AEDM 2009: DAY 24 The season is ON!

My first Christmas card of the year. :)

Even if Tati has been making Christmas trees and Santas for some days I refused to start so early. :D

Today is my official Season Opening. Our first task? To buy ingredients for Christmas cookies, of course! These girls have got their priorities right. Lol!

AEDM 2009: DAY 23 Going in circles

Making little figures with circles.

Just fooling around a bit. :D

AEDM 2009: DAY 22

I´ve seen lots of weaving posts these days, so I had a play too.

On the left hand side a "real" one, with strips of paper weaved.

On the right hand side a "false" one, drawn and coloured in.

AEDM 2009: DAY 21

I couldn´t go on with yesterday´s mandala. It looked too much like a Rollie Pollie in distress.

I played with aquarelle pencils instead. My first time. As a matter of fact they were not mine but dd´s. :D

She played too. :)

As you may see she´s already enjoying the season´s spirit too! :D

AEDM 2009: DAY 20

Mandala. Work in progress. :)

The Joy diet: week 10

Yay!, I thought. Chapter #9 is Connection. I got it down.

Easy, right?

Well, ...no.

First because it is not only connecting which I do naturally, but connecting with requirements.

*Connecting from a place of stillnes in this life at Internet speed is not an easy task. I´m on go, go, go most of the time. Specially this week with different projects going on at the same time. And I´m not talking only about Internet connection, my 3D life is fast paced too.

*Truth must be honoured. Today I watched a video at bubbly girl´s blog. It is totally worth the 16 minutes, go watch it. :) It is about validation. I tend to do that without thinking but sometimes ... I need to think. I need to give it some thought to find something nice to say, specially when the first instinct is to just run away in the oppposite direction. Who was talking about "gut feelings" today? LaWendula was.

(Side note, you may have noticed it is the first time I´m writing the post on Friday morning, so I write as it comes. It reads as if I´m talking to myself, going around looking for things, which is actually what I´m doing. Lol!)

*Haven´t got a clue what our Desires´s got to do with the process of connecting.

*I see Creativity as a way to get our connections "staged"

Second because I´m an "all or nothing" type and of course I went into connection overdrive. Being as empathic as I am, connecting that much and that deeply might be energy zapping. That means something has got to give, then I tend to go to "let everything go" extreme.

I´m working on regaining balance before that happens as I also got some cool connections going. For example, people I met at UKScrappers cybercrop. I´m specially talking about Rachel´s class. I loved it so much I used her sketch twice and was so full of bubbly "I looooove this" that I wrote to her. Thankfully she didn´t treat me as a stalker (which I sounde like in my enthusiasm) and she gracefully answered my messages.

Also some cool people I met at Art Every Day. I slipped a bit there, not visiting as much because I was connecting to my Neo friends and the book tribe, and the wish casters , and the moms from school, and ... you get the idea. ;)

AEDM 2009: DAY 19

Ten extra points for my team due to the use of the sketch provided for November week 3 UKScrappers challenge.

That was one long sentence, lol!

The picture is from the traditional experiment of beans in a jar. Mati´s grew so much we tranplanted it to its own pot and it was fun to see it get around the bars.

AEDM 2009: DAY 18

Two techniques today:

*on the left hand side, draw without taking the pencil off the paper.

*on theright hand side, punches. It is called "The odd one out" Can you say which one? The only one with a third flower of a different colour from the other two? The one that has an inverted triangle shape instead of the other way round? The one that describes an arch instead of a tringle? The taller one? The only one that complies with everything? We all have something that could make us the odd one out, but not the rest. That little detail that makes us unique in a sea of average.

Wish casting Wednesday

This week for Wish casting Wednesday Jamie asks: What do you wish to embrace?

