Downtown Fun

Last Saturday ended up being one of those very fun evenings that you didn't plan on! Well, part was planned, we'd known for awhile that Carolina would be singing with her school choir at the Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin. The Driskill is a an Austin icon that was built in 1886. It's become known worldwide for it's status as a luxury hotel and it's ghosts. Yes, it's ghost, it has been featured on the Travel Channels Worlds Most Haunted Hotels.This year they're doing a 12 days of Christmas thing where every night they have something special in the lobby, some local singers and bands and on Saturday they had Sommer Elementy School Choir and later the Round Rock High School choir sing in the lobby.
Now, I'll say this; I understand what they were trying to do, and it makes sense. A beautiful hotel lobby, decorated for Christmas, a restaurant and bar right off the lobby filled with guests, lets fill the air with adorable children singing carols. Here's the problem: I am 99% sure that none of the guests and restaurant patrons could see or hear anything with all parents crowded around the kids, iphones in the air recording and taking pictures of the whole thing. See evidence below;

There had to have been on average 2 people per kid, but then some, like Carolina had 5 adults there just to see her (2 sets of parents and a family friend). It was a sea of people circling a group of kids, and you couldn't see the kids.
And I get it, we were doing the same thing. The kids are cute, dressed up and singing Candles in the Window, so yeah, this needs to be recorded for to have to remember you sweet baby by when their tatooed, breaking curfew and denting your car. It just couldn't have been as pleasant as the hotel had hoped for all the people sitting in the cafe area in the lobby or trying to get through to weddings and other events being held there.

Anyway, we were excited to see the kids sing and had fun getting dressed up and going downtown. The kids sang for thirty minutes and they were adorable and sounded great. Afterwards we got some great pictures taken in the beautiful lobby by the Christmas tree.

After the singing and pictures Carolina headed back with her mom and stepdad so Isaac and I decided to walk down sixth street a bit and get a drink before heading home. We had wanted to go to the Library, but we realized it was only 6pm and many of the bars weren't even open yet so we stepped into Maggie Maes, which was open and I was delighted to see my favorite locally brewed beer, Austin Amber, by the Independence brewing company on tap.
We sat and chatted and used the wifi to upload some pictures to Facebook, and ended up chatting with the bartender a bit. He was a big guy with a Boston accent who, when we said we'd been at the Driskill, started telling us about the bartender there. An old guy born next to the Guinness brewery in Ireland. He made us promise to pay him a visit next time we were in the area and hear some of his stories.

As we left the bar and started heading for the car, I remembered that the Christmas tree in front of the state Capital was to have been lit that night. I knew there would be some singing as well, but as we headed down Congress toword the tree I realized there was much more than a few carolers, there was a whole parade moving up the street! It was great, there was live music playing a street corners, Starbucks was handing out free hot chocolate samples, and there were kids crafts and activities inside many of the store fronts! The parade featured a marching band, people on stilts, people on bicycles covered in Christmas lights and a Santa with a cape covered in lights! So very cool and very Austin!
Finally we made it up to the tree and it looked great in front of the Capital, we took some pictures and wandered through the market that had sprung up before heading back to the car.

It was still early enough to head home and enjoy our holiday viewing of Love Actually, my favorite Christmas movie and enjoy an the rest of the evening at home. It was a nice quiet rest of weekend, the last we'll see until 2012!

Looking Ahead

For my final day of "officially" being thankful, I thought about the future and I'm thankful for all that lies ahead. In the short term there is our trip to Spain in a few weeks, which, if the planning for doesn't kill me I'm sure it will be an amazing trip. Looking further ahead is getting married next fall and the "super honeymoon" as we've taken to call our trip to Europe next September. We're starting to plan it now, check out airfare and plan an itinerary and it seems so much more real and exciting as we work out the details. I can't wait to be married and for us to start that next chapter of our lives together. I'm so thankful for Isaac and what he and Carolina brought to my life. There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't A) drive me up a wall in some fashion and B) then remind of why I love him and why he's perfect for me.

