Dreaming of Sisga

Columbia, South America

I took a trip there with some friends last year for their wedding. I was invited to fly down earlier and see a little more of the country before everyone else arrived. The brides mother and aunt invited me to come along to their lake house in Sisga.

I think I saw a small piece of heaven.

Note: "Heaven is a place on Earth" by Belinda is now playing in my head.

They own a cottage on a lake in town. The cottage was actually without electricity that weekend due to a flood in the area that took out the power lines. This was actually when Colombia was in a state of emergency and there was massive floods in various parts of the country. It was great being there with candles and making due with fruits and whatnots.

It was serene and peaceful in the way of getting back in touch with nature. We sat around, read novels and told ghost stories. It was exciting and freaky. I ended up telling the bride that her groom would be sleeping alone that night. She had to share a room with me because it was just tooooo scary after the ghost stories. Can you imagine, me at 36 and still being scared silly! Good heavens!

I want to blog about my trip but just tried to learn how to upload several picture and how to type between the pictures. You can tell I have NOT mastered it yet. But I got three pictures in! Thats a good start. I guess its good to write about one part of the trip at time? Should I go with a theme week? I haven't a clue the best way to do this. For now, this is one part of the trip. Come back. I will have some more pictures of the wedding and some cool events that happened!

Mia

Insanity

I have had a headache for the past two days.

Head hurts pretty bad. Also the things INSIDE my head hurt pretty bad. My thoughts ran rampant through the Valley of Insanity, Over the Mountain of Chaos and Down the River of Tears.

Yes, That pretty much sums it up.

Look, life for me is crazy. I got four kids to raise. Their education and social well-being as been left to me. I gotta deal with making sure they have food in their belly, laughter on their mind and love in their heart.

I also gotta try to remember to take care of me. I have to appear sane and well-adjusted on any given day. I save the raving, crazy, crying episodes for night when the kids are in bed. When I am in the comfort of my bed and under the covers. Blankets make for good soundproofing.

Dealing with budgets, mortgages, life insurance, health insurance, food shopping, gas, family obligations, among countless other insane things a normal American family worries about. Its overwhelming and Taxes - don't even get me started on that. Its endless.

I really am amazed at how much us, as parents, have to process over a lifetime, much less on a daily basis. Today was a long workday. Also factoring in all the housework I had to do and I am still not done. I did spend a good deal of the day with the kids and we made a great pasta dinner. That was fun. Kids all did their chores and off to bed at a reasonable time. House is presentable and then I think..... wait...I gotta do it all again tomorrow. Oh, man........

Only thing that really gets me through this.. is all the hugs and kisses my kids give me everyday. Even on Crazy-Momma- Has- Lost-Her-Mind days.... they still love me.

I wouldn't have it any other way.... except maybe a glass of wine for the headache.

Mia

Old Me. New Me.

What did I do today that was different for ME?

I went to the Gym today and did my daily workout. Had a pounding headache and my legs were aching...but I did NOT leave. I wanted to, badly, yet I stayed. I did not do the complete workout. I adjusted and did some other workouts Stayed the full two hours. I even had my lunch there. There was something about fighting that urge to leave that felt like a workout itself. Then when I realized that I didn't leave.... I felt like I just accomplished something major.

Go with me on this.

Old me.... would have given up, used the pain and headache as an excuse to leave. Thus going back to the old system of not really following through with major things and ended up right where I started. It happens a lot. Not intentional but things pop up, I get distracted and my mind gets scattered to the point where I give up.

Baby steps. But each step is a step in the right direction. And however small it may be to someone else, it is huge to me. I am patting myself on the back. I deserve it. It has been three weeks of working out. I feel better. I do have more energy. I am enjoying going to the gym. I am enjoying getting out of the house.

So brings me to this blog that I am writing. I didn't know what to write when I sat down. I started with my evening routine. The kids are in bed and I caught up on reading some of my favorite blogs. I wanted to just go to sleep but I knew.... like the gym.... if I don't write something, anything... then I may end up failing on this blog. So I started with the above sentence and then this is what came out of my mind.

Its something... and thats what matters.

Mia

Planning A Family Trip

Here is a picture of the kids when we took them to Davis, West Virginia last summer. Only picture I had on the computer of them in water and warm!

Family Vacations are a must-to-do. Its important to spend time together outside of your home and daily life. Take a break, recharge and take kids on adventures. I want to give my kids more then just traveling to places and coming home. I am focusing more on education and experiences when we go out of town. Its nice to show them the history and stories of the places we go to. They actually enjoy it and set up quizzing each other. Its cute... until I fail a question then they 'buzz" me out of the game.

The reason I'm posting this is today I have been trying to finalize plans for our next family vacation. Its somewhat chaotic planning a vacation for a family of 6. Saving $$ for the trip, looking for deals and packages. In this economy, every penny counts. So the whole day was checking, double-checking... and just the stress took its toll on me. Thus why I need a vacation!

I'm excited. I need a nice break with the kids. Need some sun and seafood. We've had such crazy, wacky and unpredictable cold weather that a nice dose of sea breezes and warm sun rays are just what this mama needs.

Success! I posted two days in a row! Whew. The evening routine is feeling good!

Mia

A Lady and her Rooster

Today I needed some inspiration to get this blog going. As luck would have it, I saw one of my best friends online and ended up chatting with her. I read up on her blog and got all caught up with some of the adventures she has posted on her ever popular blog : Mountain Mama. She has a quick wit, a handy and hilarious approach to looking at life. She writes about her family and life in the country. She shares her tips and ideas on shopping with coupons to feed a family of 7 people, a dog, some cats and I have no idea how many chickens. Which brings me to this picture here of her with one of her roosters. I love this picture. She is my hero right now in blog world. She's found her ' blog groove'.

