Flashback Friday

I don't actually have flashback pictures to speak of, however, for me these are a little bit of a flashback. These are some pictures that I took a couple of weeks ago when I went down to College Station for an A&M game with The Queen. That trip was a bit of a trip down memory lane as well as a horrific slap in the face as to how old I've gotten and how, surprisingly, time didn't stand still after I graduated.

Me in front of my old duplex

Fightin' Texas Aggie Band on the Quad
Fightin' Texas Aggie Band as they pass

Fightin' Texas Aggie Band in the Classic "T" Formation at Kyle Field
We had really great seats. I want to thank The Queen and her Dad for inviting me. It was a really great weekend for me.

So Pitiful...

I did a little shopping recently and I know it is probably a little icky, but I don't always launder my purchases.

This morning I donned a spiffy argyle sweater and black pants and headed into the office. I thought I removed all the tags until the end of the day and a co-worker asked if I realized the I had a big ol' XL stuck to lefty?

Oops...

Snooze Button Scenarios

I am addicted to the Snooze Button on my alarm.

I used to pop right up out of bed when the alarm would go off (although I'm sure my Mom would say differently). Of course, that may be because I would put my alarm clock across the room from me, which would force me to actually get out of bed to turn it off.

Then, the alarm moved to a bedside table and all I had to do was snake my hand out from beneath the covers and hit the button. I typically set my alarm for a good 45 minutes before I actually have to get up, just so I can hit the snooze button every eight minutes and then have to actually grumble at myself to get out of bed (which The Queen has heard me talk to myself as she has passed my room on the way to work out).

My alarm clock is now situated at the foot of my bed so it is more than just snaking the hand out from the covers. This morning when the alarm went off, I did a somersault to the end of the bed and hit the snooze. I then got up, went to the bathroom, made my bed, grabbed a pillow and a blanket, and laid on my made bed with my head at the foot of my bed. I was back in snaking distance to easily hitting the snooze at least a couple of more times.

Sheesh, how much could I get done in the morning if I would just get up and stay up rather than get sucked into the luxury that is a snooze button....

Musculoskeletal System

I have a history of back problems and come by it honestly as it is something that has been "handed" down through the generations. I'm pretty used to my back going out on me and have learned how to deal with it.

My pain normally manifests in my lower back and hips. In fact, a couple of years ago when I participated in walking a Half Marathon, one of my hips slipped out of joint on me and by the time I got to the end of the race I could no longer bend my knee and was literally 2 inches shorter on one side of my body. That was when I started to go to a chiropractor on a regular basis. He helped get me adjusted and aligned, after many visits over a couple of years. He lectured me on posture and how bad sitting hunched over a desk all day working on a computer was for my whole skeletal system and how issues with the back caused all sorts of other medical issues. But he was focused solely on the "skeletal" and didn't really give me a lot of direction in the best ways to protect the skeletal by working on the muscles.

I stopped going to him, obviously, when I moved to California. Luckily, I found something out there that I liked even better than having my back cracked and it had many more benefits....Pilates. For the last year out in California, I was doing Pilates once a week and had far fewer back (hip, knee, neck, shoulder, etc.) issues than the many previous years and I know it was because I had done so much work on strengthening the "musculo" part of the "musculoskeletal" system. Sadly, I haven't continued doing Pilates since I've returned to Texas and I'm starting to see/feel the muscles atrophying. Yesterday during my walk the old hip started to slip again and I had to limp around for a couple of hours trying to stretch and pop it back into place, which eventually it did go back into place.

So, you may be asking "what will you be doing about this?" Well, I'm going to find another Pilates instructor here in Texas and start working out again. I know it works for me. I know it does the body good. I don't know why I waited this long to actually follow through on doing this.

Trip Pictures...Finally

I know I told you all over a month ago that I had pictures of my trip East on my trek out of California. Well, I'm finally blogging on the computer where they are stored, so here they are:

A Giant Sequoia

View from the top
A view of the valley
The only flowing falls this time of year
El Capitan
Mountains reflected in a stream in Yosemite

Lake Tenaya
Looking down into Lake Tenaya (yes the water really was that clear)

Extraterrestrial Highway - The Beginning

Extraterrestrial Highway - The Middle

Extraterrestrial Highway - The End

Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam - Notice how low the water is

The Hoover Dam Bridge - This will be interesting to drive across when it is finished.

These are only a very few of the hundreds that I took on this trip. I will definitely go back to Yosemite and spend more time just enjoying nature....maybe a winter trip, except there won't be access to Lake Tenaya....

My Weekend

This past weekend was a pretty good one.

Saturday I got up and around and went and visited my friend Angie and her family. She and I went to a "Craft Fair" at one of the local high schools and then wandered around Garden Ridge and DSW. I really, really wanted to buy a couple of different pairs of shoes that I tried on, but told myself that I had to wait until the right time (and shutting up the voice in my head that was screaming "WHEN ISN'T IT THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY SHOES!!!").

Saturday evening I went to Bass Performance Hall with my sister and saw the Von Trapp Children sing with the Fort Worth Symphony. It was really a great show, even though Marti and I started out in the wrong seats. One of the things that cracked me up was the audience...they were quite the geriatric set. A couple of times when the singers would announce what they were going to perform next, especially when it was one of the songs from the movie, the audience would make quiet exclamation sounds and murmur approval. I would look at Marti and we would giggle because we had the joint thought of "Hello, people, it is all written in the program that was handed out as you walked to your seat...." Ah, well... All in all, it was a beautiful program and the kids were great performers.

Sunday morning I woke up at my sisters and she made fresh cinnamon rolls (you know the kind from the can with the frosting...yum) and scrambled eggs and then I hit the road heading back to the palace. As I was settling in for a relaxing afternoon of reading, I get a BBM from The Queen stating that Tarzan and Jane are coming over for Sunday night football and dinner...yippee!! The Queen and I did some minor straightening, although I think she did more because she was getting distracted by cleaning out her closet, ran to the store for beer, and prepared the puppies for company. Unfortunately, I managed to drop a full jar of terryaki bar-b-que sauce on the kitchen floor, which shattered and splattered orangish-red goo all of The Queen's jeans and got glass all over the kitchen. Not a fun thing to clean up, but we got it done.

Tarzan and Jane showed up. Tarzan gravitated to the television for football, where The King joined him as soon as he got home, and the three HCBCs present popped the cork on a couple of bottles of wine and visited. Next thing you know, it is going on 11:00 and we all need to get to bed seeing as how it is a school night and we all have to work in the morning. Tarzan and Jane headed out and the castle settled into sleep mode.

All in all, it was a really great weekend....