And after that who knows what the future will bring, but I'll have my best friend with me as well as the sweetest "wicked" step daughter one could ask for, so I have high hopes! At times in my life I've dreaded the future that I've seen ahead, but I don't now, I can't wait to see what it holds and I'm so thankful to have it to look forward to!

Just listening

Today was a long, long day. The kind of day that starts with the airline you're about to fly filing chapter 11 bankruptcy and just goes from there. The kind of day filled with venom spewing employees who heard what they wanted to hear during an information session and other employees who feel like just because they have more zeros in their salary then you do, they can be a holes. Top that off with organizing the clothing and social schedule for an 8 year old. (Let me just say, I am so excited to hear Carolina sing with her school chior several times in the next couple weeks, but seriously 3 performances in a week. Why is her school afraid of spacing these events out?) Sigh... I digress.
However, through all that I found what I was most thankful for; people who let me vent. My coworkers both local and elsewhere who sympathized with my stress over packing for an 8 year old to crabby employees. I like to think I return the favor, I'm good for a sympathetic ear and exclamations of "that sucks" at appropriate places but today I needed ears to bend and they were there for me! I'm thankful for that. There's something about the simple of voice frustrations to other. Problems don't need to be solved, just the act of listening and sympathizing is more than enough. I have a feeling I'll have more days like this soon as I get stuff things ready at home and at work to leave for two weeks and I'm thankful that I'll have my people there to listen to me when I need to vent! As soon as I'm back stateside in January, I'll repay the favor to all! :)

5 Miles

I'm taking a break from my thankful posts, which hopefully will be back later tonight or tomorrow. They've been on hiatus due to illness and busyness!

Today I ran my first race ever and I am maybe a little proud of myself. See, I've never been the athletic type. I barely made it out of gym in school and the only awards I ever got was in 8th grade from my gym teacher that I had managed to be assigned to every year of my time at Covington Middle School. Coach Ramirez put up with my whining, moping and occasional crying through units on volleyball, basketball, softball and our weekly one mile runs. I famously managed a few 20 minute miles when I was feeling extra annoyed with the fact I was in gym clothes. However, the end of 8th grade he gave me one of  the student of the year awards, for sticking it out every year!

So, anyway, not the sporty type. But Isaac is a gym rat and very (very) slowly I have embraced parts of the gym lifestyle. Last year Isaac had run the annual Austin Turkey Trot, a five mile race on Thanksgiving morning with our friend Kristina and they had finished with good times and enjoyed the experience  Soon afterwards I took up running and long story short, I was talked into (signed up behind my back) for the race.

I had slowly been working my way up to five miles and took up yoga as well to combat some hip issues and I had a game plan for the week and a half leading up to race day. Run 5 miles on Tuesday, yoga on Thursday,  run 5 miles Saturday, yoga on Sunday, Run 3 miles on Monday, yoga on Tuesday and rest/carb up on Wednesday. So I ran my 5 miles Tuesday and then woke up Thursday morning with a cold. By Thursday afternoon, I was home with a fever and a sore throat. Yoga out. Saturday, I was still feeling crummy and a cough had developed. 5 mile run out. Sunday, made it to yoga and besides nagging cough thought I was on the mend, would revise plan run 5 miles Monday, yoga Tuesday, rest Wednesday, race Thursday. Then Monday hit, cough worse, and feeling bad again. Run out. Tuesday, still feeling bad, go to doctor demand something, anything and told I have bronchitis.
 Long, annoyed sigh.....pick up antibiotics, no yoga (mainly out of time constraints). Still rested and carbed up Wednesday.

So there I was Thursday morning, 2 days into a z pack and Mucinex, ready to run.
We headed down at 7am to Auditorium Shores with Kristina and her six year old daughter Avery, got Av signed up for the kids course and got ourselves ready.


