Sick day

This is a "random thoughts" kind of entry. And I know I've been lacking in the writing lately, but life has been keeping me busy, as usual. Also, I've been having a sort of blog-identity crisis these days, but I won't get into that now. I became inspired to write today, possibly out of boredom because I'm sick and have been mostly laying around, but the urge hit me, so I ran with it.

Today was a "sick" day. Not a traditional one, but when is anything I ever do considered traditional, right?

Battled the chills all morning long.

Started feeling like crap yesterday, and it progressively got worse as the night went on. This morning, I felt just as bad as I did when I went to bed last night, so I decided to stay home from my day job. Just as I was about to roll over and shut my alarm off for good, I remembered I already had an ultrasound scheduled this morning. Getting this appointment in the first place was a pain, so I figured I should still go to that instead of attempting to reschedule and get an appointment that would actually take place before the next millennium. I also had to drop something off at my day job before the appointment, so I went ahead and got up, showered, and headed downtown early to avoid traffic.

I had about 2 hours to kill between dropping off that thing at work, and my ultrasound appointment. I get a few hours alone, albeit feeling like ass, so where do I go? To where food is, of course. I hit up the Whole Foods flagship store downtown, so I could get a cup of coffee that didn't cost $4.00 and a blueberry scone (I've always been a sucker for their scones). I picked a stool in the almost empty cafe, and watched Monday morning unfold for the city. Also, "cheap coffee & scone" mission accomplished - everything came to $3.65. *thumbs up*

It's interesting to watch a Monday happen. I'm usually shoulder-deep in Monday myself, but today I got a rare opportunity to witness a Monday from the outside. I got there around 8:30am, and the place was buzzing with energy. So much energy, in fact, that I felt like I was in slow motion while paying for my coffee, and adding the necessary creamer & sugar. People were like a blur all around me, reaching past me, ducking behind me, tapping their cup while they waited for their soy creamer - it was all a bit unnerving, so I was happy to get to a stool to sit. I will say, I usually enjoy Whole Foods immensely, but I noticed today that having worked at Central Market for the past six months, coupled with the fact that I felt like ass, today's visit didn't hold the same giddy feeling as in visits past. But, here I was, trying to kill time until my doctor's appointment, and I noticed a strange beauty in being part of a big city at the beginning of a work week.

Sitting at the bar in the cafe, my stool was facing a giant window to the outside world - specifically, the intersection of 6th and Lamar. The mix of business men & women coming in to get their morning caffeine fix, alongside the stay-at-home Moms with small kids, was pretty interesting. Among the professionals who moved a mile a minute, the Moms leisurely fed their babies or browsed the aisles at a snail's pace. Even in the parking lot, those who were obviously going to an office job were whisking through, almost jogging to their cars, and the Moms were just strolling amongst them, avoiding collisions & trying to get their shopping done for the day so their little person could get home in time for the always-glorious morning nap. Then you had the fitness crowd, walking around in their workout or biking gear, usually in pairs. They didn't have coffees, but rather smoothies or green concoctions from the juicing bar. These folks didn't seem in a hurry, probably because they all just got done burning more calories than I do in an entire week. They earned their slower pace. God bless 'em, -- and I wasn't even glaring at them out of jealousy for being more disciplined than me & squeezing in a workout that early in the day.

After I finished my scone and half of my coffee, I decided to get up and move around a bit, and hopefully warm myself up (see: chase the chills away). As I browsed, I had an epiphany that is nothing new to me, but seems to happen often -- the overwhelming sense of gratitude for living in a place that has such an abundance of food. If you've never seen a flagship Whole Foods, it's quite a sight, and it's literally packed floor to ceiling with amazing creations made in-store, as well as aisles of packaged foods. Everywhere you turn, there are goodies bursting out, tempting you and luring you in to buy them.

A cookie bar? There is a God.

Just a fraction of the section with cured meats and cheeses.

An antipasti bar. We have so much food in this country, we have a whole section of food to eat before you eat your other food. Amazing.

I hope Heaven smells like this bread.

I walked around, marveling at this and that, and making mental notes of things they do that Central Market doesn't (ahem!), and ended up killing enough time to go to the doctor. I'm happy to say, I only purchased cumin, anchiote, a few loose parsnips, cilantro, peanut butter granola cereal for the hubs, organic toaster pastries, paper towels, three kinds of baby cauliflower (see below) ...

C'mon, admit it - they are pretty adorable.

... and a new, smaller reusable grocery bag. My husband would probably argue I need another one of those like I need a hole in my head, but hey, it was $.79 and I hate lugging the big ones around when I only need a few items.

