What Does Mom Really Stand For?

Kid- " Mom, Can I have $20?"

Me- "What do you think I am made of money?"

Kid- " Isnt that what Mom stands for? " ( Made Of Money)


OMG. I kid you not! This came out of one of the kids mouths last week. She meant it as a joke and was laughing till her guts were going to burst. I was crackin' up alongside with her. She saw it somewhere online and had been waiting for the right time to use it on me.

This is what I get for raising kids with a sense of humor  *facepalm*

It came up in a conversation today with another mom. About how often a day I have to "budget" in my mind. Food shopping, gas, future clothing sprees, vacations, family events and just general things. I seem to have some kind of eternal calculator running non-stop in my head.

It NEVER shuts off. NEVER.

The neighborhood girl scout girl showed up. And OF COURSE, we have to have those cookies!
Its a must.
Its a treat.
Its a yearly reward and we fall victim to  those little eyelashes, wide-eyes and curly blond ringlets. No one can say no to that. Its marketing at its finest.

And again the daily calculator is guessing, adding, subtracting and fine-tuning my budget. Will I have funds? What will I give up for this and how to work around whatever else I need or will need in the next few minutes, days or weeks. Its endless. It feels like a burden. It's in almost every thought I have. Whenever I'm cooking, I'm splitting up the meats so it covers two meals instead of one. Saving half of my dinner so I eat it for my lunch the following day.  Is it supposed to be this much mental work?

Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed. I  would love to just think or plan something without the calculator ringing up the new total. Its not going to happen. This is part of being an adult.

My truth. My life. My way.

So my new plan is...  BEDAZZLE the heck out of the calculator. Decorate it and maybe jack it up an awesome music score. Everytime I have to "calculate".. I want to hear an kick-ass song. Something with a beat and that ROCKS.

Right now I've got "She works hard for the Money" in my head." Its got a good beat. :) I need more songs on my playlist. * calculator ringing again... argh*...

M

My truth. My life. My way.

I have one life. We all do. What happens in the hereafter, I do not know and I have faith in that it will be ok.  I need to focus on what is happening in the life that I am present in. This one. Right here. Right now.

Is it real?
Is it honest?
Is it Me?

The people I meet. The places I go. The things I think, say and do. Its a one time deal. No take-backs or do-overs. We can evolve and change along the way. We can grow, learn from experiences and make better decisions each day. We may fumble, fall and make mistakes along the way. That is ok. That is part of life. Part of the journey. You cannot make the same mistake twice. If you do, then its a choice. Not a mistake. Mistakes are ok. Hopefully they don't hurt anyone: just as long as there were no cruel intentions when you make them. Life happens. Pick up the pieces and move on.

Each day we are granted a new start. We often take it for granted. I know when I wake up I should be grateful for the new day. I often am and say a prayer. yet most often then not, I'm a crabby- morning person that is NOT fun to be around. And this is just me. Alone. I do NOT like myself in the mornings. Its just my mental framework. I wake up horrible. After I get my coffee or whatever I need to do, I go wake up the kids. And I always do my best to wake them up with a smile on their face. I often succeed. They grin. Smile. Giggle and wake up in a good mood. Some mornings may be long but they do wake up "happy." They say that is one of their favorite things about me.  A memory they have of me that I always do that for them. So....  there puts my first challenge to myself... why can't I do that for myself?  Wake up happy? What am I doing wrong?

This new mantra of mine." My truth. My life. My way. " Starts in a a few places. A blog. Friends and family.  Some of the social media networks. ( Facebook, twitter to name a few) I need to focus on me. My life is busy. I am raising 4 wonderful children in a crazy, face-paced world. I want to slow it down a little. An hour a day for me is not a lot to ask. Just to mediate, reflect  or observe ME. Who am I now and what do I want. Why am I doing the things I do and are they going to enable to allow me to have a better life. Emotionally and mentally?

Its going to take a while for me to learn how to calm my thoughts, questions and ramblings. Its going to take patience for me to learn how to translate it onto this virtual outlet.

I may succeed at times and fail at others. No worries. Its just part of the journey.


M

Book 'em Baby

One of my favorite childhood authors passed away recently.

Lots of friends have been talking about him these past couple of days. We mentioned the fact that they made a movie of this book and how we felt it didn't do the book justice. Some books are just better left alone. This was one of them. 

