Life Post-Potter

I am blessed to have a husband who didn't want to read Harry Potter until I made him get through the first two books.  It has worked out quite well actually, he's been reading them and often we sit on the couch and read them to each other--watching his facial expressions, answering (sometimes) his questions, and having discussions about the Potter characters' development makes me feel like I'm reading them for the first time all over again.  Molly was right, an un-Potter-ed husband is the next best thing you could to do obliviating yourself.

Well, I was a bit sad about not being able to see HP 7 Part Deux until Lawry finished the books (he's not allowed to watch movies before having read the book--the better for his imagination), that was until my sister sent me a message asking about tickets to see HP in BCS!  It was great to see the end of the Harry Potter series with her.  She was the one who started me on the books!  She got Sorcerer's Stone for Christmas one year and not too long after, we were both hooked and attending midnight releases for the books.  It was sweet to end and begin Harry Potter with her, we spent the afternoon after watching the movie talking about our favorite characters, our favorite scenes from the movie, favorite moments from the books... I loved it!  Then we ended a sweet day with some banana bread baking.

Also, for those of you who didn't know yet... that's the wife chop!  Lawry told me I looked "older," and by that he meant I look "my age!"

Learning about myself,
ZW

Keep Austin Weird

My Ode to Texas
Texas, Our Texas,
Why were you freezing?
Snow was the weather I was leaving!
Canceling a day of the conference with a thin layer of ice
That was not very nice.
But, still you have lots of good beer
So, we passed the free day with cheer.
Besides the temperature
The Mexican food was excellent for sure.
Breakfast tacos with chorizo and cheese,
Give me more, please.
Sister and Lawry,
I could not stay longer and for this I am sorry.
Texas, you are full of things and people I love.

Hoping the groundhog was right and Spring is near,
MJ

Last Time I Thought About Being Cold

I was biking across the GG Bridge.  My sister confirmed that wind, no sun, and just down right cold is a huge factor in her decision to remain in the South.  I wish I had that wisdom before I endured Indiana's windy, rainy mess.  Also, my pictures from San Fran are LONG overdue.  So, here's one!

Counting down the hours to Harry,
MJ

The Zambranas

I miss the other Zambrano women.  Less than one week until my mom's cooking, Texas tacos, and my sister's wit.  These wonderful photos come from our friend Hans in Germany.  Germans are the best.

Making it through Monday relatively unscathed,
MJ

Just A Little Further?

Hello November,
When you come around, I am normally doing quite well in my work, but you bring so much stress that you unnerve me.  I find myself hesitating about the quality of my work, my level of production, stressed about upcoming final papers and increasingly focused on myself.  This week, 48 hours passed when I only talked to Lawry for about 30 minutes to an hour total.  We both took it in stride, but of course it made me sad, since talking to him helps me with the madness of graduate school.  November, when you are in full swing, I'm often thinking, "I don't know how I can finish this!"
This morning, before you really started to usher in the end of fall, I went on a run.  I meant to run just about 30 minutes, a little over 3 miles out at the cross country training track.  It's really a beautiful course, like a meadow with a wide path running all through and around it.  So, I was really looking forward to the early morning run.  When I got there, people were arriving for a cross country meet.  I like to run, but I'm no super runner, so I quickly got the heck outta Dodge, but then I had to figure out where to run instead.  Long story short, although I could have cut my run really short several times--because I was knocked off my normal course--I ended up running for 50 minutes, and I loved it.  I got tired around 35 minutes, but then I remembered what my sister says about running.  She says, "I figure, if I can push my body to do this, I can better ask my mind to do difficult things, too."
I was listening to worship music while running today. When I got home, I started doing some crunches and Sara Groves "When the Saints" came on.  What a good song; she sings about the sacrifices and actions of the saints.  I hadn't heard it in a while.  I want to spend of myself. On school, on Lawry, on God, on friends, on family, on others, on teaching.  I want to think about when I can choose to go a little bit further.

Oh when the Saints go marching in, I want to be one of them.