My first thought was Art. I want to embrace art. This month my blog is full of everything I am creating for Art Every Day Month in November 2009. It was fun to look back on Art Almost Every Day Month in November 2008 (yes, I had to rename it as I hadn´t showed up every day but almost every day *grin* ). Even to look back on November 2007 which was Art Every Few Days Month and November 2006 (Can´t believe the huge amount of crafting I did then! Cross stitching, card making, ATCs, scrapbooking. Wooooooow. And I was counting weeks till my 40s)

I like the energy that the feedback creates and also the "use the good stuff" feeling. I tend to save good bits for a better opportunity. Now I´m forcing myself to use my stash up and make it the best opportunity. :)

That lead me to think on the feeling of abundance, of "there is enough", this is good enough. Abundance is a good feeling to embrace.

And then it hit me. Art, connection, abundance, giving ... the Holiday season!!!

On Monday we got a decorating tool for baking. It was from our supermarket fidelity system (the one when you get points for every purchase that you´d do anyway, the kind I like best ;) ).

We plan on making loads of cookies this year. And also a lot of crafting that started with Di O´s class, the advent calendar.

For the past few years I hadn´t been in the mood for celebrating. I´m taking the step now.

I wish to joyfully embrace the holiday spirit with lots of family & friends time crafting and just spending a good time together.

AEDM 2009: DAY 17

Poor old art journal didn´t get any lovingto day. Shame.

But I finished a layout I should have done ... 5 years ago!

How´s that for procastinating? :D

Maru had her child back in 2004. As her oldest daughter and Tati were Kindergarten classmates then I offered her a baby album. She gave me several pics a month until MA was 4 months old. At that point the classes finished and thegirls went to different Primary schools. We´d meet from time to time and she´d always say she´d give me more pics. Finally I told her I´d do the pages from 4 months till 12 months and she´d add the pics herself. Perfect. The album stayed at home for three more years until today.

Maru phoned me because she needed MA´s nursery pictures for school (one of those Who is this baby? projects), so I finished the title page for her album.

I like stories with happy endings. :D

AEDM 2009: DAY 16

I thought the title for my 16th art journal entry for AEDM could be "Sticker sneeze" or "Things that fly" or just "Littlest Pets" as it is a couple of pages with Tati´s littlest pets stickers of birds, firedragons, butterflies and such all with some blue inking for background.

You will have to imagine it as I haven´t found my camera´s USB cable yet. :D

ETA: found the cable, ds had "borrowed" it. *sigh with eye rolling*

AEDM 2009: DAY 15 + UKScrappers cyber crop

Just like yesterday the theme of the crop is the Wizard of Oz, so I staged my layouts with Tati´s "ruby" slippers and a yellow road. :DChallenge 3: Scarecrow: sew on a layout about an achievement/something that made you proud. At "36" I got my ears pierced and learnt how to drive.

Challenge 5 Tin Man: a page with hearts and something metal. I had had these pictures for over a year and today they just clicked. :)
Challenge 8: Good witch / Bad witch. Me and my shadow. :D
Challenge 9: Popular. Chocolate cake is a favourite!
Class 4: Pay no attention to the man behind curtain. Shimelle´s class took me over two hours, almost three to complete! see all those patterns. They need to match and then got to be measured, cut and glued!!!
Class; Dream, etc. Bil &B Sil at Easter. Sketch based class.

AEDM 2009: DAY 14 and UKScrappers cyber crop

Challenge 1: We´re off to see the wizard. A trip 3D or personal with a given sketch. I made mine with pics of us in Paris.
Challenge 2 Dorothy. You had to usea picture of friends / someone important in your life and gingham. Tati and her best friends.
Challenge 4 (I know I haven´t tackled the 3rd) Lion. Felt and a courage story. Our cousin Ale and his family. The baby was born with a serious condition. Nowadays she is a healthy toddler.
Class 2: Over the rainbow. A rainbow of ribbons with a sketch. Fireworks picture.
Class 3: Time to go home. And advent calendar
Class 5 The lillipop guild. My art journal for the day, Yes, I´m the headless chcken depicted. :D

All classes or challenges for the UKScrappers scrapbooking cyber crop.