Another cutie, right?

I got out of there for $16.82. A new personal record. Now that I have proved to myself that I have self-control after all, I might let myself go back to Whole Foods more often. I did leave feeling a little giddy inside, after all, so yeah, probably. 

Hope to be back in the saddle within the next few days, and start blogging more consistently, as I talk about in nearly every post I write. (If Blogger had an app for iPhone, I'm tellin' ya, things would be so much easier ...)

Until next time.

Finally time to catch up. Again.

I took way too long to post, yet again. But I have valid excuses this time! No, really, I do! I know, it seems like I'm apologizing for the giant lapses of time between each of my posts these days, and it gets old. I get it. But for what it's worth, I can explain.

So, as you read last, we were busy with P90X, Z's school, A's school, and my two jobs. We loved our time off during spring break, and jumped back into everything full force once we got back. Then, we got a puppy. Yes, a puppy.

The boys finally wore me down, and I gave in to getting another dog. As most of you know already, we adopted our new furry family member from Austin Pets Alive!, and Z named his new buddy Cody. Adding potty training and puppy patrol to my list of already existing duties each day literally wiped me out. I finally found the one thing to send me over the edge and make me feel exhausted. It gave me flashbacks to Z being a newborn, and the unbearable sleep schedule you endure, though Z seemed to sleep better than this dog. We decided to crate train, which was literally one of the crappiest experiences of my 37 years, but thankfully the torment only lasted 3 days. Three excruciatingly exhausting days. But, we conquered crate training, the dog started sleeping through the night, all seemed to be falling back in to place ...

Then he got parvo. Our precious new fur-child was stricken with a potentially fatal disease. Seriously? Could we catch a break? At this point, I gave up on finishing P90X, and vowed to return to it one day soon to finish it. (I -will- be a graduate, dammit!) We then endured lack of sleep, due to constant worry, around the clock. Every day was a roller coaster, and this went on for about two weeks. Cody even had to be checked into a dog hospital to help him beat the virus, and increase his chances of survival. Finally, on May 4, he was released back to us and we were given the word that he was going to beat the disease. Thank God for that, because I couldn't imagine having to look my 9-year old in the eye and tell him his dog was dying, after he had waited over a year to get a dog in the first place.

All the while, I have still maintained working two jobs, and the burning desire to lose weight. Though I was seeing some slight changes with P90X, I wanted more drastic results. So, a few weeks ago, I joined Weight Watchers after researching it extensively, and mulling it over & over in my mind. I'm happy to say I have already lost 8 pounds since I signed up 3 weeks ago, so I have found something that suits me, and am excited to stick with it.

Oh, and add in getting rear-ended during this time, as well. Awesome. Long story short: got hit on I-35, crinkled up the back end of my beautiful new car. Car was in the shop for 13 days. Got a hooptie gangsta car for a rental. Was so glad to get my new car back, made "new" all over again. Thank you, Covert Ford!

There, see? Working as much I have been, being a Mom, tending to a (sick) puppy, having to deal with a car accident, and trying to maintain some kind of workout/weight loss regiment took everything out of me. Blogging fell low on the list of things to do each day, though it was always in the back of my mind. I actually find it relaxing to blog, but I was too exhausted to relax. Any spare moment I had, I would be trying to sleep, because I needed it. Badly. I would normally be too nervous to say all is well now, for fear of jinxing us, but I'm throwing caution to the wind and I'm going to put it out there. All is well with us now, and I can finally get back into a routine with my blogging. And I'm excited about it!

To catch us up to present day, the dog is growing by the hour. He's quickly gone from a tiny furball to a small horse.

In my front seat, then.

In my front seat, now. Refuses to believe he's too big to be up here.

Five weeks ago.

Last week.

Z finished 3rd grade this past week. Can't believe the year went by so fast, but I guess I'm always saying that at the end of each school year. I have a big 4th grader on my hands now, and it's seems surreal.

Z and his teacher this year.

And we are still counting down to our cruise. So happy time seems to be flying by, just hope it keeps up this pace. C'mon summer - be over soon! I hate you!

We have already started planning another cruise for 2014, as well as a trip for our 15th anniversary at the end of that year. More on that later, though, as I now have to get ready for work at Central Market. Stay tuned.

Until next time ... peace and pastries to all.

