Monday again?

Last week got really busy, starting Wednesday, because Aaron got sick. It happens very rarely, but when it does, it usually knocks him down for a few days. This time was no different. He was miserable, but pushing through it so he could go to work anyway - what a trooper. Needless to say, I didn't have much time or energy to be blogging, but here I am now to catch up.

Thursday was a fantabulous day for Zachary, because Toni invited us to come out to where she works & meet Mack Brown. The idea of meeting Coach Brown got my son extremely excited, so we drove out to the UT Golf Club around 6pm and we were introduced to the man himself. What a charming guy! I can see why he's so good at recruiting!

This was my son, about 30 seconds after meeting Coach Brown. He was literally high on endorphins.

What a great experience this was for our little guy. He even told me on the way home that he might want to be a coach when he grows up. Ya know, I could actually see that.

Sidebar:  

A cool sky we stumbled upon, after the Mack Brown event.

Friday was our big rescheduled trip to the San Antonio Zoo. Aaron was feeling a little bit better by then, so he tagged along with us. We drove Z, his 8th grade buddy Jeremiah, and one of his other classmates down to the zoo in our car. Although they were worried about rain the Friday before, it still rained this Friday too. But, the kids were ok with walking around in the rain, as long as it meant they could still see all the tigers, rhinos, and monkeys. They were ecstatic!

Z and one of his best friends, Thomas.


One of the 8th graders, trying to keep the little ones busy
by an impromptu game of keep-away.


The giant hamster.
(Yes, it's a capabera.)


Parrots are purty.


I don't remember what these were called,
but they were breath-taking.


One of the zoo employees, with birds on her head.
Wasn't she scared they would poop??


Hahahaha - I love how they lounge.


Sleepy hyena.


Stunning!


Taking a bath.


Uh, yeah. He's a bad ass.


Imagine fighting off one of these things? eek!


Beautiful.


So sad they are going extinct.




A curious ostrich.






The rain I was talking about.


The biggest frog I've ever seen.
















Some happy little people.

In retrospect, I'd say the most exhausting part of the trip was the ride. Going there & coming back with three (loud, excited) kids was nerve-wracking. I've been telling other parents that I have one child, and one child only - for a reason. I'm not equipped to listen to high levels of noise for any length of time. One 13-year olds and two 6-year olds was a challenge for me, especially when one of them decided to sing the *entire* Hannah Montana soundtrack, word for word. Without stopping. No matter how much the other two were trying to drown her out. Gah!  I needed a drink when we got back, but instead settled for a Snickers & a Pepsi.  That's about as hard-core as I get, these days.

Saturday, Aaron had to work again, but he only put it in a half-day. That zoo trip probably set him back a day, in regards to recovering.  Z and I met Toni for breakfast at Kerbey Lane, then went next door to Goodwill to have a look around.  We headed back around lunchtime, and Aaron was already home.  From that point, we only went out to rent a few movies, then stayed at home & took it easy for the rest of the day.  We watched "Home Alone" & it was Z's first time to see it, and he absolutely loved it.  Then, we watched "Bedtime Stories", and headed to bed shortly afterward.  It was a great, non-eventful day - which is just what we needed after that whole zoo excursion.

Sunday was a really strange, long day.  I started out by going grocery shopping around 7:00am, because I'm getting to the point where I *can't stand* being there with other people.  A real dream for me would be a shopping spree at HEB, completely alone.  Honestly.  After so many years of battling crowds on weekends, and having to shop with Z alone when he was little, I'm done.  My strategy of early-morning-weekend shopping worked!  There were maybe six other people in the entire store, aside from employees.  BLISS!

Sidebar:  I took my blood pressure while at HEB, and it was 117/75.  This is vast improvement from my usual 128/85 that I've been getting for the past year or so.  Maybe the niacin and curcumin are doing something??  [clapping gleefully]

Anyway, we went to breakfast once I got back from the store, then dropped off some goodies for Becca's birthday, then made a quick trip to the mall.  Once we got back home, it felt like it was getting close to dinnertime, but it was really only early afternoon.  The weather was really weird - almost rainy, but it never quite broke.  Very lazy day.  We ended up doing some laundry, watching "Iron Man", and two challenges on Food Network.  The day seemed to just draaaaaag on, which was a change for me, since weekends are usually a blur.  It was a weird change, but not necessarily a bad thing.

That gets us to today.  A rainy, muggy, dreary Monday.  [sigh]  It doesn't help that I'm already restless and ready for another trip, but my dream is still 292 days away.  I can't wait to get sucked into the back-to-school hoopla, so time will start to go by faster.  I also can't believe I'm going to have a first-grader on my hands, but that's another blog for another day.

Three things I'm grateful for today:

1.  Becca.  Birthdays always remind me how I am

     grateful for having that friend another year.

2.  My new, red umbrella.

3.  Not having to chaperone another field trip to the zoo.

     Ever.

Peace & pastries, to everyone.