The theme is the Wizard of Oz, so I staged my layouts with Tati´s "ruby" slippers and a yellow road. :D

AEDM 2009: DAY 13 + The joy diet week 9

My art for the day is part of UKScrappers cyber crop. As the theme is The Wizard of Oz I will post my layouts with the Ruby slippers. :D Class 1 by Rachel (Aka taniwha).

I liked the ruffled fabric technique and I continued it with paper for my Art Journal.

The Joy diet, chapter # 8: LAUGHTER

Friday: I was not happy to see the ingredient. Just as I can´t cry on command (I could never be an actress or a stroppy looking model), I can´t laugh on command.

Saturday & Sunday: family days. A lot of smiles, a giggle here and there.

Monday: errrmmmm, nothing much.

Tuesday: we had the funniest conversation at our dinner table. We had been trying to define fruits and vegetables. As in why is this a vegetable if it isn´t green? (translator note: vegetables in Spanish is "verdura", which ties in with the word for green colour which is "verde")

Ds said that vegetables grew in/on the ground and fruit on trees. Then a watermelon would be a vegetable, not a fruit! Mad laughter. My hubbie tried to be helpful and added that fruit had seeds that would be the origin of the next fruit. By now tears of laughter were running down my cheeks, "a pumpkin is a fruit, we can have it for dessert!" (p.s: I remembered there is a dessert with pumpkin which added to the laugh factor)

I admit it sounded better than it reads. :D

Wednesday: I have already told you I was awefully tired, not in the mood for laughing.

Thursday: as The Joy diet´s tribe post time approaches I pay more attention. "Nothing" has gone out of the window, truth stays firm, I have lost sight of my longer term goals/desires as I rush the every day stuff, the creativity is up to speed with AEDM and grocery shopping, no risks except showing up every day (which is a great deal in itself), almost no play and the laughter needs to be brought up.

Friday: I was having a look around my blog to see what I was creating last November for AEDM (e.g: an year ago I was making my birthday book and it was lovely to see comments by ladies I consider dear friends now) and read some of the posts. I could see myself as others might see me and hey! I´m quite funny. *grin* :D

This is the only chapter I have not read twice. That says something about it.

AEDM 2009: DAY 12

Danette, in her Self expression Springboard asked today "What masks do you wear?".

As a fan of multipurpose posts I took the idea for AEDM. :)

I started by using one of Tati´s masks as a template and then worked with her glitter glues to paint them.

The first one is bright, cheerful, using an orange border like my orange T shirt ( another mom commented today how she loved my using brighter colours this time of the year, when the weather is getting hotter), and the blues and greens that I mentioned this week. That is my cheerful mask. The "I´m fine" mask.
I thought purple and pink would look posh together. I didn´t mean them to look sombre or sad and somehow they did. This is my shadow.

AEDM 2009: DAY 11

I´m tired. It is tests time here and I have been revising a lot with both kids. Plus housework and other things.

AEDM was the weakest link and I almost gave up on it.

I had already chosen the numbers I wanted to use for the 11th, so I decided to at least put them on the page.

While at my craft room I saw the cards and remembered that Queen is equivalent to 11 in some games. There she is the 11th, looking at her reflection in the mirror ´cause she has this little red hat that might remind you of the purple beret poem.

What do you wish to dare?

Rachel, whose blog I follow because of her knitting, linked to a throat singing video. I had never heard of that and spent a good half hour perusing different examples. It´s an art form and also a cultural thing.

This was the first step on thinking about music.

Some days ago while waiting at the bank I hummed "The body electric". Yesterday at another bank queue I hummed "The nutcracker" and as I came home I searched for my CD.

As you tap your fingers on the desk and think "That´s enough, get to the wish already!" I hasten to say: what I wish to dare ... is to sing out loud.

To sing and feel the joy of singing. To share a song with my kids out in the streets of Buenos Aires. Or anywhere in the world, for that matter. :D

AEDM 2009: DAY 10

Ten little fingers, ten little toes ... part of a rhyme that came to my mind when I saw it was our tenth day of AEDM .