Spring break & P90X continued

We are now at Phase 1, Week 4, Day 24 of P90X and still going strong. Since we are in week 4, the workout has been changed up different from what we've been doing the past three weeks. This is technically a recovery week, in preparation of what's about to start up next week, but that mislead me to believe that it might be a little easier. Whooo! Was I wrong! I thought the last three weeks were hard ... then I met Core Synergistics last night. o_O I'm sure I don't need to remind everyone that I *do not* have a six-pack, or any abs to speak of at all for that matter, so core work was definitely a huge challenge. This was me, after plyometrics last week:

Now, multiply that times fifty, and that will give you an idea of how I looked last night. I don't think I have ever sweat as much, in my entire existence, as I did last night. (Not even when I was 9-months pregnant in August, in Texas.) We are still loving the program, though! It may be handing our asses to us on a weekly basis, but it's doing something good. Clothes are looser, I'm still walking around in my one-size-down jeans, and I'm starting to notice subtle (think: thinner) changes in my face.

Left: me about a month before P90X

Right: me after 22 days of P90X

Aside from our workouts, we planned a spring break trip this year, and wow, what a blast! We decided to take Z to see the NASA Space Center in Houston, as well as browse the Battleship Texas while we were there. Being the budget monger that I am, I sniffed out deals and this whole trip was way more affordable than you might think. Nothing makes vacation sweeter than saving money!

I have to admit, walking into the Space Center, I was like a kid in a candy store. I have always had a deep-seeded love for all things related to space, and even wanted to be an astronaut for a little while when I was a kid (my dream died when I figured out how much math would be involved). This place is enormous, and filled floor to ceiling with things to look at, read about, play with, and photograph. It was easy to get lost in snapping pictures, so I'll post some of the highlights of our day here.

This place is enormous.

Fake astronauts hanging from the ceiling. Where was this idea when I was a kid?

You could ride in this, but the line was 40 bajillion people long. Boo.

The actual space suit worn by Pete Conrad on his Apollo 12 mission. There was still moon dust on the legs of the suit. I geeked out!

The actual coverall garment worn by Walter Schirra during his Apollo 7 mission in 1968.

The last coverall garment Judith Resnik wore. She was the second woman in space, and sadly, she perished in the Challenger explosion in 1986.

They created a replica of the front part of the space shuttle, including the types of food they would take up to space, and other things for hygiene or comfort. This is what a rehydration station would look like, to bring their astronaut freeze-dried food back to life.

A recreation of where the pilot and co-pilot would be seated.

There are even controls on the ceiling. I can't imagine having to know what all those switches and buttons do.

Z admiring an engine.

These engines are built to last for 7.5 hours of use. They are only on for 8 minutes each take off, so they can be used over the course of 30 missions. Clearly, these look intricate and expensive to have to make, so I get why they reuse them.

One great part that is included in the price of your ticket is taking a tour of NASA facilities. We chose the one that would take us over to Mission Control, as well as Rocket Park. This was probably our favorite part of the day.

An actual person out in space right then, inside the international space station.

Another person at the international space station came floating towards the camera, so I snapped the pic as fast I could, before he floated out of view. Amazing.

This is the building in which they create and test the food that goes into space with the astronauts. If I could ever get a job at NASA, this would be where I'd like to work.

This is Little Joe II. It was a launch vehicle for the Apollo spacecraft transonic and high-altitude abort testing at the White Sands testing facility in New Mexico.

To give perspective on size, Z is standing at the bottom of it in this pic, in the center.

A one-man spacecraft-booster like this one propelled the first two American astronauts into space in 1961. It weighs around 66,000 pounds.

Inside Rocket Park, they built a hangar to house the last rocket they built for the Apollo space missions before they were canceled, named Saturn 5. You could go in and look at this massive thing up close, and it was truly mind-blowing. I'm not even sure my pictures do it justice, but hopefully you can get an idea of how amazing and gigantic this thing is.

The first view when you walk inside.

Aaron and Z are at the lower right of this photo, and you can see how tiny they look. That helps give you perspective on the enormity of this thing.

The top scraped the ceiling.

We watched one of their free movies (about 30 minutes long) that basically took you through the space program, from it's inception to its most recent feats. They had a podium on display that you saw in the movie, and it was the podium JFK stood behind while giving his speech about how he was determined for us to get into space by the end of the 1960's.

Giving his speech, shown in the film.

In real life. Pretty cool.

They are very big on stressing that space program is not dead, so the movie ended like this:

Nice touch.

The last thing we looked at was a sort of museum-type set up they had, filled with all sorts of things ranging from actual spacecrafts that have been in space ...

Faith 7 Mercury Spacecraft

... to one of the only 8 actual pieces of moon rock that you can touch.

This was moon rock brought back to Earth in 1972 by the crew of Apollo 17. My son is touching the moon. Amazing.

Of course, I was fascinated with more of the food examples they had out for everyone to inspect, and had to snap a few photos.