The race started at 9:30 and as I stood on the 1st street bridge holding Isaac's hand I began to feel sick. What if I couldn't breathe well, what if I started coughing, what if I couldn't handle all the hills (it was a very hilly course this year) I hadn't trained on hills. Last minutes "I love yous" and we were off. Isaac runs at a much faster pace then I do, so I lost sight of him quickly, but that was okay, I'd find him afterwards, and we had our phones.

I had planned a special race mix for my ipod, but that didn't happen so I stuck to my general gym playlist, which is music I like, but not all "running" music. It was good though, the songs I needed seemed to find me. Much of my gym playlist is Glee soundtrack and Pink, nothing great, but music that keeps me moving. As I found myself struggling the first time Pink reminded me that I'm a rock star, later when I felt myself falling, Rachel and Kurt reminded me to Defy Gravity, and later during my hell mile near the end Rachel and Finn urged me to "Don't Stop Believing".

I was surprised at how well I started out, it was crowded, but I didn't feel as crunched as I'd expected and I handled the first hill well. It was a strange feeling to be running in the streets of downtown, when I am usually driving or on the sidewalk, the city looks so different from that vantage point. It was amazing to look up Lavaca and only be able to see a crown of people moving up the street at once. What it must have looked like to someone driving or even flying overhead. It was also cool to see all the people lining the streets cheering us on, whether they lived along the route, were cops keeping the streets blocked or people just walking downtown, they all stopped to wave and yell encouraging words. When you're running alone with strangers, that kind of thing makes a big difference.

I was happy to make it almost two miles before I needed to slow to a walk for a minute, I was able to make it another mile or so before slowing again to a walk again and I struggled from 3.5 to 4.5 as usual,  that's my killer mile. It didn't help, my body isn't used to running so much on the street, most of my runs are on trail and the concrete stated to affect my right ankle and my left hip.  I began to feel the bronchitis as my breath started to sound wheezy.

The last stretch of the run started as we ran over an overpass leading into downtown and it was a pretty cool feeling running down the bridge and seeing the city laid out before you. After that though,the street seemed to be endless, stretching on and on but soon I saw city hall and knew I was almost done.

 Oddly as I crossed back over the 1st street bridge for the finish, running only on adrenaline and the knowledge that I was done, the Glee cover of New York State of Mind came on but it actually seemed to fit. I was running through Austin, my city of birth, my city in general and I was surrounded by other Austinites all of us determined to get across that finish line. So I found myself changing the words of New York to Austin and it made me smile and kept my legs moving.

My favorite part of any run is the very last stretch, no matter how long I've run, I find a burst of speed that feels so good as I approach my goal. Tears started fill my eyes as I crossed the finish line, in under an hour. 5 miles, under an hour with bronchitis and lack of training.

I found Isaac almost immediately where he greeted me with a huge hug and a bottle of water.I have to admit, I was teary eyed as I thought about how I had just finished a race, when just over a year ago 1 minute running on the treadmill had left me gasping for air. It's amazing what we can do when we set our mind to it.
So that was my race, we will be newlyweds next year and we may have international guests but we are going to try and do it again, make it our tradition, it's a good way to feel like you earned your supper!

 Isaac and I before the race at the Long Center, Austin in the background!

 Below: Isaac, Avery (1.6 miles run for a 6 year old, not bad) and I after the race

So behind!

It has been such a busy couple weeks filled with illness, lots of work and holidays, but I said I would find 30 things to be thankful for and darn it I am determined to keep up, so I'll have two weeks worth of  things tonight that I am thankful for tonight!

#14 - I baby sat for Avery and Jordan for a while tonight and I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to hang out with two sweet girls and then give them back! :) The older I've gotten, the less sure I am about having kids of my own, soon I'll be wicked step mom and honestly, I'm not sure I need to have my own. I love spending time with Avery and Jordan though, and get to about every other week, sometimes more and we always have a good time. It's a nice reminder that you can be a part of a child's life even if you're not the parent.

#15 - I am so thankful for the rain we received on Tuesday. We needed it so badly and even though we are no where near out of the severe drought, it was nice while it lasted. There are only windows in the offices on the outside of our work area and when it rains you can usually find a couple extra people in each office with their noses pressed against the window, watching in awe. I found myself in an empty conference room several times just staring, mesmerized at the falling drops, seen so little here in the last year or so. Hopefully we will get more soon!

