A Master’s Degree in Pictures (Day 11:681)

Just finished making an awesome vegetarian dish taken from my new favorite cooking website: Chef in You . The beauty of this website (in all senses of the word) lay in the step-by-step recipes submitted by a couple with a cute background story. I can relate to it much along the lines of Mary & I’s relationship, where we have had many a good time in the kitchen discovering both each others tastes and the flavors of the amazing world of food available to us. Most recently has been a move to more local, fresh produce, and hence the vegetarian dish mentioned at the beginning.

Only 15 days further until I am finished with my post at the county health department – a fact that leaves me both exhilarated (one step closer to the start of the degree!) and lonesome (leaving some wonderful people behind by moving to NC).

Going to relax a bit, further the story on Kingdom Hearts 2, and check out some stars… contemplating the reality that there is only 1 year, 10 months, 11 days to go!

Today’s Note: I’d like to remember…

- that a gift’s meaning is built from the time invested in it from the moment of conception to the moment just before delivery. What makes a gift worth giving is the recipient’s transmutation of all those moments spent on the simple material into something beautifully ephemeral: the solid memory of, and the validation of the belief, that there is a person facing them who was willing to invest part of their life for them.

- that time is a purely human conception built on the faculty of conscious memory, and any argument for the importance of past or future lay in the human, biological desire to reduce fear, pain, and increase the perception of control. And, in a world where all things die, perhaps the meaning of life is not in what the past tells or the future promises, but in what our perception/concept of the present reflects back to us. To be able to sit with emotion and look through it to observe the murky waters of the unconscious – and the driftwood of human intentions that bubble up to its surface – is to take the furthest step we can in human consciousness towards the disassociation of the concept of I and the mental maturity of being present in this moment as we really are.  To reside in that place of origin is to finally return home.

A Master’s Degree in Pictures (Day 5:687)

Got a bit more sleep due to a nice late afternoon nap. I was able to pick up some fresh pasta, a parsley plant, garlic, and snow peas at the Lakewood Farmer’s Market during my lunch break; I am really digging the local produce and how wonderful the dinner’s made by their ingredients turn out.

This dinner Mary made a nice anti-pasta with garlic, basil, parsley, and olive oil mixed with fresh-made whole wheat pasta. IN-Credible.

Other than that, enjoyed a nice cup of tea and a pastry at the local coffee shop during my remote work, and was able to push through some more of my maternal & child health literature review. I finally conquered a large retrospective Medicaid study that was using some funky data displays.

Now, time to continue the sleep! 1 year, 10 months, 17 days to go!

Today’s Note: I’d like to remember…

- how interesting Lakewood is in terms of the variety of people. Some ethnically diversity, but more so diverse in terms of personalities. The Root is a wonderful place to see it in action.

- the power of an incoming storm. In the end we are all just the playthings of physics and imagination.

- having a mind to see past what the eyes can see.

- this time when Mary and I have nights free, when kids are still a pleasant dream, and we are navigating the new horizons of financial independence.