Missing home,
MJ

If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

10, 4 & 2

Mi hermana and I took our German friends to Waco to visit the Dr. Pepper Museum and we gave them a general Texas Appreciation Course.  They now remember the Alamo.  My sister and I L-O-V-E-D the soda shoppe at the DP.  We colored to show our appreciation

Then, we took them to Up in Smoke the Zambran's favorite barbecue place on 35 just north of the Wack-Attack.  There, an epic battle between Darth (hermana) and Anakin (Maurus) occurred, until Obi Wan (Andy) came and took the young jedi and flipped him over.

Then Anakin/Maurus went swimming.  He has convinced me that I still want all girls, but I will happy with one German little boy.  He is the cutest :)
Keeping Waco Wacko,
MJ

That's What I Like About Texas

Went to the heart of Texas this past weekend to hang with my sister and meet Lawry.  I went to visit the Latin American library, which I did do... but I spent about 13.73% of my time in Austin at the library.  What did I do instead??? Ate really good Mexican food, and that inspired a thought.  Sometimes, when the folks up north ask me what is so great about Texas, I give the standard answers: food is better, the people are nice, sunsets are great, and something about that wildwest mentality is awesome (more on that to come).  And, I'm not just saying this stuff, I've been places, I can compare.  However, I feel that my answers are still so abstract, so I concocted a new mission for this summer:

Photo-document all the reasons Texas is the GREAT STATE!!!

...Well, at least in the eastern/central/southern/northern parts.  My apologies to the panhandle and El Paso, you are also part of the awesome, but it would almost take me as long to get pictures of you as it would to just go back up north.  Anyway, a visual journey o' the great state is in the works...

For now, some pictures of Mexican food and Austin-y things:

 Lawry with a brisket and a shrimp taco and my fried avocado and seared ahi tuna taco from "Torchy's Tacos" in Austin.  Their tagline is "Torchy's Tacos: Damn Good Tacos."  And I'll add because it is appropriately funny... hellzzz yes they are! Mmmm, tacos...

My sister drove us all there for dinner (thank you my Austin sensei and yogi) and she got the fried avocado (best) and the shrimp taco.  Apparently this place began as a taco truck and then expanded into a small place on what they call "the drag" just off of UT-Austin's campus.  As I've always said, you know it is good when it comes from a taco truck or taco stand.  Especially, if they made so much money on their stand that they also bought a little place in a hot spot of town.

Then we went to Amy's Ice Cream... Lawry was so giddy about the ice cream; he felt like a child :)

We got a pint of Mexican vanilla ice cream with pecan praline and crushed waffle cone and split it between the three of us while we sat at the children's table.  Ah, so good!

Now to work on that research I put off,

MJ

Maybe March Doesn't Fit in the Spring Rhyme Because It's Mad

I've always wondered what comes before the "April Showers."  You know, "April Showers bring May Flowers," but poor March was always left out of the cute rhyme for the spring months, and well that's just not fair.  So this year, March decided to make a name for itself, and it decide to snow, in Dallas, in late March, and dump about an inch on the ground.  I was just shocked at the fact that even though I was 1,000 miles away from Bloomers, the snow followed me for one last hurrah (or "wallop" in the words of weather.com) .  Well, snow, you can try to knock me down and take away the warmth, but I think I'll just try to melt you away with fun pictures...

Like one of mi hermana! Who, by the way, was the cutest child, ever. My dad has this slide show of family pictures on his computer, and she's just adorable.

And one of the Spanntastic Two! Blake's face by the way doesn't reflect coldness so much as it reflects that she lives in Houston now, where winter lasts for like 13 hours. :)

I wanted to go to the playground because I thought the colors would provide a fun contrast to the pictures.  They do, but I wish it had been light out; it would have made the colors "pop" a bit more.

 

Blakey and I "enjoying" the only snow she's seen this season because of her current exile in Houston ;)

Bracing myself for "April Panic Mode" and hoping it brings "May Light Work Load,"

MJ