Yellow Fever Vaccine

So in preparation for our trip, I had checked to see if there were any recomended or requried vaccines. For American traveling to Brazil, none are generally required. If you come through other countries that are prone to outbreaks, the Brazilian government requires you to have a vaccine. However, about 4 weeks ago, I started seeing news reports of a yellow fever outbreak in Brazil. I studied the news, visited online chat boards and checked with the embassy.

You can see the outbreak area is only in Iguazu Falls, and I read mixed recomendations to get the vacccine if you are traveling there. For citizens of Australia and the UK, their government requries the vaccine for any travel to Brazil. H and I went back and forth about getting the vaccine and decided to be vaccineated to be on the safe side.

We decided that since we are likely to travel to Africa next year, where the vaccine would be required, to just go ahead with the shot and be protected. I haven't seen much more news out of Brazil about the outbreak easing up or if it's increasing. I know there was a rush on the vaccine down there in their cities & it even made getting the vaccine here in the US difficult.

H and I went down to the Methodist Hospital Wellness Center for Travelers in the Medical center last Thursday. It was the best appointment we've ever had. We showed up at 2:00 pm for our 2:15 appointment, and were walking out of there at 2:12! The nurse who gave us the vaccine was friendly and very helpful, and the shots for both of us were $224.

So far, none of the nasty side-effects we were warned about. Neither of us felt terrible, but we've had a few headaches lately. I attribute mine to studying too much, but it might be the vaccine.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: No turning yellow for us!

More Marathon Mania

I'm going to extend the marathon glory a wee-bit more. First, above is the snapshot from my never-without-it running buddy, the Garmin Forerunner. That's what a 26 mile tour of Houston looks like!

It was pretty good throughout the race except for mile 11- something went wrong. The exact mileage was off, but I think it was less than a mile. I think it's funny that I was so close to other runners the first few miles that it was picking up other people's heart rate monitor signals.

This is a professional picture of me looking awful and for which I refuse to pay $30. You can see all my running gear in all of it's glory. In case you are curious, I ate peanut M&M's and Gardetto's Garlic Rye chips to replenish the 3,100 calorie I burned.

This was soft of a fun group shot early in the race. I"m thinking it was about the 10K mark, while the half-marathon runners were still running with us. I'm in the left left hand corner.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: 1 week till we leave!

Vintropolis

So this past weekend, after studying hard Friday night and Saturday morning, H and I headed out to enjoy some sunny, perfect weather after a long hard week with mostly gloomy rainy days. His friend told him out about a wine bar called Vintropolis, so we decided to check it out!

The shopping center where the bar is located has a great Mediterranean feel to it, with lots of fun & pretty architecture. There is a fair amount of outside seating, including the back courtyard with this wonderful fountain.

See my lovely dear husband! Guess what he's hiding behind his back? I hopped right out of the car with my camera while he was on the phone. So when he came to join me he was bringing me my purse. ;)

The bar itself was really nice inside, with a great selection of wines. We requested a good Argentine wine to get us in the mood for our trip, and we directed to a great bottle of Malbec. We ordered this awesome cheese & cracker tray that comes with two gigantic blocks of yummy cheese.

We sat outside under the patio, watching the beautiful clouds roll by on a sunny day and had a fabulous time. We both just needed a relaxing afternoon, of course followed by dessert at Dessert Gallery.

This cheese knife set was great for more than just chopping the cheese block.

Anyways....back to studying!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Because Yapta Rocks, I was able to get a $350 refund on our tickets!

Colorado Dawn & Dusk

This was the last bit of sun I was able to capture (from my car) on my way downtown. I was surprised by the number of parks and really pretty areas in Downtown Denver. I'd be in heaven if I could watch the sunset behind the mountains every night.

Instead, on this traffic-jammed night, I mostly watched the buildings fade to black as I approached the capital building. There was lots of construction going on downtown and the sky provided a colorful backdrop after the sunset.

The next morning I was treated to this delightful moonset as the sun rose. I really would absolutely LOVE to live near the mountains and watch this every day.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I received my approval from the State Board to take my Engineering license Exam!!!!