Here they are my ten little fingers. :D

The original concept was longer. It should have been a green base, with bits of blues on top.

Background note: I used to wear blue, almost everything was blue. Some three years ago I turned green. My wardrobe changed dramatically, my accesories too. No blue in sight. At all. About a month ago blue came back into my life, and with it some things I used to do, ways I used to be. And it is all right. :)

Here´s the right hand side of the double layout for Tati´s pledge.

AEDM 2009: DAY 09

"¡Yes, I promise!". Pictures from the day Tati promised loyalty to our flag. Based on the sketch for this week´s challenge at UKScrappers.

Once I got the sewing machine out I kept going and made my daily pages with scraps and sewing.

So far I have been using one technique / concept per day. I still want to experiment some more with some of them like collage and sewing.

AEDM 2009: DAY 08 Inspiration

Ocho means eight. :)

Based on what Marina did with her cat picture. It is way cool and very neat. Got a minute? Have a look around her blog and see her fabulous work with cat figures. Funky and sweet.

AEDM 2009: DAY 07

And on the 7th day she rested. :D

I couldn´t bare leaving the pages of my AEDM journal blank though, so I chose some clothes from my favourite designer at the moment (I don´t own any but I like them): Agatha Ruiz de la Prada

On other news: Tracey sent me an award. Thanks Sweetie!

I need to answer the following questions with ONE word and pass th

e award on. :)

1. Where is your cellphone? downstairs
2. Your hair? brunette
3. Your mother? funny
4. Your father? dead
5. Your favorite food? pizza
6. Your dream last night? curious
7. Your dream/goal? undefined
8. Your favorite drink? Levité
9. What room are you in? Tati´s bedroom
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? regret
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Earth
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren´t? energetic
15. Muffins? chocolate
16. Wishlist item? shoes
17. Where did you grow up? Buenos Aires
18. Last thing you did? party
19. What are you wearing? capris
20. Your TV? off
21. Your pets? weimaraner
22. Friends? cool
23. Your life? busy
24. Your mood? swinging

25. Missing someone? me
26. Vehicle? Gol

27. Something you´re not wearing? tennis
28. Your favorite store? Markova
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried?hidden
32. Your best friend? Vivi
33. One place you go to over and over? school
34. Facebook? no
35. Favorite place to eat? Veronesse

Bloggers who rocked my world this past week and whose blogs deserve an award:

Connie, the art teacher from Dirty Footprints studio

Rachel knits

Rennata

AEDM 2009: DAY 06

Soooooooooooooooo I had a little scrap from the previous pages and thought I´d use it up today by cutting it up.

Slowly I saw an allegory of my life emerge. You can consider these pages as still a work in progress.

This is the point when I think it is a very good thing my mom doesn´t have a computer so she can´t find this as it would freak her out. :D

It seems orderly, contained, with a straight beginning and end (the two lines at the top left and bottom right). Lots of pretty squares, a happy mouse from ds´s sweets, a house that might be Shakespeare´s mom´s (can´t remember, it´s been in my scraps box for ages) to represent our time in the UK, a picture with loads of people (I´m a Happysnappy and I have loads of people "in my picture" ), the crown? (uh ...) , my initial (I´m so NOT a pink girl but pink keeps popping up in my work), there I am, the little blue snail (word game, anyone?) and "See the world (meant in a cyber way, this is what I´ve been doing).

You have noticed it, haven´t you?

The squares are not connected! They don´t touch each other, there are not connecting lines, dots, whatever. Each part of me (of my life) doesn´t touch the other. That is where the disconnection is. Oh, my! It seems I will be discovering a lot this month through both projects.

The Joy diet: week 8

How did that happen? Friday? No way! Can´t be!