We also talked about how some movies made from books have actually thrusted the original book into a broader audience and really helped a newer generation get into them. Percy Jackson series, Chronicles of Narnia Series and Spiderwick Series are some of the books that we felt the movie were able to be respectable, honored the storyline AND inspire the audience. 

I read to my kids. A lot. I like books. I like collecting books. I like collecting series of books. I want that library of books in my living room. Wall to Wall. I want to be surrounded by books. I like the SMELL of good old books. My dad got me a Kindle for Christmas. Plenty of people are into them. I tried the first month and downloaded books. I enjoyed it for a short time and never picked up the Kindle again. I miss the feel of books. The smell, the texture, the pain in my hands from holding the book for endless hours because I REFUSE to put it down until the end. Its an addiction. I know. I don't deny it. Its one thing I am thankful for my family instilling me the love of reading. My grandmother and my dad are addicts as well. We always exchange books and short reviews when we see each other. I have passed that on to my children as well.

In this day and age, they may get distracted for a while with all the internet, smartphones, DVD's and electronic devices out there.... but somehow more often then not, I see them cuddled up in the corner chair reading a good book. 

Makes a momma proud.

I love you, Mommy

Here is my youngest and my little heart warrior, Jacob. We just happened to catch him with the " I love you" sign!

Some of you know that Jacob was born with a Congenital Heart Defect ( CHD) and had open heart surgery at 14 hours old. His heart defect with Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR) and we had not idea of his condition until he was born BLUE and with rapid breathing issues. He was in the hospital for over a month in recovery. He came home on a feeding tube (NG) for several months then graduated to normal bottle feedings. He also a few other issues but I will save that for another time.

He is doing well and loving life. We are so proud of him. And of course, when he gives us that smile, we just melt.

I love you too, Stephen Jacob!

Mommy

International Love

Family and Friends of RJ and Adrianna. Some of whom traveled from 17 different countries to celebrate and witness this joyous event.

Goonies!!!!

The night before the wedding we were invited to a famous restaurant in Bogota. It was wonderful! Dancing nonstop all around our tables. The food was crazy good that you just could NOT stop eating. All of us were going into the wee hours of the night salsa dancing. My legs and feet were sore, but when you're in a latin country NO ONE will let you sit. So dance I did!

And I had the pleasure to sit next to an amazing, strong, powerful, respected Latina

drumroll please......~ Lupe Ontiveros ~

Now you cannot fault me for placing this picture up. If you know me, I am an extreme GOONIES fan. Watched it growing up, loved it and raising all my kids on it! My kids have watched all the 80's movies ( pertaining to their appropriate age groups)

She was in Goonies, Selena, Desperate Housewives etc She was also a guest at the wedding and spend the week with us. She was amazed that there were over 17 different countries represented in the guest list and most of us were Deaf. This was a huge deal for Colombia. The deaf and/or disabled are treated not so well in a third world country. Their education is lacking and their futures are limited. She got the word out in the city and the newspapers came calling. I think it was nothing sort of a miracle what she accomplished. I wish I had the link to the newspaper article. If I find it I will come back and link it here. It is in Spanish but was powerful. We had an interpreter translate it for us while we were there.

The most important reason why I posted this was she taught me something. We should advocate at every possible moment. Everywhere we go in this world is a chance to make a difference. Awareness and Advocacy is import. Each moment counts. She is correct. That struck a cord in me. It made me realize that I need to something. Even something small will have a impact on someone's life. It makes me ponder how to use this when it comes to CHD awareness. Fun and Advocacy can go together.

Every moment counts. Everywhere we go.

I am blessed to have met her and hope to meet again.

Mia

Taste of India

I got a special treat while I was in Columbia.

I was invited to an Indian dinner hosted by the bride's cousin and his girlfriend. I have to tell you, it was AMAZING! The host is Nicolas Van Hemelryck. He is an Colombia photographer who was selected by the Columbia Embassy and The Indian Embassy to showcase photos of the Amazon. The Exhibition's purpose was to help promote awareness of conservation and respect for Mother Nature. He was selected among thousands of photographers.

He had just returned from a 3 month stay in India where his photos were on Exhibition. He traveled the country and took some beautiful pictures.We got to see a few of the thousands he took. I feel it is only fair to invite you to view his website. I am blessed to have met him. His photos speak to the heart and really invite you to his world.

http://www.nicolasvanh.com/

Back to the point...... They did a great job and the food was just nothing sort of delicious!

India is now on my list of places I want to travel to. Someday, somehow!

Mia