After spending a few bucks on things we "couldn't live without" in the gift shop, we called it a day and went back to our hotel for some swimming & relaxing. We were at the Space Center from about 11:00am until almost 6:00pm, so I'd say we got our $31.00 worth for our tickets. The next day, we woke up early, checked out of our hotel, grabbed some breakfast at a Waffle House (forgive us, Tony Horton!) and made our way over to see Battleship Texas. I knew this would be cool, but I had no idea just how freakin' cool it would be.

Another pic taken just to give perspective on size.

It was almost haunting at times to be walking around this vessel that once held so much life. Aaron and I kept wondering if there were spirits on the ship, and thought it would be cool to spend the night on the ship and see if anyone made any noise. Turns out, you actually CAN spend an overnight on the ship ...

... but you have to be a kid, and part of a large group. Booo!

I'm not sure who was more excited to play with these giant canons.

The Crew's Galley was on the first floor. This fascinated me.

There was a butcher shop, but the photos didn't turn out. Lame.

The ship's bakery, which turned out bread, cinnamon rolls, and assorted other goodies for the soldiers while onboard. The sign said some soldiers years after could still recall the smell of fresh bread baking.

Had to get a shot of the big mixer.

Heading down to the next level.

An example of one of the rooms for the crew. There were these bunk beds EVERYWHERE. In hallways, in what seemed to be closets - literally anywhere there was free space.

The Officers' kitchen.

Ha! Cool.

They get the nice dishes.

The Wardroom, where the Officers ate their meals and relaxed.

Z thought those were a deck of cards. Sweet, innocent boy.

More beds in a hallway.

The First Lieutenant's office.

The Scullery, essentially where the crew took their dirty dishes after chow.

The Cafeteria, where the regular men's meals were cooked.

More big mixers!

This was the Marine Space. They had their own guns, dishes, and small area. Marines were on board to guard the Brig, or the jail, and to act as orderlies.

The Marine Officer's quarters. An office and bedroom, rolled into one.

The Executive Office.

The Auxiliary Combat Information Center. Radio operators were in high demand back then, and received extensive specialized training.

The Dispensary and Medical Office.

The Barber Shop. The Navy had very strict rules about appearance, and hair had to be no longer than 1 1/2 inches on top. Faces needed to be clean shaven, and mustaches were only allowed with special permission.

Sick Bay. Yuck.

This cracked us up. Luckily, Z didn't understand why, nor did he ask questions.

Here's where the boys got their prophylactics. lol

The Isolation Ward, for those sick with communicable diseases, like dysentery.

Part of the Crew Washroom. They peed in troughs.

And they pooed in troughs, as well. No doors, and no flushing - only a steady stream of salt water running down the trough to keep the poop moving out. Gross.

Make-shift toilet seats, made from wood, laid over the troughs. Wood painted red were "toilets" reserved for men with venereal diseases.

Laundry Room, for Officer's garments. The crew were responsible for washing, drying, and pressing their own laundry, but the Officers got to send theirs off to be done. This is where they came.

They said this was a miserable job to have, since it would get in excess of 100 degrees in here with all the machines going.

The Soda Fountain. Only open a few hours a day, and for special occasions, they served your typical soda fountain fare, like ice cream and milkshakes.

The Canteen, where soldiers could buy magazines, gum, tobacco, extra socks or towels. If they lost something issued to them by the Navy when they enlisted, they had to replace it with their own money.

The Tailor Shop, where they altered uniforms, sewed damages, or added on new ranks. Crew members could also hire the tailors to sew new aprons to send to their mothers, girlfriends, and wives back home.

The Dental Office. Only did cleanings and simple fillings on board, anything else had to be done on land.

Went down, yet another level.

More beds in hallways.

The Brig. This was the jail of the ship, where they also kept prisoners of war.

And yes, you could even go down one level further ...

The steam room.

Overall, it was a great, information-packed excursion to Houston. Trips like this make learning new things fun, and I know Z walked away having learned something, but not even realizing it was a learning experience. I will say, if you were to ask him, I guarantee he would say the hotel pool was his favorite part, but I know he enjoyed NASA a lot. Battleship Texas spooked him a little, I think, but he was still curious about everything and fired a hundred questions a minute at us. Maybe he was just spooked because his parents kept talking about ghosts ...

Hope everyone had a safe & memorable spring break. Our next trip in the works -- a camping trip after school gets out. Of course, we're still counting down until our cruise ...

... but we have to plan small things along the way, as not to go stir crazy. Another update on our P90X adventure soon. That is, if this week doesn't kill me.