#16- Wednesday I was able to participate in the planning of the companys big Christmas charity event of the year. Every year the company adopts a Children's Home in the area and we raise money to buy them Christmas presents and then give extra money to the home to use for whatever they need throughout the year. We divide up into teams based on department, raise money and then shop for our kid. I've been lucky enough to be able to do the shopping for the HR kid in years past and I always have so much fun! The year we got two little girls was the best, so much pink! :) This year, I got to sit in on one of the planning meeting as well and I was impressed and thankful to see all the supervisors from the call center that came and all the ideas they had. Our budget has been drastically cut this year and we didn't think it would happen at all, but I'm thankful for the people who are taking over and making sure that it happens, I love being apart of helping a group of kids with so much sadness in their life have a special Christmas.

#17 - I'm thankful for my sweet fiancee/nurse when I'm sick. I woke up Thursday morning with a bit of a sore throat and a cough. By lunch I felt miserable and had a slight fever. Of course that was the day of endless meetings and calls and I was finally able to get home about 3:30. I am so thankful to have a fiance who responded to my text message that I would be home about 3:30 with "Good, come home so I can take care of you". Part of this was luck in that he was working from home that afternoon anyways, but he always jumps to be my caretaker when I'm sick without hesitating. I'm thankful that he has the flexibility to work from home and that even though I really didn't need too much, just to lay down and pop some cold meds he was here willing to get me whatever I needed.

#18 - I'm thankful that I have sick days available to me. Had to take Friday off as I was still feeling crummy, but I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about pay for that day, I have an ample stock of paid time off to use for those days and I know that not everyone has that luxury. I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about a few sick days here and being hurt financially by those days. It's a luxury far too few people have. I'm thankful it is one that I enjoy.

#19 - I'm thankful for hot tea and hot soup! It was a sick day at home for both Isaac and I on Saturday and it was hard to find the good, we had to cancel our Carolina weekend which is always a huge let down, but we couldn't let her get our colds so it was just the two of us curled up on the couch all day drinking hot tea and eating soup. I'm thankful I have someone to spend sick days lying on the couch with. I've been sick alone and it's one of the loneliest feelings, even when we're both down with something, it's so nice just to have someone else there, just be there with you, to snuggle with and share the covers and the tissues!

#20- I made it out of the house Sunday to a yoga class and I was thankful for that, I was going crazy with cabin fever and an hour in yoga was just what the doctor ordered, still had a persistent cough, but just looking at something other than the tv and walls of the house was nice.

#21 - I'm thankful for Monday's that feel like Wednesdays thanks to 3 day work weeks!!

#22 - I'm thankful for antibiotics! Woke up Tuesday with my cough worse and feeling bad again. I was running Thanksgiving day no matter what it took so I made a doctor appointment and was diagnosed with Bronchitis. Awesome. Given a z pack and mucinex and told to rest up but given the okay to run Thursday. I am so thankful for that! Up until I got sick I had trained so hard, I had to do the race and I was determined to see it through.

#23 - I'm thankful for dinner with friends. Night before Turkey trot time to carb up for the race! Kristina and her neighbor Margaret came over for pasta dinner and lots of laughs. Margaret brought an amazing salad of spinach, goat cheese, strawberries, walnuts and cherry tomatoes. I'm not always the biggest salad person, but that salad was awesome! Thankful for friends, food and fun!

#24 - So full of thankfulness after Thanksgiving day. Thankful that I made it through the 5 mile race alive and with a perfectly respectable time! Thankful that I did indeed have my running shorts with me and I didn't have to run the race in yoga pants. Thankful that the weather was perfect, cool not cold with a sunny sky. Thankful for the beautiful city I live in and thankful that while running I helped a good cause. The Turkey Trot benefits Caritas, a local organization that helps the homeless.  Thankful for the antibiotics that helped that happen, thankful for my mom and John for a tasty Thanksgiving dinner and Kristina and Avery for joining us.