Downtown Denver

I hopped on an early afternoon flight on Tuesday in hopes of arriving in Denver with a little time to tour downtown and have some camera fun. My flight landed a little after 4 and I made my way downtown just before 5. I forgot to account for traffic and early winter sunsets.

I slowly approached this beautiful church for about 30 minutes as I sat in traffic and inched closer to the golden-domed capital. I again had the opportunity to drive (stopped at many red lights) and photograph with my rearview mirror blocking some shots. Not ideal, but I wasn't ready to get out in the 15 degree weather either.

This church looked gorgeous and had some amazing details around it, but this was the best I could capture from my red-light vantage point in the early dusk.

I had wanted to stop and take some photos of the great capital building, but after sitting in traffic for an hour, I just didn't care anymore. The sun had set, I would have to park and it was COLD. So the best I could do was this drive-by shot and hope to come back again some other time.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Our tickets to Detroit in April are booked. Motown here we come!

Snow at 30,000 Feet

I was treated to some beautiful snow covered landscapes as I flew into and out of Denver last week. I bet this gently winding river, lined with beautiful trees is just a swell place to camp or raise a family or enjoy a picnic with wine and cheese.

This was a lake that was mostly frozen over. I've never ice skated on a real lake, only in the fake indoor rinks. There were still big area where the lake was exposed- wonder if you could ice fish.

Not the greatest picture, but it looks like such a happy little grove of tree, dusted with a light fluffy coat of snow. Makes me wish I could build a little house on the prairie and Zoe could have the best backyard ever.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Saturday's are wonderful!

My Reduced World

I've showed you what fun and distracting things lie outside of my work window, but you've never seen the full glory of my office. It's the typically messy, mad engineer mixed with the crazy paperwork and paper over-load of a legal office. It sucks when I come to work before sunrise, so I just leave the windows shut until I get distracted by a beautiful sunrise.

Just like where's waldo; find the following: my briefcase, my camera bag, casebook for upcoming trial, casebook for upcoming deposition, wedding picture, Stephanie picture, water bottle, marathon frame, low-carb cinnamon bagels I eat every morning, drawer on 29 year old credenza that stays open all the time, all my receipts and printouts for our Brazil trip, 12 post-it notes with lists for today, yesterday and tomorrow, and a VHS video. I'm not even showing you 3 shelves stacked with various projects and case books and folders and models and cans of soup and a case of Coke Zero Vanilla and my radio and a candle and a dead African violet.

No more Saturdays at wine bars or afternoons on a photo field trip for a while. I'll be spending every free minute studying all these lovely books for my big PE test in April. The binder contains a print out of the 16 PowerPoint presentations that go with the 16 DVD's to review 4 years worth of college. I've got the semi-official Reference Manual, along with 500 solved sample problems. My flashcard set didn't make it into the picture, I've got another book of solved problems and even a freaking book to tell me how to use my new calculator. I have no idea how to use a RPN calculator. I've used a fabulous graphic TI-83 (type) calculator since the 7th grade, and this engineering calculator is throwing me for a loop! I still need to buy more reference books for specific subject areas. Yup...this is going to be my reduced world for the next 2 months!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The pretty princess wallpaper border secretly make me happy on the inside.

Zoe Getting Old

My little girl is getting so old! Check out all that white fur!

She's even starting to get some white fur on the rest of her too.

She knows I should have been studying instead of playing with my new lens.

She was really in no mood to pose for me. She just wanted to climb back UNDER the blanket and sleep.

She's not nearly as entertained with my camera as I am.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: In 2 short weeks, we will be in Buenos Aires!

Wood & Windows

The wooden structure is finally starting to go up around the hotel near my house. You are in for an extra special front and back construction update today.

I drove in my car, with my swank camera to take some photos of the front.

These supposed elevator shafts still remind me of jumbo chimneys.

For you- my dedicated blog readers, I took some behind the scenes footage of the construction from the back. I took Zoe on a long run, since I'd decided to quit running after the marathon. Many gentle nose nudges convinced me to resume running, and we went for a photo-jog along the same electrical break as I'd let her run wild recently. All the studying though made me forget that it had been raining for 2 straight days and I forgot that my shoes were new.

Oppps. This always annoys my dear husband.

We continued running around to the evil building and checked out their new windows.

Obviously Zoe isn't too impressed with the new windows.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I had a great visit with my favorite Aunt & Uncle in Denver.