The process this week (pics later as I´m at the "wrong" computer):

Saturday. Can we still treat (last week´s chapter was Treats) ourselves? Yes? Good! Because I bought myself something: a dozen beaded bracelets and a necklace. All for the nifty amount of 22 pesos (that is a bit over 3 pounds or 5 dollars) Colourful and bright. I shared some with Tati. :D

Sunday, friends for lunch. You could consider that playful. I know, I´m grasping at straws to make the theme fit. ;)

Monday, another treat in the form of puffy stickers (yes, I shared them with Tati too). Truth was slightly bruised by omission (nothing serious, just an ordinary day thing). Desire is still buried. Creativity is on the mend thanks to Art Every Day Month I liked what I did for Day of the dead . It is my favourite so far and quite playful in the sense that I took a topic like death and used light hearted embellies.

Tuesday, no time for nothing. Even creativity was hustled and not effective. It didn´t feel like playing. Risk? None.

Wednesday, got my Truth out there, loud and clear by taking the risk of expressing a wish (desire) of mine. I notice that the ingredients from the diet might be blending but I still need lots of working on my own recipe. :)

Thursday, business as usual. Nothing has been neglected (I love how you can read this affirmation both ways, lol!), no wandering away from truth (no need ;) ), creativity is up on the artsy sense, Oh! I missed desire (Freudian slip there), what was next? Risk, only doing new things like using the electronic till for depositing a check or so. Play. This offered more resistance than risk! Lots of "shoulds" attached to this one. It was easier to play when the kids were young and I played with them a lot. Nowadays I´m present but not doing the same thing. As in, I´m watching the war strategy computer game ds is playing or watch dd with her skateboard.

Friday. Working on the blend. :)

AEDM 2009: DAY 05 + quote of the day

My quote of the day comes from Rennata Tropeano. I will print this and put it somewhere in my craft room.

Working on improving is very different than expecting perfection.

I had been reading "The power of intention" by Wayne Dyer at the bank. Yes, I was using my time in a positive way while waiting. ;) It said something about accepting the connection to the source or something in those lines. I began humming "I sing the body electric", going over and over the "and I burn with the fire of ten millions stars". And I hummed all the way home, daring to sing (softly) for half a block. *grin*

What to do with that? Lifted myself. I decided to re-make the sun I had drawn and painted with pencils, using acrylics this time. I know, not a good idea. But, hey, I tried. :D

I also finished the scrapbook pages I had started, with some bonus points for my team at UKScrappers.

AEDM 2009: day 04 Stolen moments

Any similarity with the "Art" video is NOT a coincidence. :D

I´ve been thinking about making art today. You see this drawing? It took me about EIGHT HOURS to complete. Because I put my pencils and markers together and decided I needed more light, that sent me to open windows and as I was already standing I washed the dishes that were still on the counter top from the previous post and cleaned the top too.

Kitchen is spotless. Start drawing. Shouldn´t I be doing Pilates? It´s supposed to be the first thing in the morning.

Thirty minutes later gym time is over and as I put the dvd away I got the diskettes to download the monthly tax form. Have I told you I need to turn Tati´s computer on as it is the only one with diskettes and Mati´s one as it is the one with the printer?

Ooops, while at the kids´bedrooms I notice that the beds are still not done. Time to make the beds while the computers turn on. I better get showered as well.

Drew a bit before mom comes for a visit. Made lunch, picked kids up from school, general chit chat and tea time. Mom left. Kids started homework and I started drawing again.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! What is this verb? Can you help me with the rhymes? Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! (I´m sitting at the table with them, not on the other side of the house *roll eyes* ) see the game Tomy lent me! Today´s lesson was cool because ...

Of course I payed attention to the days anecdotes and helped them out with homework. Drew in between questions. Hubbie arrivesd. Dinner time. Can I just colour in ONE leave while making ...? No, it´s not the best idea as the overcooked chicken nuggets for tomorrow´s lunch bags show.

Ans so it goes. Hour after hour of stolen moments.

What do you wish to experience?

Wish casting Wednesday.

I turned the laptop on early. The earliest in the week. And I click on Jamie´s bookmark to read the question of the week.

