.

See? Stuff like this means so much more than stuff on 2/14.

I think that catches us up to speed. Aaron started his new job today, and it went well, for a boring paperwork-filled, overflow of information type of day. He was a little sad this weekend, leaving Borders and the co-workers he had grown to love over the past six years. I felt bad for him, because I remember how that felt when the dorm closed down in 2004. It was like leaving my family, and it resonated as a mixture of fear, relief, and excitement. But, he's got faith that this new job will bring him the challenges he's craving, and the slower pace he has wanted for years. If you pray, put in a good word for his transition, will ya? A little propping up through prayer surely wouldn't hurt him.

Three things I'm grateful for today:

1. Being able to take Z to work with me today,

since he didn't have school.

2. Aaron's new position.

3. Art museums.

Peace & pastries, to everyone.