Day Forty-Two: Tsunami Sushi

Jeff and the kids offered to take me out for lunch today as sort of a last hoorah before I have my knee surgery tomorrow. I picked the new sushi place close to our house that we have been eying but haven't tried yet. And, I made a point of trying some things that were new to me, like mango jalepeno Hamachi ceviche and the Golden Dragon Roll, stuffed with lobster and covered in eel, and the Scary Spider roll, which contained tempura soft shell crab, cream cheese and other goodies. I also had my stand-by favorite: spicy tuna tower, but I think this one had more colors and kinds of fish roe than I've ever seen on one plate! It was a fun outing with lots of neat firsts, and I'm so glad we took some time out of our day to just hang together and enjoy some delicious food!

It's always fun to find a gem close to home!

This kid is up for anything!

Scary Spider doesn't look too scary!

The delicious ceviche appetizer

Spicy Tuna Tower

Checking off firsts with my people!

Day Forty-One: Aromatherapy Education

I found a webinar entitled "How to Become a Certified Aromatherapist" from Aromahead Institute and decided to see if that might be a path I wanted to explore. I thought the information was fascinating, and I would love to learn more about the topic. But the certification program being offered was very expensive, so I decided to think it through a bit more before making a decision. I love my essential oils and am always interested in learning more about how to use them safely and effectively, and I'm so glad I had an opportunity to do just that today!

The beautiful welcome slide for the webinar

It was so interesting to learn about the differences between two types of lavender

Day Forty: Doorknob Repair

I thought it would be really cool if the First for today was something spectacular, since it's the Fortieth First to celebrate turning 40. But life doesn't always play along with our grand plans. So, instead of something spectacular, I repaired a doorknob. It's not that I've never repaired anything before--I am actually quite handy with a screwdriver, if I do say so myself--but I think this was the first time I've had to put a doorknob back together. And, it was definitely the first time I had to do something like that with a bum knee, which seems irrelevant until you realize that without the ability to kneel, you are either standing and are therefore too tall to see all the inner workings of the knob, bending at the waist, which can get uncomfortable pretty quickly, or sitting flat on your rear on the floor and are too short. I really can't even take full credit for this first, because Clay insisted on helping, so I let him screw in one of the screws. We make a great team, and we got the job done. I did do it in my nice clothes, though, so I guess that could be my little bit of spectacular. 😀

 

Busted doorknob

Putting it all back together

Finishing touches
(He does not have a black eye. This is the tail end of pirate face paint.)

Day Thirty-Nine: Rock En Español

I decided to pick a Spotify station to listen to during my pre-bed knee exercise session that I would never normally pick. That's how I ended up listening to Rock En Español for 30 minutes tonight. I didn't understand all the lyrics, but most of the music was actually pretty good.

Day Thirty-Eight: A Fount of Firsts

This morning, we headed into Dallas to have brunch at La Duni, a Latin cafe we had never been to. Everything was delicious, and we enjoyed the experience very much! Afterwards, we made our way over to the Perot Museum. We have been to the museum once before, but a place like that is sure to provide a first almost every time you go. The last time we went, we completely missed the Hall of Birds, so that section was totally new to us. I tried out the "soar like an eagle" exhibit, which allowed me to see the world from a bird's eye view. The Engineering and Innovation Hall is our family's favorite, and this time I tried my hand at programming a robot using a coding program. It was cool to see it "come to life" and follow my commands. The entire day was so fun, and I loved how many firsts were built into it.

La Duni

What a way to start the day!

Learning to soar

My computer program on the left, and my robot, The Rockin Crustacean, on the right

Day Thirty-Seven: Flower Arranging

When I was in college, I desperately wanted to take Flower Arranging as an elective. But with a major that had only a limited number of free electives and with scheduling conflicts and whatnot, I just never got it done. And, after college, it completely got pushed to the back burner of my brain. But, when I saw a listing for a floral arranging class on a local Facebook group I follow, I knew for sure it would become one of my firsts. It was so much fun to have a mom's night out with a great group of ladies, at an awesome local restaurant, and get to create something so beautiful, while fulfilling a 20-year old dream!

A dream come true!

Day Thirty-Six: Alternative Medicine

From the inception of the Year of Firsts idea, I have had "try alternative medicines" on my list. Part of the reason for this was pure curiosity and part of it was a growing disenchantment with modern Western medicine I've developed over the last few years, which has prompted me to want to learn about a variety of alternatives. My big chance to look into a couple of different alternative medicines came today during an open house at the North Texas Whole Health Wellness Center, where a few practitioners were offering samples of their services for free. I opted to try the BEMER electromagnetic therapy offered by the chiropractor and the NADA five-point acupuncture protocol offered by the acupuncturist. Both were completely new to me, and I was glad to learn about them. The BEMER therapy wasn't painful or even really noticeable, but it was kind of relaxing to lie on the table picturing my blood vessels opening themselves up to maximum capacity. The acupuncture consisted of having five needles stuck in each of my ears and was slightly uncomfortable, even after the needles were removed. I'm not really sure if I would want to go back for more of that particular treatment, but I'm so glad I had a chance to learn about a try new things and especially that I got to try them for free.

A brochure about BEMER

Reading material about NADA acupuncture

Looking a bit like a voodoo doll