What do you wish to experience?, she asked today. A few early birds had already worked with it.

A quick glance told me about joyful wishes of amazingness, happiness, freedom, hope.

I sit in my kitchen, the breakfast dishes still unwashed on the counter top.

I glance at the full moon boards folder and think.

I don´t feel particularly amazing, happy or free.

Not living in a "life is beautiful all the time" high, not living in a hole of dispair. That leaves me in middle ground. The flow continues: those bloggers in that type of paths are the ones that get the most attention. Visits, comments, links.

That takes me to what I want to experience.

I´d love to know what it is like to be popular. To be seen regularly and with gusto. To be left gazillions of comments. To connect every day with tons of people who really want to be here. To see my cyber tribe grow. To be called, to be e-mailed, to be asked for my work. To be liked. Big way.

AEDM 2009: DAY 03 + Full Moon board

Pages for AEDM 2009. Day 3 in my art journal.
"She risks, dares and reinvents herself." Great Sarkany summer boots and purse.
"A style with it´s own codes" Finally found some strong blues that I had been looking for.

From the beginning of the year I´ve been working on my full moon dreamboards with the current issue of Elle magazine.

This month the magazine was not speaking to me. It was full of pretty roses and such that were, well, ..., you know ... pretty but not what I wanted for the month. I wanted full blown energetic creativity, I got pastels. I wanted strong images, I got skinny models in swimsuits. I wanted positive thoughts, I got articles on lying, emotional overweight and Botox. *roll eyes*

This is the best I could come up with:

on side A - dresses, "with her own name" "made in Buenos Aires" and "irrisistible duet: orange and blue. The sky in your eyes and citrics in your mouth".

On side B: lipsticks, Agatha Ruiz de laPrada and of course handbags. ;)

AEDM 2009: DAY 02

Two more pages in my art journal.

As I told you yesterday I´m back to my linear, tidy, layered style. *grin* And just as I took the All Saints Day theme for the day, today I´m taking the Día de los Fieles Difuntos (Day of the faithful departed or aka day of the dead )

Those thick and cushioned stickers are all the rage here now. I remember those from my teen days, now they are in fashion again. Yes, I share them with my daughter, Lol!
First page: white background, black scrap. In case you don´t know me, I´m big on scraps. I´m a scraps scrapper. I start by using a whole sheet and then keep using it till there is virtually nothing left. I use part of the sheet on page 2 and the scrap here. A female and a male skull with a friendly skeleton waving. In the red envelope you will find a list of family members that have already left.
Hubbie loved this one! Black background and, yes, scraps plus the thick stickers and a Thicker # 2 in white. the clock refers to a quote I read today: "Hay más tiempo que vida" ( note of translator: there is more time than life). I found it at Dirty Footprints Studio and as I told Connie (and I quote myself from the comments section) it expresses what I´ve been thinking lately.
There have been a couple of deaths in our circle this past month and it is so strange to see life going on without those beautiful beloved persons.
On the other side of the spectrum there have been a couple of births. Looking forward to share those lives. :)

On to the Full Moon dreamboard. :)

AEDM note

I get to my craft room once all the day chores are done and dusted. That means that by the time I can post my art for the day everybody has left and turned the lights off. So, from today on, I will be linking at Leah´s place to the previous day work.
That is, work on the actual day, post the same day, link on the following one.

That way today´s work will be linked to tomorrow´s post. (ETA: Leah´s November 3rd post is here)

AEDM 2009: DAY 01

DAY 01 is HERE!!!

I got my Wreck this journal journal and turned into a "more me" journal. And what are you like?, you ask.

To begin with, I´m a tidy wrecker if I have to wreck at all. Lol! I´m quite orderly. (Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, she said "quite"! That is the understatement of the year!, you squeak) See that big number 1 up there? And the date, of course. No more random pages. One day after the other. ;)

I might get more adventurous with time.

