Boricua en la Lima

Gabi turned 9 last week. This year I decided to forego the huge birthday party production in favor of one of those places you pay to go to for a few hours, but it still ended up being a massive party-filled week. On Monday (the day before her birthday) I was literally sick to my stomach and could barely get out of bed the whole day. I attempted to go to work around noon just so I could get her a little something to open up on Tuesday morning (her big gift was an iPod which she had already gotten a month before) but I could barely stand up. That night she looked so sad that I was sick and kept asking me "Mom, are you going to be OK tomorrow for my birthday?".  She had already said weeks ago she wanted breakfast in bed (pancakes) so damnit if I wasn't going to get better by Tuesday morning so I could make her breakfast in bed (Jose had to help some cause I was weak and woozy but we did it).  It took me basically all week to recover my energy and appetite after being sick ...

Silliness uncontrolled Acts of goofiness filmed Friendship rekindled Connections reestablished Mindfulness restored Mind quieted Thoughts scattered Honesty unobstructed Problems forgotten Conversations sparked Jokes shared Gossip amplified Heart overjoyed Energy spent and re-gained Life purpose re-thought Happiness re-analyzed Plans re-worked Dreams re-ignited Livelihood found Advice shared Music unplugged Binge-eating accepted Binge-drinking encouraged Exercise postponed Babies missed Caffeine injected  ALS challenges avoided Goodbyes un-welcomed Memories created Friendship reaffirmed Girlfriends missed

When Lima is so quiet I cannot sleep When the kids are neatly tucked in bed Waiting for the tooth fairy to brighten their day And my husband's breathing is even and stead And the sky's pinkish hue overpowers the gray That will cover the sun come the next day When no car, bird or dog makes their maddening noise When runners find that perfect peace, out on the streets with just their feet And it's only me in my bed and my running thoughts And Lima's my lover and we get along But then I'm jolted out of bed by the sound of an alarm that rings too soon Thrown into the chaos of traffic lights and honking cars And Lima and I are enemies for the day Each one struggling in the crowd of unproductive people trying to look busy So take me back to that morning glory When everything is quiet except for my head And Lima once again becomes my lover, though I cannot wed When Lima is so quiet I cannot sleep I need the chaos to fall asleep Yet I cannot stand it duri...

It has been a whirlwind of a month! First Mom came to visit for about a month and that usually coincides with one of our kid´s birthdays (this time it was Sebas´ turn). So there was a lot of running around in the beginning of April to create the most magical of Star Wars birthday parties! Except if you´re a girl or a boy under the age of 6 and then you pretty much hated the party because Darth Vader and Darth Maul were the scariest things you had ever seen in your life. Then Mom left right after the birthday party and Dad came with his wife about 2 days later to spend Easter weekend with us. It was a great visit, we did a lot of touristy things that I don´t normally get to do with Mom.   We went to the Ballesta Isles in Paracas to see the wildlife, we went to pisco tours to learn about that whole process, and we went to do the sand buggies in the Ica dessert, something I had never done before which was really cool and highly recommended, except a little scary much like this...

Recently I got the iPad mini as a Xmas present, so I gave my two kids the older Gen 2 iPad for them to play with.  Last night my daughter says can I open an instagram account for her. Well, she didn't exactly say instagram.  She goes "can you sign me up for that thing where you follow people and see their pictures"? Since I have already told her a million times she's not getting on Facebook anytime soon I assumed that she meant instagram (she did). This one friend from her classroom has an iPad mini HERSELF and likely every social media app loaded on it (I won't even comment on this, I still have to argue with my daughter every day about the fact that she's not getting a cell phone until she's at least 10).  But of course since my daughter's friend has instagram then it follows that my daughter wants to follow her friend.  So I download the app on "their" iPad, register her, and start following just a few folks (mostly family and myself of co...

I am always amazed at the Chinese Zodiac´s accuracy in predicting what will happen in a given year. I am Tiger who had a rough go at it in 2013 and is definitely hoping for a much better 2014.  Given there´s been some excitement around the office on this particular topic I thought I would post my predictions for 2014 here so I can come back in 2015 and see what happened.  I am actually copying and pasting (giving credits to the source right HERE ) because last year I posted a link to the actual web site and then the link disappeared to give way for the following year´s horoscope.  And I don´t want to miss the chance to come back next year and reflect on my horoscope for this year.  So here goes...I think I may need to especially heed the call about staying away from social networks.  Maybe blog more as an introspective way of reflecting on my life, but stay off Twitter and Facebook.  Wonder if that´s possible.  Other than that the Year of the Horse de...