So with that in mind and a new computer. (I've joined the Apple World and got a Mac) I am now able to do pictures, blogging, website and whatever else my mind can conjure up.

So I'm on a roll.... New Lifestyle. New Me. Well... not new... but definitely Improved and Calmer Me. Here is what I'm doing or working on.....

----Apple Classes to learn the new computer. Blogs, pictures and Websites.

----Cooking Classes at William- Sonoma * free!!!! Yay!!!

----Gym Girl- Been hitting the gym 5 x a week and working with personal trainer. Gotta take care of me in order to better take care of my 4 kids!

I will post more on this blog. I notice nighttime is a good time. I'm well rested and ready for bed. House is quiet. Kids are snug in their beds sleeping. ( On a good day!)I can post about the events of the day. And I want my best friend to be able to keep up with the adventures that happen here just as I am able to keep up with hers.

Hats off to a Great Lady and her Rooster. Thanks for the inspiration today! Missing you tons!

Mia

Where I should be....

The Sea. A boat. A deep sea fishing rod. The beautiful blue sky.... this is where I should be......


Not home bound from a blood clot and a mini stroke! Seriously! Are you kidding me? I'm 35!! Its not possible. Yet, here I am!

OK. The picture may throw you off but its a better picture then me laying in a hospital bed! It wasn't pretty! I'm been pondering setting up a bed2bed salon service at the hospital. I would be racking it in! 5 days and no one to do my hair! Come on, already!

OK ...... getting serious here..... it did happen. Out of the blue. Two days of the worse pain in my right arm. Nothing made sense. By 3am in the morning, after crying for 3 hours straight, I hightailed it to the ER. Of course, I don't look like I'm in any serious condition.... but by the time they did the ultrasound on my arm.... I knew every ER doc and the nurse! They were running into my room! It was serious! I really didn't believe it. By this time it was almost noon the following day and I had no sleep and no pain meds. They did some CAT scans and send me home with meds. Cranky did not even begin to describe my mood.

Got home, took a 4 hour nap, woke up... then all hell broke loose! Husband tells me the right side of my face was "dropping" and my speech was slurred. I got up and was walking into the walls when I was aiming for a straight line. BAM! Off to the ER I go again!

They did 4 days worth of testing. Anyone who tells you being in the hospital will allow you to get some rest! I think not! Being awoken every hour for something or another. More tests, more blood work... * you know they took 15 vials of blood in one sitting!!* I was like. : Ma'am... I 'd like you to leave some blood in me so I can stay alive." She started cracking up and I was DEAD SERIOUS!. I wasn't laughing.

Now I'm home. Under house arrest to be more clear. I feel pretty good. A little 'balloon head' kinda feeling but otherwise I'm better. Got physical therapy coming to the house 3x a week to get my right leg moving again with more power. I need to be able to drive! She says I'm doing good. Shes tough and funny. Perfect combo to get me doing all those exercises.

So.... after all of this,............. Its a huge wake up call! For me. To start taking care of myself. I don't do a very good job of that. I'm always taking care of the kids or the husband. And things have been so crazy for the past couple of years, that I really threw myself under the bus and let everyone just run me over! Well, No More! I'm gonna worry about me for a while. I have to. I have done everything for everyone else except me. My kids need me alive. My kids need me happy. There are going to be some big changes around here.

Now, where do I start?

Been A While.....

Howdy!~

I thought I'd drop a line here in case anyone does drop by. Haven't posted in almost a year. I will be posting again soon.

I've actually been having more time to sit on the computer and read other peoples blogs. I have been getting on Facebook and following blogs that are of interest to me. Its overwhelming I confess. My head is full of so much that I want to share... I don't know where begin. The internet is full of so much about web designs and blogs.... that I'm trying to learn how to do it all and what to post. Bear with me... I'm learning. I do hope you come back time and time again as I navigate the blog world yet again!

My earlier post showed that I have a baby who was born with a heart defect. Life has been hectic since then. I have not had the mental time to write and post. I wanted to share that he is doing well. He will be 1 at the end of the month! Its been almost a year! Its honestly a blur........

He had open heart surgery at 14 hours old. He was in the hospital for over a month and come home with a feeding tube ( NG) He has a small bit of other medical issues but is overall just a happy baby! I will post more information about his medical issues....but honestly I just wanted to kick myself in the butt and POST SOMETHING!! Get myself started and then take it from there!

I have ordered a few books online and they are being delivered.... books about heart defects. I will start reading them and posting little bits along the way about what I learn. I also have been meeting people online that are involved in CHD awareness. I'm reading, learning and relating with them. It gives me peace of mind to know that we were not alone in what we went through. It also gives me great sadness that there is not enough awareness of heart defects. I knew NOTHING about CHD till I delivered my baby boy. And I had to learn FAST! Having his open heart surgery at 14 hours old.... give me no time to understand anything that was happening. It truly is a blur. I am still having issues with what happened. Now that we are coming up to his anniversary/birthday..... the memories are coming back. Its not easy. I confess. The raw emotions are overwhelming and I'm tackling it with information, research and reaching out to others.

I say a prayer everyday for my son Jacob, my children and other heart families.

Give me time and I will be a force to be reckon'd with in the fight for CHD awareness.

As this blog comes along............ I will find my voice. I will learn about how to post information, links and whatnots. The web world is huge. I'm learning....till next time~

Little Heart Hugs~
Mia