# 25 - After being awake for 25 hours on Thanksgiving running, eating and later shopping I am thankful for the pajama pants my mom gave me for Christmas (early Christmas as we'll be in Spain for Christmas this year). I put those pants on Friday morning about 7am and they would remain on my person until Sunday morning. They are so freaking comfortable, if I could work in them I would!

#26 - Free premium movie channels over the long weekend made me very thankful! In two days we managed to watch both Game of Thrones and season 7 of Weeds! After the race Thursday my cough worsened a bit and I was exhausted so we took it easy over the weekend and rain on Saturday made it perfect couch cuddling, Game of Thrones watching weather. Thankful for my co couch cuddler, our DVR and U-verse for freeing up the premium channels for the weekend! Gave us our last relaxing weekend until 2012!!

#27 - I'm thankful for my yoga class I started attending on Sundays a few weeks ago. I resisted yoga for years, the relaxation stuff annoys me and my brain just does not shut down, but after several months of running I found myself experiencing some hip and back pain. Some research suggested yoga might be helpful in easing that pain and after one class I noticed a difference! I try to go Sunday and Thursday and I always feel so great afterwards. Limber and pain free in my hips. I thankful I got over my yoga hang ups, it's something I've really started to look forward to each week and I definitely feel better!

#28 - Tonight as I get caught up with all my thankfulness, I'm thankful for the fireplace roaring next to me as I type and Isaac watches a show he'd recorded. I'm thankful to be here with him, nice and warm and even though it's been a rough couple weeks and I've had a really hard time some days finding things to be thankful for some days, as I've typed them all out I've realized how lucky I am!

Weekend Thankfulness

I had a tough time picking my #12 and #13 items to be thankful for this weekend. It was  nice weekend, but I felt like I couldn't find what I was looking for. Until I realized I was looking too hard.

#12 I'm thankful that Isaac is such a good cook and doesn't seem to mind being the cook for our family.

Saturday as we left the outlet mall we passed Mighty Fine and I commented that a burger sounded good.  We very briefly considered stopping, but we limit our eating out to save money for upcoming adventures so we decided to just hit the grocery store and head home.
I won't deny that I wasn't disappointed, eating out is one of my very favorite things to do and I do it so very rarely and I was so hungry after an afternoon at the outlet mall where I wasn't able to get everything that I wanted that I moped for a minute. Isaac must have noticed my disappointment because as we headed to the store he announced that he would make burgers that night, with any thing I wanted on them. I brightened at the prospect and we discussed what all we wanted on our burgers.
We hit the store and then headed home where Isaac put together the best spread of burger toppings and we curled up to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 as we had bought part 2 Friday when it came out.
It was such a great evening and the burger was probably better than one we could buy. I chose avacado, bacon and cheese for mine and it was perfect! I'm thankful that I am so lucky to be marrying someone who will go out of there way to make sure I get the burger I craved!

#13 - I'm thankful for days I get to drink my coffee from a coffee mug.
Okay, that sounds weird, but hear me out. Monday through Friday after I make the morning coffee it goes directly in to the travel mugs we will take to work for the day. Weekends or holidays, however, we get to use our coffee mugs and that has come to symbolize coziness and being home to me. Isaac works from home some days and I always feel a pang of envy as I pack up my travel mug of coffee while he sips from his mug with steam coming out, still in his pjs settling down at his computer. I understand that he will be working, but he looks so comfortable as he sips from his mug, that I somehow forget that part of the scene. So weekends I try to take a moment to cradle my cup of coffee and for a moment be thankful for what it means, that I'm at home with my family with a day of freedom ahead!

How Can You Be Sad with Red Shoes?