Today, I drew lots of circles with a stencil. Most circles were drawn at the exact position they were at the stencil, without moving it within the same colour. That´s ok, you may giggle a bit at that. :D

As it is All Saints day, I included a religious image. Today was the last Children´s mass of the year and the kids were given Schoenstatt virgin images to take home. This particular one was given to us by a family friend.
As I was keen on getting back to scrapping during AEDM, I also chose papers to match pictures.

The Joy diet: week 7

The process this week:

1) TGIF!!! I was so eager to leave the risk week behind that I started the "Chapter # 6: Treats" a day early. I started reading it on the train on the way to my mom´s. I got through half a chapter but got the gist of the treats idea right away. ;) By the time we arrived at the destination and with 30ºC I treated the kids and MYSELF to the first icecream of the season. (Background note: I treat the kids to icecream from time to time in the hot months but me? Almost never!) Oh, this is going to be good! *grin*

Fast forward five hours. The temperature has dropped from 30ºC to 10ºC and it is pouring.

Hubbie suggested my buying myself something with long sleeves to wear on top of my T shirt. While breathing in to say "No, thanks, I´ll endure the cold" I changed my mind and said "Yes, please". Oh, my! This is big. Two treats in a day.

Now, the jury is still out on the third treat. Is it a treat or a trick? A treat or a torture? Why? Because I found an exercises dvd. (Background note 2: it seems we are a gym going folks so this type of dvds is almost impossible to find). It is one of my "should"s as in I should exercise but I don´t like it.

2) Finished the chapter on Saturday and realized I had got it slightly wrong: I was supposed to do something scary BEFORE the treat. *shrug* Oh, well, that candy I had while reading was a real treat. ;)

3) Scan the vecinity for treats on Sunday, find none available.

4) Another big step on Monday. For the first time in a very long time (so long I can´t really remember doing this before) ... I cooked for myself. (Background note 3: I cook for my family three times a day every day but grab whatever is at hand when I´m alone)

5) Tuesday I go on my merry way. :) I take the risk of going to that unknown place I mentioned

to buy that strange oven accesory. A personal success story. ;) I go window shopping as a treat but I feel the anxiety beginning to build up. "Hurry!", I think, "you still need to do this, that and the other".

6) Wednesday is melt down day

Fast forward to the evening. Feel thanksful for all the caring messages. Thanks to Toni´s heads up message I discovered that the new UKScrappers cyber crop is about The

Wizard of Oz so I enroled. Before doing so I asked for the best possibility for me to be my team. I got the Tin Man.

No HEART? I could understand no courage, but no ... HEART?

I grumble and pout for a while.

7) On Thursday I see thing differently. May be the lack of heart means that lack of desires I have been struggling with since item # 3. If that is correct it means that by the end of the crop I WILL HAVE a heart!

Week 7 check in: not much of Nothing, keeping an eye on Truth, still without a clear vision on desires, irritated by the creativity exercises, taking a calculated risk here and there, aware of the treats or lack of them.

Wish casting Wednesday

I´ve been thinking a lot about treats this week, thanks to The Joy diet project.

I will post the full week´s process on Friday.

Where am I at this point?

After days of gleefully getting treats, my Inner Critic kicked in.

"That´s enough", she said. "You´ve been spoiling yourself way over what you deserve. Stop right now"

And I did.

I will probably not taking any more treats this week so I can´t wish for treats today.

Fest der Jungen

Tati running.
Tati & Mati throwing balls.

18 bilingual with German schools, almost 3000 students from 9 to 17 years old, six hours of outdoors games & exhibitions, many complete families hanging out, taking pics and generally enjoying themselves.

A good day on Sunday.

Run, hubbie, run!

Dan participated in the Nike 10K race on Saturday.

The Joy diet: week 6

A new meeting for "The Joy diet"´s tribe at Jamie´s.

The process this week:

1) Read Chapter #5: RISK on Saturday. Not pay much attention to it. If I haven´t even figured out my desires yet, how can I plan risky actions to get there?

2) