It has been a relaxing few days since we ended school last Friday, December 13. I am on flexible working schedule this week and am spending more time with family. On the work side of my life, I am wrapping up personnel and facilities issues before the end of the calendar year. I also got a couple of basketball practices in with the girls varsity team. On the personal side, I am doing more fitness and exercise, blogging my trip to Tanzania, and preparing for our trip to Japan.
The snow has mostly melted in Tashkent as temperatures are now mostly above freezing. I need to wear my Japanese Heat Tech™ underwear to feel comfortable when temperatures are below zero Celsius. I heard that older people feel cold more because of decreased circulation. I don’t remember feeling this cold when I was younger. With the long underwear I am fine and I enjoy the cool weather of a Tashkent winter. I’ve been walking Obi more to get daily sunshine and went for a 5 kilometer run yesterday. I want to add cardio to my power yoga workouts over the 3-week Winter Break. When I return in January, I want to add weights as well. Listening to a Peter Attia interview, as one ages, especially after age 75, muscle mass decreases significantly. I want to have muscles to ensure an active lifestyle for next 20 years. After today, I will be 1/3 the way through my Power Yoga 108 which is truly life-changing experience for me as advertised.
The big news in our family is the return of our eldest son Owen. He is visiting us this month after completing the first semester of this third year in university. It is always nice to have our family whole again and I really miss having him around. We celebrated his 21st birthday last night by going out to Nadia’s favorite restaurant in Tashkent, “Cheese Factory” or Сыроварня. He is maturing into adult and we are all looking forward to reconnecting with him the month. He is suffering from jet lag but fought through dinner last night. Ocean and I are connecting over basketball. She is a really good athlete and I am slowly getting through to her regarding her use of fundamentals. I am quite positive over our team’s chances this year in the year-end tournaments. Oliver and I ran some errands the past couple of days for Nadia. She made a Venezuelan Christmas favorite, Pan de Jamón. It is baked bread with ham, cheese, olives, and raisins inside. I also take every opportunity to drive Oliver and Ocean to where they want to go.
My mouth is healing from a tooth extraction last Monday. The swelling is going down but I was not able to take out the stitches last night. I just need to not smile as I am missing two teeth on the left side of my mouth. I need to do some research about implants because I don’t think it should take this long. Sitting at dinner waiting for my family to arrive to the restaurant, I was so filled with joy when they walked in. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful and healthy family. I am trying to savor all of these special moments with my wife and children. Below are some scenes of Tashkent from my walks with Obi.
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