A Modern Day Velazquez?

Art moment: I told my daughter exactly where I wanted her in juxtaposition on this photo. You can see her in the mirror taking the photo. My thought was a modern Velazquez. Though I would never compare myself to him. The famous Spanish court artist, Diego Velazquez, created “Las Meninas” which, in my opinion, could be considered the first Selfie. He is in his painting looking at you as he stands in front of his canvas painting the Royal Court. It looks like a photograph, but was painted in 1656. The artist is shown in his work, just as my daughter is shown in hers. 
I am a fan of Velazquez and was honored to see his work at the Prado. On my phone photos, I have one of Picasso's 58 renditions of the great artist's work. When I type in my password, it shows Velazquez' original. I was honored to see both in the original in Spain.

Title: Fit Me

24 Hour Fitness at 5 a.m. Austin, TX

Photo Credit: Rachael Ellisor

Enriching music: Fitter, Happier; Radiohead; All About That Bass; Meghan Trainor

    This is Steve Appelhans, my trainer.

    This dude has helped me get in shape, not just my body but my mindset too. He doesn't judge. Talking to him is like talking to a priest, except without the guilt, and we laugh a lot. I've wondered what people in the gym think when he is making me workout. My laugh is loud and obnoxious. He tells me I can do it, when I think I can't. I am fitter and happier, and I thank him for that.

    Once I was going to miss a training because I wasn't exactly doing what I was supposed to do. "Get your crap together, Clara." He texted. He was totally right and I respect that about him. I pay him to train me so he could have just said, "OK, let's train tomorrow." But he didn't.

    Steve cares about making people healthy. He has a master's degree in fitness and remembers important tidbits that his clients care about. He wore a Batman shirt for the photo shoot because he remembered the superhero theme for my classroom.

    He texted all his teacher clients, "Happy first day of school!" with little memes of smiling faces and schoolhouses. Steve's just like that.

    He tells me to stand up straight so I won't be a hunched over old lady, and he reminds me that protein is my friend.

    Steve sends me texts that say, do this workout when you're not in the gym. He has helped me know my worth.
“Always remember to keep moving towards being the person YOU want to be in this new stage of your life,” he says. "Embrace the quirky."

I say, "Thanks to you I can fit into that dang wedding dress, dude!" He laughs. He tells me to raise my expectations.

    OK, I say, I have a lot of expectations.

    To start with, if there is another man in my life after this, he has to be over 6 feet tall and be able to explain Bose-Einstein Condensate to me simply so I understand it, I say joking. Steve responds, "I don't even know what the heck that is," laughing.

     I am in a glorious place right now. I have the luxury of no longer having to plan my life around a man, getting married, having children because of some arbitrary biological clock. I've checked that off my list. It feels amazing. These next decades are for my kids and me.

    In the nostalgic movie, "A Field of Dreams," the mantra is, "If you build it, they will come." My mantra is, "if I build it and no one shows up, I'll just play baseball by myself, hit off a tee into the outfield smelling every baseball as I hit, and call the play by play."

    Steve just turned 30, got his passport for the first time, celebrated by going to Mexico with his girlfriend, and stayed at a hotel that had a swim up bar.

    He reminds me of my son - love of baseball, honorable, kind, good work ethic, and in some ways I remind him of his mom - I never want to get married again, and having my children is the best thing that's ever happened to me. His nickname at the gym is Applesauce.

Fake me

By me

Real muscles but plastic faces at the gym

Building up to catch the next her or him

Puffy lips and tucked at eyes

Too much collagen in face and less in thighs

Smiles stretched too tightly in a real mistake

I am thankful that all I have is one tooth that is fake.