Sunday, August 28, 2016

Tu Sí Pasas... Tu No Pasas...

Nos reíamos mucho mi esposo y yo esta mañana que hablábamos de las moscas. Yo le decía antes de cambiarnos que aunque no hubiera mosquitero en el nuevo departamento teníamos que dejar las puertas de la sala abiertas, es lo lindo de tener puertas francesas que se abren de par en par y ni hablar del jardincito que tenemos afuera, como no lo vamos a ver?  Tenemos que ver a Chip & Dale que se persiguen todas las mañanas por la bardita, agarran una de las ciruelas que tiene el árbol del vecino y se sientan a comerselas con sus dos manitas, como no vamos a ver eso?"Pero se van a meter las moscas" me decía el "Y bueno tendremos que co-existir con ellas." yo le respondía.

Eso fue antes de que nos cambiasemos, ahora que estamos aquí cambié de idea. La verdad es que es muy difícil ignorar que hay una o más moscas rondando en el mismo ambiente en el que tu estás tratando de concentrarte para escribir, o haciendo el aseo, cocinando, comiendo y que constantemente te vengan a zumbar al oído o pararse en tu cachete y evadirte cuando tratas de hacerlas que se vayan.

A mi no me gusta matar a otro ser viviente, hasta las plantas cuido como si tuvieran sentimientos, pero hay ciertos bichos que son muy molestos. Primero decidimos hacer de todo para tratar de ahuyentartas, compramos esos frasquitos que despiden un olor que supuestamente las mantiene lejos y si deciden acercarse al frasquito y se meten y ahí se quedan pero esa es decisión de ellas. Lo único que hizo eso fue atraerlas, algunas se metían y se morían otras no querían entrar pero ahí estaban rondando el frasquito por horas y otras entraban y encontraban la manera de salirse de nuevo para volverlo a hacer y ni mencionar las que decidían que ese no era su ambiente y se metían al nuestro a romper nuestra armonía.

Luego compramos una lampara que se supone te protege 1/2 acre de esas a las que si toman el riesgo de acercarse de más ahí si que no salen con vida. Vi algunas palomitas ahí pegadas, pobres ellas ni ruido hacen, pero no vi ni una mosca que se acercara. La dejamos varios días y nada, pero eso si había unas que no se querían salir de nuestra sala y eran de esas chiquitas que son muy veloces y ninguno de los dos las podía ver el suficiente tiempo para poder usar ese matamoscas de plástico que también habíamos comprado.

Ahí sigue colgada una trampa con goma que se supone debe atraerlas y ahí se quedan pegadas. Ya lleva una semana y las únicas moscas que tiene son las que le dibujaron al cartoncito para que sepas que para eso son esas trampas. Bueno pues serán para eso pero ni una sola se les acerca.

Y ahí no termina la cosa, volvimos a la tienda y compramos una raqueta eléctrica. Mi esposo tiene una misión y esa es la de vivir sin bichos en la casa tenga que hacer lo que tenga que hacer y yo lo único que prohibo es que usemos sprays químicos, esos terminan afectándonos más a nosotros que a los bichos. Tampoco funcionó, la raqueta que compramos se podía estirar, doblar para alcanzarlas mejor y terminó rompiéndose y al único que mató fué a un mosquito. Esos vuelan más lento aunque casi nunca se ven, es el primero que yo veo en 1 1/2 años que vivimos en Seattle. Ni una sola mosca pescó.

Hoy en la mañana hablábamos de que las pequeñitas no son tan molestas, "Y que vas a hacer para que nada más entren las chiquitas y no las grandes te vas a parar en la puerta a decirles Tu Sí Pasas... Tu No Pasas... y duré un buen rato riéndome.

Hoy voy a escribirle a la Gerente para que nos pongan un mosquitero porque yo quiero aprovechar que tenemos el lugar tal como lo queríamos y ya vi que mi esposo tenía razón!!! No podemos dejar que las moscas entren a alterar la armonía de nuestro ambiente. Para eso tienen todo el resto del mundo fuera de nuestras puertas francesas. Aquí las únicas que tienen permiso de entrar, es más si yo veo a una yo mismo le pongo mi mano para que venga y se sienta en casa es la catarina, ellas siempre estarán bienvenidas no importa de que tamaño sean ;)

Abrazos xoxo
@nit@

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Raising the Bar...