I went back and forth on my number 10 thankful post, as it is an object and in some ways I felt like that was missing the point, but when I thought about the happy feelings that these objects bring me and I had no choice!
So my number #10 item that am thankful for is my red shoes. A beautiful shiny, deep red pair of flats that came into my life exactly at the moment that I needed them and I am still thankful for that.
Just over 4 years ago I was going through one of the worst times of my life. An almost 8 year relationship ended suddenly in a very hurtful way and I was feeling the worst I had ever felt. I learned what the term "broken heart" actually means and I had fallen into a very bad place. After over a week of hiding out in my apartment I made a trip to the mall in an attempt at some retail therapy.
It felt strange to be around the people and the noise and I suddenly felt very small and very vulnerable but I was determined to stick it out and wandered down to a quieter end of the mall where there is a Payless Shoe store. I wandered around for a couple minutes, and was about to leave when I saw them. They were the perfect shade of red, not too orange and not too pink, a beautiful deep red. They were shiny, they were flats and they were on sale.
I pulled them off the shelf and kicked off my flip flops and stepped into the shoes. They fit perfectly and standing there in old jeans, a tank top and hair in a messy pony tail I felt special with those shoes on. For the first time in over a week, I felt a little brighter, my chest, that had felt so heavy when I arrived felt a bit lighter. I stood there with a smile on my face for the first time in days adn thought "how can you feel sad with red shoes?" I knew right away, I had to have them and hurried to pay for them before I changed my mind. I couldn't have paid more then about $13 for those shoes and maintain they were worth every penny!
I carefully picked out my Monday outfit, making sure I could wear my shoes and all my co workers noticed my new shoes immediatly, they were the talk of the morning. Did they solve all my problems? Of course not, it was a long few months before I began to feel normal again, but they always made me smile. Any time I was wearing them, when I looked down and saw them there, I smiled, and 4 years later I still smile when I wear them. I was wearing them Thursday during a rough part of the afternoon, but when I looked down and saw my special red shoes, I smiled and I was thankful for that.

My number 11 thing that I am thankful for is Friday. I am thankful for Friday. I am thankful that such a day exists. A day that ends leaving you feeling the most free and liberated you feel all week. I'm thankful for the weight that feels like it's been lifted the moment I remove my badge. I'm thankful for evenings watching Fringe and the Soup while sharing a beer with Isaac. I'm thankful for Friday evenings at the Alamo Drafthouse, having a beer and pizza while catching a new move. I'm thankful for Fridays with Carlina and Isaac, eating pasta dinners and watching Doctor Who. I know my Friday isn't everyone's Friday, I did retail for many years and I remember Friday dread as well when preparing for a busy weekend, but I'm thankful that now I have my Friday back.

2 Days of Thankfulness

#8 - Yesterday I was lucky enough to exercise my right to vote and I am thankful I have that right.
Voting is not something that comes easy to people in many parts of the world, nor, is one that has come easy in this country. Many people have died for the basic right to vote for their leaders. This is why when I don't vote, I consider it disrespectful those who died fighting for their right to vote, or those who died not ever having the right given to them. So every election day I get out and vote. This year was just state constitutional amendments, but if you think about it those are the ones that really matter. Your life is most affected by the laws and elected officials that work at the local level. Let's be honest, nothing really gets done at the federal level, but the cities and states really make the decisions that impact your day to day life.


#9 -Last night Isaac started feeling not so hot and had a rough night where he was up and down with a sore throat, coughing, and a fever. This morning he stayed home and although he started feeling a little better I pressured him into going to the doctor to make sure it wasn't strep. He called the doctor and within the hour he had seen a doctor and had a prescription for an anti biotic. He might not need the meds, no strep, but a very red throat so if he's not better by the weekend he go pick up the prescription. All of this for $10 out of pocket. $15 if he ends up needing the antibiotic. I'm thankful that we are lucky enough to have access to healthcare, that even though neither of us earns a lot of money, we both work for companies that provide decent, in my case and good, in Isaac's case healthcare coverage that ensures most medical issues we come across will not be catastrophic. So many people do not have that option, too many people have to genuinely fear any sort of medical emergency knowing it could break them. I am so thankful for how lucky my family is and my sincerest hope is that all families become that lucky as well, and very soon.