Day 20 - Raise the Roof! (Ok, Raise the Bed)

As I burn the nearly midnight oil listening to Jodeci and Lauryn Hill's first albums from my youth, I am reminded how excited I was about their music.  They sang about romantic love, passion, and sexiness without us feeling filthy and tainted.  You did not walk away feeling love was faint or a foregone idea left to chumps and the desperate.

When the music stops, I realized that I had to start Pandora back up, who asked me if I was still listening.  It was a nice reminder of reality, the here and now.

Another day with the kids was a nice refresher before returning to a short work week and the grind.  In particular, I got to spend individual 'man to man' time with my youngest.  We chatted, finished a few chores, had a few moments of quiet, and I stopped to listen to what he had to say.  It was always amazing to me what an eleven year old has to say with his inquiries and musings about life, rights and wrongs, questions about bystanders walking as we drove about town, and his observations of the world.

I asked him if he enjoyed our Austin Black History tour the day before.  I was pleased to hear that he enjoyed it very much.

I attempted to start the day as before with two servings of water, but I did not get to it until nearly the noon hour when I was half starved and desperately thirsty.  I got caught up with my errands around town though.

Later in the day, I met up with my daughter, who returned from a half day with her violin at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) competition.  She was in a particularly good mood.  After she filled me in about her day, I decided to tell her how much I enjoyed my day with her during the tour the day before.  I figured my strategy would be different and I instead told her how I felt about it.

Similar to her brother, she committed that she had a good time as well, smiled my way, and went on talking about another UIL story.  As the kids spoke back and forth with one another on the trip to Home Depot, I could not help but feel pleasantly surprised as well as appreciative of them.  It was nice to have my experience match up with what I thought was their experience.

Kids and parents do not always have a synergy of experience because as expected we have different agendas, goals, wants, and needs.  On our way to Home Depot, I certainly had my own agenda.  I wanted to build a raised garden bed.

I wanted to start small with two 4' x 4' wooden beds to go in my yard.  I went to a class to learn how to build these myself.  However, the class had been at least a year ago.  I went to Home Depot and online to price out the materials while attempting to decipher the notes I made when I attended the class.

Thankfully, I made sense of what I could, bought the materials with the kids in tow.  With God's grace, all things are possible.  Yes, I just got finished gushing about my kids.  But, in about ten or fifteen minutes, I was about to bust some heads open.

Anyway, I purchased what I needed and waited until after dinner, putting the kids to bed before working on the first raised garden bed frame.  It wasn't pretty; sweat poured down and sideways across my face, glasses had to be cleaned at least a dozen times, and I wished I hadn't waited so long before applying what I learned.

Earlier at Home Depot, I had two 2" x 12' x 10' untreated wooden boards cut to 4' 3" 1/4 or 51" for each side of the raised garden bed, picked up 70 3" screws, a 2" x 2" x 8' length of wood, and a hand saw to cut the wood into 12" lengths of wood.

No worries.  I got one done.

Back hurting a bit, knees slightly throbbed, and blood rushed to my head when I finally stood from my pet project.  It was done.  I'll do the second one tomorrow. I'll need to return to Home Depot for more wood.  I miscalculated thinking I had enough for two beds.  Oh, well.  Shit happens!

Before I finished editing this blog, I finished the last two servings of water for the day.  All this and much more before the hand strikes midnight.  Is this how Cinderfella felt after the ball?

I did achieve my goal of eating more fruits and vegetables today.  The sweets fixation returned.  Temptation was strong as I did take a swig from my son's fruit punch.  I put it down, drank a glass of water, and consumed an orange.  The craving passed for the moment and returned once later in the day before eating dinner.

The cravings have become a bit unpredictable.  However, I'm responding relatively well.

I will be returning to a regular schedule at work tomorrow, which is something else to look forward to. Until then, I'll be relaxing like my follow brother in arms in the photo above.  It reflected my idea of a raised gardening bed.