So we settled into our new "Home Sweet Home", finally able to kick back and look at the end result of a well obtained goal and enjoy the fruits of our walk down this path. We're still going to need to get a few things to make it more comfortable, like a sofa-bed because we are expecting company from family and friends. That was another goal, so here it comes, gotta prepare for that...

Today we had a very busy but lovely new "Morning with Espresso" at 3:00 am my husband went to work and I decided to sit and tend to what I love doing the most, WRITING!!! Writing makes me accountable to myself, it's a reminder to be grateful for everything that shows up in my life and to notice that it all happens first in my thoughts. It allows me to plan my next steps and what my intentions are, not to mention a review of all the magic that is life.

Since I work for a School District I had all summer off, I needed to get a summer job but didn't know what I wanted to do, got lots of offers to go back into the corporate world but I already did that for too many years of my life, sales, NAH! been there, done that, so I decided to do what comes natural to me, take care of children. I raised two wonderful of my own and wanted to give myself the opportunity to help someone else with their children while they have to go to work, I was lucky enough to be a "Stay At Home Mom" but not everyone can.

This proved to be very rewarding, first it reiterated to me that I'm still a child and love to play and have fun. I could write so many stories about these children, all unique, special, blossoming. Like this 6 yr. old who gives me drawings of her and I playing together as she tells me I'm her besty, others tell me their dreams, their joys, even their fears sometimes and they ask me when they can come to my house.

I do crafts with them, play video and board games, get on the swings, go down the slide, ride a scooter, bake cookies, help them decorate their lemonade stand, read to them or just tell them fun empowering stories that flow through my mind, I like them to feel good about themselves, to know that they have limitless potential, abilities and talents,  I take them to the library or the park, teach them words in Spanish, it gives me a chance to see what it will be like to be the grandma that I will be one day, taking my grandchildren up on that treehouse that I'll have to create traditions with then and be very well prepared for that.

Going into peoples homes gives me the opportunity to have a glance into other people's real lives. Not that their outside lives are not real by any means, by real I mean that when we are behind closed doors inside our own home with the people we love and trust the most, we allow ourselves to be more of who we are without having to put on whatever mask or take on whatever role we play every time we step outside of those doors.

As parents we all have one thing in common and that is our intention. We all mean well and do what we do because we really believe that's what it takes to raise our children the best way possible. We want to "Raise The Bar" with them and either give them what we didn't have, or give them all the opportunities so that they can become the best versions of themselves, but that's about all we have in common because everyone does it in a different way and nobody really knows if the way we chose to do it is going to bring the end result that we want. To raise healthy, caring, kind, polite, generous, productive, happy, harmonious, content human beings. They are our responsibility, we are their life guides and their childhood goes by so fast.

As an outsider without any emotional attachment to these families and as the mother of two adult well rounded children I am able to see the mistakes we make as parents, in our choices, lessons we teach them with our actions, too much or too little of anything is not likely to bring the results we want, there needs to be a balance and that goes for everything we teach them, do for them, with them, make them do, give or take away from them, allow or not allow them to do.

I've had a chance to reflect on all the mistakes I made as a parent, though my intentions were always good as most parents are, I too was blinded by my emotional attachment to them but I'm equally as grateful to life for having given me the opportunity to be a mother and now that I can see things a lot more clearly I can't wait to be a grandmother and be there to help my children 'Raise That Bar.'..

Hugs xoxo
@nit@




Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Magical Morning...

The only thing that makes a 'Morning Magical' is the way you allow yourself to perceive it. Today I felt like the luckiest woman alive because I allowed myself to see it and most of all feel it that way. I was wondering why I don't perceive it quite as good as this sometimes and the only thing I can come up with is that I have come to accept that life is ever flowing and ever changing and that it responds to your vibrations, so when I experience the results of the changes all accumulated into one morning perception, it makes me realize that it does work that way.

It's only passed 6:30 am and I've already done more than most days by 5 pm. and have enjoyed every single thing I did and appreciate the moment as my own creation, I can remember the many times I thought I'd like to have it this way and that way and that other way and there it was all there, all for me to experience and share and love and care and be loved.

My mornings with my husband remind me of those I spent with my kids while they were growing up. They were full of life and full of chaos. When they left for school I had already done a full day's worth of work and still had the whole day to cross things off the 'TO DO TODAY' List!

We start our mornings VERY early due to my husband's job, he has to be at work by 4:00 am, I had already experienced that as well back when I first got married 40 years ago to a medical student and that pattern lasted for years during his residency, social service, specialty and even into his professional years. I don't remember enjoying it at that time when I was young and fresh and full of life's dreams of the future.

So we have this pretty cool routine going on, we turn on the TV on the Argentinian Channel to watch the continuation saga of whatever Argentinian Soap Opera we might be hooked on and didn't get a chance to watch it the prior day, or to watch Mexican or Argentinian news now and then Seattle news, but that's not my choice for sure, I just go along with the program as if we were watching a sport that I don't care for but my husband does or him watching girly movies with me, he loves them just as much as I do by the way ;)

Then we share some Mate this bitter Argentinian tea drank out of a stainless steel straw. I love everything about that Tradition and isn't life made of Traditions we love and adopt? Then I made him some Eggs with Matzah, refried beans, homemade salsa picante and a Delicious cup of Organic Espresso. Now see there I go with my tradidions, just with that breakfast alone you can tell I am Jewish, Mexican, married to an Italo/Argentinian.

Then we both take showers and get ready in our two sink master bathroom, now I've had those too in my life in the past, I did appreciate that I remember, had these bathrooms in my large house when my kids were growing up and it was always a dream of mine to decorate my bathrooms so I did it in that house, painted one in bright oranges, other in turquoise, yellow and mint green, tiled the sink of another to look like a painting I saw and loved. But then I didn't have them for many years and now

that I do I appreciate them that much more. I love the feeling of being in the same room with my husband, feels like the energy my kids would inject into me when they were growing up and giving life to that huge white house where we raised them.

After getting ready we sit for some espresso while my husband has already done and put away two loads of laundry, we make a "TO DO TODAY" list, I might respond to a work e-mail or two, we plan the meal for the evening, I try to clean up as much of the chaos that he makes while he is still here, because I have to admit that once he leaves, whatever is left takes me about an hour to put back together, partially because I derive some of my energy out of his presence, he pushes me to do my best like a body-trainer of sorts and when he leaves I cheat, I sit, I drink coffee, I write, I call my mother in law, I wash the fruit, water the plants, and then in between task and task I organize the chaos.

We did other things, all fun of course, all in great company, with laughter and appreciation, we open the french doors to the little back yard, I had 1/2 acre and 7 bathrooms and felt empty inside, now my cup runeth over so I am able to perceive it with eyes of miracle, wonder, creation, dreams fulfilled, crossed out many lines off my 'Bucket List' .

Its 7:15 am and what a day awaits me. I just hung up with my husband, his first day going to work on the bus from the station that's just two blocks away, he was happy and satisfied and eager to get to work so he can finish and come home to our wonderful routines our family traditions and our walk hand in hand on our path to many more Magical Mornings and Miracle Days!

Hugs xoxo
@nit@





Wednesday, August 10, 2016

It's Graduation Day...

At first you're an infant and graduate from being at home with mostly your immediate family who catered to your every single need and your exposure to another little baby here and there to a Pre-school with teachers, classrooms, structures, tasks, where learning starts as a game, at that age it feels like you've crossed over from the mostly unconscious baby world to the 'Real World', you're feeling more confident, challenged, anxious, even stressed with all these new things you're learning, more so nowadays with technology, but even in my days of play-dough, songs, musical instruments, coloring books, dolls, monkey bars, swings and sandboxes I still remember it was of enormous impact, almost like an awakening to our huge potential as human beings.

Throughout the years we keep on graduating celebrating landmarks of knowledge and independence, the more we graduate the more our responsibilities grow for the things we chose to learn so that we can become self sufficient, productive and can create our very own Micro Universe.

We have these ideas that our lives are going to turn out a certain way, I think we get these ideas from things we experience or witness others experience and we walk in that direction but we never really know what we will find on our way there.

I stopped counting my graduations a long time ago, I celebrate my growth with appreciation but this Friday my husband and I have a huge "Graduation Celebration".

We will be moving from what we called our dorm (a small studio apartment with a gorgeous unobstructed view of Mount Rainier and Lake Washington) to a two bedroom two bathroom apartment. I want to spell out bedroom because it seems like such a long time since we've had one.

