Lots of Accomplishments

Last weekend, I turned 27 and Chris threw our first party in the new house. We were finally able to unpack our decorative items so the place is starting to feel like home!

The birthday-related events wrapped up just in time for the presidential election on Tuesday. Over lunch that day, Chris and I walked a block from our house to the community center to cast our votes. After having watched PRICELE$$, a documentary on campaign finance, I learned that legislators spend much more time fundraising than improving society, so I was fairly apathetic about voting. I didn’t see how one measly vote could compete with lobbyists and PACs, especially when the majority vote is dictated by the limited information that is available. What happens when you substitute real journalism for copied and pasted press releases? Well, Prop 37 was defeated in California. Chemical companies spent over 40 million dollars buying all the information sources in the state and tricked the masses into thinking it was a bad idea to label GMO-foods. With all this manufactured consent, I don’t know if human and environmental needs will ever take precedence over unethical, profit-driven corporate interests. I voted for Jill Stein as an objection to the tyranny of a two-party system that puts on a show every few years to make people think they have a say in a corrupt government, but who am I kidding? Maybe I’ll have the energy to join in on a grassroots movement one day. At least little things show that change is possible, kudos to the states that made progress with marriage equality and the legalization of a harmless medicinal plant. I suppose society is bound to shed the shackles of nonsense one day.

Once the election buzz died down, life went back to normal for just a little bit. But then on Thursday night, Chris’s parents called to let us know that the family dog, Carsyn, had been up seizing non-stop and that she didn’t have much longer to live. Chris met them at the vet on Friday morning but I couldn’t bear to go. They ended her suffering and now Carsyn is chowing down on pizza and key lime pie in doggy heaven.

The next day, we went to a carnival at Home Slice Pizza after doing brunch with Tracy, an old college friend who was in town for a wedding. We weren’t at the carnival for too long though since Chris and I anticipated coming back several times over the next few days. Chris’s brother, Chad, had signed up for the annual HOES (Hands on an Eggplant Sub) competition. After taking third place the last time he competed, he was determined to win it this year. The premise is simple enough: the last contestant to remove his or her hand from a giant eggplant sandwich wins free pizza for a year. Back in 2010, Chad stood for almost three days (with a few minutes to use the restroom every 10 hours), before calling it quits. We were sure he would be the last man standing this year and we bid him good luck before heading back home.

Winnie and I got some belly dance practice in during the afternoon since our performance at Carousel Lounge is coming up soon. As promised, here are some pictures of me at the October 27th show.

Saturday night, Chris and I went to Miah’s birthday party as well as a little get together at Rose’s new house in South Austin. Then after a brief stop at Home Slice to check on Chad, we were off to San Antonio. We intended to see him as soon as we got back the next day, but apparently all the other contestants left during the night. Around 6 am we got news that Chad had won. I guess we’ll be eating a lot more pizza over the course of next year!

And here we are on Sunday with me at exactly 29 weeks.

29 Weeks - San Antonio 11/11/12

What are those medals around our necks? Well, last year after Chris and I ran the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon, we decided to save some money by doing the early-bird registration for the same race this year. But after finding out I was pregnant, we looked into deferring the registration to next year since I didn’t think it would be the best idea to run that far during my third trimester. Apparently that was out of the question so Chris’s dad agreed to train and run in my place. In the meantime, registration opened up for a 3 mile “mini-marathon” so that’s what I ended up completing with Chris’s mom while Chris and his dad ran 13.1 miles.

When Chris started the race, he wasn’t very confident since he hadn’t trained nearly as intensively as he wanted to. But in the end he really pulled through. Not only did he beat his old time, he also hit the under 2 hour mark by 17 seconds! I’m really proud of him and all the other half marathon finishers. Here we are with some of my running buddies from work. Most of us participated in the Run to the Sun race earlier this year (an overnight 95 mile relay from Enchanted Rock to Austin) so seeing them all at the finish line festival made me miss running that much more. I see a jogging stroller in the near future.