Day 15 - Musings on the East Side (Austin)

As I hoped, waking in the morning came to me much easier this morning.  I popped up before the alarm went off, threw on my clothes, and out the door.

It took a while for me to settle in for my walk.  I did not feel quite as listless at the start.  However, about a mile into it, I continued to feel more energetic and aware of my surroundings.  I noticed as I paced down Comal Street through to Lady Bird Lake that I was passing through over a hundred years of East Austin history.

As many may know, East of I-35 historically has been the home of many African and Latino/Hispanic American families and communities.

There is iconic Victory Grill on 11th Street, which opened in 1945 as a spot for returning African American servicemen after World War II.  Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown, Etta James, Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday, Chuck Berry and many other notable musicians played at the Victory Grill. As a result of segregation, there were several African American schools and colleges, a "Colored branch" library (George Washington Carver Library),  and community churches.  As African Americans left to live in the suburbs over the next twenty or thirty years, the area experienced a  major decline.

There also is a strong presence of Mexican Americans in East Austin. Recently, it was estimated that well over a third of the Austin population is Hispanic/Latino.  Traditionally, Mexican Americans in East Austin worked and lived from around 7th Street down to Cesar Chavez (aka 1st Street or Water Street) through to Lady Bird Lake on the Colorado River. A number of immigrant farmers came to Austin to become skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and educators among others.  Several churches and well known families became well established including Austin's first Hispanic mayor, Gus Garcia, who came from East Austin.

Of special note is the site of the French Legation, which was completed in 1842.  The site was developed after the Republic of Texas, since winning its independence, invited ministers from foreign countries to establish legations and develop diplomatic relationships.  It was believed that the French Legation was part of a larger plot to annex large portions of the Republic of Texas to become a colony of France.  The French Legation sits on twenty-one acres looking over downtown Austin just east of I-35.

So, within a five to seven mile walk, I was able to experience a wide swath of Austin's rich cultural history.  At present, East Austin is experiencing a wave of gentrification as individuals and families come in to purchase properties throughout the community.  There is an artist and musician community that resides, works, and plays on the East Side as well. This all makes for an interesting experience.

I'm proud to say that my mother's family also resided and went to college in East Austin years ago.  My children go to the neighborhood school and I really feel at home as I walk through my community.  Austin continues to be a huge adjustment for me from my time in Atlanta, New York, Massachusetts, and California.  It has grown on me and I'll see where I am in the next several years.  For now, Austin is the place for me.

I ended my walk with several sprints up a hill.  I'll feel the muscle pain tomorrow or at least on the following day.  I stayed on top of my water, enjoyed some relatively good food.  Still, no sweets. It sounds corny, but I'm feeling good in my neighborhood.

Day 11 - Belly of the Beast (Sam Moon)

Ok, they really overdid it with the diamond in the middle.

Only in Texas can you find this shit

What is one man's paradise is another man's thorny briar patch. I reached in and found my own little tar baby, sticky like glue and an all too familiar feeling.

The day of love and romance approaches quickly.  As many men, I've decided to wait until now to consider getting a gift.  In preparation, I asked a few of the ladies around and overheard conversations about their favorite places to shop.

I soon gathered that the favored place to find the variety and inexpensive items any lady might desire would likely be found at Sam Moon Trading Company.  Sam Moon, a bargain, wholesale shop for women's handbags, jewelry, and other goodies to provide "beauty on a budget" was the place that I would descend into.

Great Scott! There probably was a matching hat somewhere.

Looking at the wide gazes of glee and hearing their cheerfulness about Sam Moon, I believed it to be the place for me to find a gift.  Actually, after I heard it was cheap, I really stopped listening.

Ok, bear with me, because there is a point here about my voluntary no sweets adventure.

I found the one Sam Moon location in my area and began my journey into a bottomless belly of Satan.  Had I known the devilment for which I was about to engage in, I am not sure if I would have gone so gleefully and with cavarlierish, unabashed wonder.  As they say, ignorance is bliss.

I always wondered what happened to those spare zippers.