Alpine Symphony

Saturday night was date night for us & we started off at a fabulous sushi bar in the River Oaks area called Rickshaw Far East Bistro. Great food & excellent service, and they had a neat bar area that looked like it would get packed later at night.

Then we headed downtown to see Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss. The Houston Symphony has a great initiative to combine sight & sound called the Alpine Symphony with images by photographer Tobias Melle of Berchtesgaden Alps in Bavaria, Germany.

The first half of the show was music only, so I was really anticipating the second half filled with amazing photos. I guess I'm not at cultured and sophisticated as I'd like to believe, because I just wasn't blown away by the music or the alpine photos. There were some really nice shots, but very few that wowed me. It did however excite me even more to head to Banff this fall and take my own photos of the majestic Canadian Rockies.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Off to Denver this afternoon!

Remembering MLK

It's only as I've gotten older, and hopefully wiser, that I can begin to appreciate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On the remembrance of his birthday today, I am reminded of a world I never knew. I grew up long after the civil rights era, where so many African-Americans were denied what can only be called basic human rights. Although I've spent the last few years learning about the lasting effects of racism in our country, I don't think I can every truly comprehend the magnitude of their struggle.

I think it's really interesting that, because of my support for Barack Obama, I am incredibly sensitive to how often race and gender have been brought up in the campaign so far. No matter how much we'd like to think that this country is ready for the first minority president or that we've moved beyond the ugly racism that colors our past, the truth is not so idealistic. I hope these next few months of campaigning find our country moving beyond the color or gender of the candidate to examine their qualities of leadership and their vision to take this country in a new direction.

Many people compare Obama to MLK, and I think that is a fairly valid comparison. Yes, on a very superficial level, they are bright, intelligent black men who are out to make a difference and inspire others. Obama delivers many of his campaign speeches in a style reminiscent of the great preacher. However, the most significant similarity between these two men is their ability to inspire people to change our world for the better. I am so thankful that MLK had the courage and faith to stand up for basic human rights in our country, and to force American to acknowledge that the color of a person's skin says nothing about their inherent value.

I want to share some great words of wisdom that Dr. King shared with our country.

*The time is always right to do what is right.

*An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

*Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

*Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter

*Refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of nuclear annihilation... I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow... I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The world is a better place for everybody because of the courage and passion of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Truth About Mums

What the hell is that you might ask- especially if you are not from the South. I must admit I had no idea that homecoming mums were a regional thing, and looking back onto my embarrassing high school era, it's only makes the humiliation worse. Yes, that's me my senior year of high school- sporting a $100+ piece of junk like it was a 5 carat wedding ring (or maybe like a gaudy crown, like the fabulous chandelier) .

See- you wear it to school that Friday. You must put your name on it and your boyfriend's name on it. It's in you school colors, but ONLY the seniors get to wear all white and gold. It's also OK if you don't iron your shirt that day too since all the jingling and bells on your mum will override any sloppy dress habits.

If you are part of the super-cool group of "Senior Ladies", then you wear said mum with over-priced t-shirt, also with your name, to associate yourself with all the other cool senior girls. Obviously, I wasn't cool enough to be part of their group- thankfully my swell mum got me into the cool club.

Then, if you play volleyball, all the senior must remove the 10 lbs beast from your clothes and hang all the mums up on your athletics lockers and take picture. Further proof that all the senior women on the volleyball team were super-cool. The super-cool ones had 2 teddy bears on the mum and not 1 measly bear.

Then you wore your mum to the football game that night. See- I was friends with poor girls that didn't get a super-cool mum. Well, maybe she was carrying me since the ridiculous weight of the mum was about to pull me over. Either way, best friends rock.

I busted out the Senior Yearbook (so be ready for more photos from my terrifying high school years to come!). See- everybody at the football game had o their mums & school spirit.

They even let the band members have a mum and be cool for the night.

I actually have no recollection of homecoming dance night. I obviously had the mum on for the 1st photo, but I don't think you actually wore it to the dance. So for all of your out-of-towners considering re-locating to the fabulous South, now you know the Truth About Mums and the wretched traditions you will have to endure with your children, should you move here.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Had a great date night at the symphony yesterday!