Fireworks, Kenya, Car, Work,

It has been a month since my last post. I never feel like blogging, but I always feel better after I do. Here's what's been doing on with us lately:

I had been experiencing painful, nauseous migraines for about a month. As soon as I would feel one creeping up on me, not 5 minutes would pass before I'd be in intolerable pain. My neck would get tight, and then my whole back would. I would feel dizzy and hot. My vision would go blurry. I would lose the ability to form words or speak without slurring. I would forget things in a matter of seconds. I would throw up. My doctor gave me a prescription for Immatrex. It didn't really help. She told me I needed to come in for blood tests and possibly see a neurologist and have an MRI. It was really scary. I went to get my vision checked and, as it turned out, I needed new glasses. Badly. I've had my new glasses for 7 days now and during this time, I have not had a single headache. Yay! I still have to go in for blood tests on Thursday, but hopefully it was all just from my eyes being so strained. Here's a photo with my glasses:

We took that picture at the Smithsonial Cultural Folkart Festival in DC last weekend. They had all these really interesting exibits from Kenya and China. We went to a concert and ate something called "wali wa nazi na dengu," which was coconut rice and spicy lentils that we got from a food stand. It was the only vegetarian thing on the menu. Everything else had goat meat. I'm not down with eating goat. Gag. It was fun though! We had gone to DC to go to a museum and kind of stumbled upon this.

Speaking of the museum, we went to the National Archives museum for the first time. When we went up to the rotunda to see the Constitution... oh my gosh. I just started crying when I saw it, thinking about how grateful I am for this country and for the bravery of the people who had the courage to risk their lives founding it. If you've never seen it, you should go.

On the 4th of July, we went to see fireworks with Aaron's brother. I had worked all day and none of us felt like dealing with the hordes of people at the Inner Harbor. We decided to go to a less crowded fireworks display in Cockeysville. It was an amusing series of mishaps. We got to the park and the parking lots were full, so we had to find parking elsewhere. A Greek Ortodox church down the street had $5 parking and a "spectacular" view of the fireworks from their lawn. So, we laid out our blanket and waited... and waited... and waited. All the while, we heard booms and crackles from further away. We also heard music coming from the park up the street. As it turns out, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was there, and the event was really more for them than for the fireworks. 10:15 rolled around and we were all annoyed because we had been waiting hours at this point. I folded our blanket and started walking back to the car and-- wouldn't you know it-- that's when the fireworks started. I think next year, we should just deal with the crowds and go to a better display. It was still fun though.

Aaron got a new car. His 1997 Nissan Sentra finally kicked the bucket. It had served him well for many, many years. No payments. Never any expensive repairs. He didn't want to say goodbye to Battlewagon.

Aaron had to say goodbye to "Battlewagon." 17 years old!

This is his new car- a 2008 Kia Sportage. It's perfect for us. He loves to go hiking and mountain biking and this is more practical. We took Maddie for a ride and she had fun, too!

Work-

I'm still at my job. It's a little challenging because I have nothing in common with my co-workers. It's hard to explain without sounding condescending. I'm a project manager at a big box home improvement store... you do the math. It's not a bad job. It pays more than any job I've had since I graduated from college. I have a corporate schedule. I work some Saturdays, but I'm off every Sunday. I dress up. I'm the only person with my job at my store. But... because I have it "easy" compared to the hourly workers, most of them resent me. Two assistant managers are trying to get me fired. I've never done anything to them. My manager calls me "Richie." I'm not rich, but I'm not white trash either. I laughed at him the last time he called me that. How dare he? Yes, I graduated from high school (and college!). I'm not on drugs. I work and contribute to society. Why does that make me the enemy? It's tiring. I have to get out of retail. I just have to. Even the better retail jobs are still retail.

Now that I have more experience in design and project management, I would like to start my own design business on the side, after work, on weekends, etc. Why not use it to my advantage?

That's all for now...