I walked my happy go lucky ass into that store planning to be there no more than thirty minutes tops.

If you're into bondage, you might like this one.

Through the doors and behold, I walked threw the shadow of death and feared something quite evil.  Wholesale bullshit on display from head to toe, wall to wall, from the rooter to the tooter of knock off pleather and polyester fur bags, wallets, jewelry, hats, faux hair, and purses in every color-scheme, pattern, and bewitched decadence that could be shipped and dumped here.

I genuinely felt immediately overwhelmed.  Too much. Too soon!  My head was spinning in disbelief.

Through Gehenna's fire, I walked around in awe of the women with their daughters, sisters, and mothers in tow and on occasion husbands, boyfriends, and brothers in a daze and seriously confused.

I sauntered through each isle searching for a beacon to guide me threw the darkness.The feeling that rushed through me, while distasteful and unbecoming, was what I imagined to be the one desired by most women who walked about searching for their perfect little piece of bliss.

Apparently, there is no such thing as too much bling.

Camouflage on purses!  Really?  And, you wonder why you can't find your purse.

The feeling reminded me of anytime as a child and since how I felt when I walked into a candy store, donut shop, ice cream factory, or midnight imagined debauchery that I dreamt up . . .  about sweets that is.  Although overwhelming at first, the high, the chase of the dragon was ignited by the rush of emotions about what might be.

Sam Moon did not please me at all.  However, I could see why the place gained so much favor amongst those who frequented the place.

After nearly two hours, I found what I needed and was glad to be rid of the place.  I hope to never return.  Lesson learned, I have continued my trek forth to find myself in the everyday experiences of now.

Not every man will feel similarly as I did about shopping at Sam Moon.  However, for those like me, I ask that the women and ladies of America try to show some appreciation for the herculean effort taken by lovers, friends, husbands, men-folk, fathers, sons, girlfriends, and partners of like minds who may brave it through the storm to find you something special.

You are deserving and anyone who is willing to suffer through it must really love you deeply.  I hope this little bit will help you have an insight into how much they may go through so you are reminded that you're loved.

Day 8 - Secondary Benefits

I noticed as it may be obvious that my teeth have not been bleeding as much these last several days.  I go to the dentist pretty regularly, if nothing else so I will not have to see him more often.  However, throughout my childhood and adulthood, I've had this off and on problem with bleeding gums or gingivitis, a common form of gum disease.

It may not be well known, but I learned African Americans and Mexican Americans have a disproportionate higher rate of gingivitis than other groups.  I would guess this has to do with socio-economic status, access to dental services, and, of course, diet.

Since I have been excluding sweets from my diet, my gums have not bled as severely in the last couple of days. As of today, there is no bleeding at all.  Of course, flossing and good dental hygiene help.  I do wonder how cutting back the sweets has made a difference.  It may seem obvious, but this is not something that I hear about regularly.

I grew up with family where it was very common to expect that you were going to lose many, if not all, of your teeth.  I presume pulling teeth was the cheaper option to have a bad cavity removed instead of getting a filling or repairing it.  I grew up watching young men and women with missing teeth.  In pictures, you'd see them getting older and have more missing teeth in their mouth.  These are some of the same people with other major health concerns such as heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Growing up into young adulthood, I did not connect their health problems and dental issues.  Dental issues, I guess, was not a health issue per se.

I have two crowns on teeth I lost to poor dental hygiene and resulted in me being far more diligent about brushing and flossing because I hate the dentist.  They're nice and all.  My kids love the African American dentist they have now located in my part town - the sunny Eastside (Austin's hood).

I expect my kids will have a different experience than my older family and I experienced.  They do far better managing their teeth than I did at their age.  I also believe the connection between good dental hygiene is linked to the other positive health messages I communicate to them.

I plan on keeping the rest of my teeth.  I have a dental appointment coming up also.  I'll be a bit nervous.  But, hey, I'm not a kid and going to the dentist is not going to hurt any more.  It's a whole lot easier and cheaper taking care of my health.