Our trajectory at this late stage in our lives has been intense and amazing, going from coming back to the US after being gone for years, taking on jobs that we had never done or considered doing before even in our youth, renting a room in someone's apartment, then at a long term hotel with a microwave for a kitchen, to a larger hotel room with a kitchenette, to this gorgeous Studio apartment and now this Friday we are moving to a two bedroom that even has a little backyard with deck, grass and plants.

I understand now that what it takes to get what you want is to keep on walking in the direction of your dreams with gratitude and conviction until once again you can Celebrate Graduation Day!...

Hugs xoxo
@nit@

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Money Needs Me!!!....

There are as many levels between the wealthiest and the poorest as there are between their perception of their economical wellbeing and how it makes them act and feel. I believe that in order to see this clearly you have to have experienced both ends of the coin, otherwise you can only imagine what it would be like to be rich or poor, whatever the case may be.

For one I don't comprehend why economy has to work this way, it makes no sense that it does. I don't even believe money should exist, I think everyone should have everything they want or need for free in exchange for giving others what you have to give as your talent for free. Like a teacher who teaches my kids while I interpret for hers, someone else treats her as a patient or gives her some food they grew, etc. You get my drift I'm sure. Even spiritual leaders who want to 'Heal Humanity' or help you get 'Illuminated' will charge you to teach you how to do it that's only if their way happens to be the right way.

It's not that I'm a communist believe me, I enjoy traveling, going out to eat, to a movie, the theater, I love reading and doing crafts, owning a home, buying clothes and furniture and many other things that bring comfort and some balance into my life, hurray for those who know how to create wealth, I just think that we have the most important components, intelligence and we are loving beings, we all share the same dream, to be happy and if everyone helps everyone how can we not be.

Whomever invented money and laws and governments and religions never thought of the long term consequences, do animals have any of that? So are you going to tell me that the world is in such an amazing shape and people all get along because men have made so many advances, laws, rules and discoveries? are we better off than any of the animals roaming this earth, that's if us humans even allow them to do that. We'll even go as far as killing a gorilla that was already enclosed and kept captive for years because a distracted mother didn't watch her 3 yr. old son who fell near him! Are you kidding me?????... Who do we think we are to decide what the animals want to do with their lives? why do we train them to serve us? would we want another more intelligent species to do that with us?

Am I crazy to think this? am I the only one in this "MUNDO DE LOCURA" who can see life this way?

I had money and it made me afraid to lose it so I kept on accumulating and someone else decided to lose it for me and one day I had none. I was able to see the me who had a lot and couldn't see it from the other side of the coin and I thought to myself, am I going to keep waiting to have fun and be happy when (fill the blank).... or am I just going to start having fun right now no matter what, so I went to find the fun in my heart and now I want to give that gift to others that's why I write about my experiences, its so liberating and it doesn't cost a thing.

Some people have so much wealth that only accumulates dust in a bank or numbers on a piece of paper, then they have to pay the accountants, lawyers, investment counselors and bankers, etc. to keep that money safe and growing for what? just buy all you want, keep what you need to have a good life and then give the rest away.

The fact is that money exists and I'm not going to change the world with my ideas, instead there are so many things I want to buy and do for other people that I know will bring them so much happiness since everything costs money and there is so much accumulation of unused money just sitting there looking pretty on a piece of paper in the form of numbers for generations to come.

I'm one they'd want to give some of it to. I promise to make a wealthy person out there who is willing to believe in me very happy that he/she did, because nothing would make me happier than giving it to others I know who really need it, not in the form of money necessarily but in the form of something special that I know would make them as happy as they've ever been and I would find out what that is and give it to each of them in person one by one. Especially to groups of Senior Citizens and animals who are two of my focus groups. The helpless, the ailing, the lonely, the forgotten.


'I Am Here to Fulfill Dreams', that must be my Dharma or I wouldn't enjoy so much doing it and I'm stubborn and don't take no for an answer from life, I never give up, so I will not be surprised the day I get a call from my daughter screaming "OMG Mom Thank You Thank You Thank You for paying my student loans, I love you so much". I know my daughter and that's how she'll say it ;)

So Ellen, Oprah, Bill ( I even live in your neck of the woods) Mark, anyone.... MONEY NEEDS ME!!! ;)




Hugs xoxo
@nit@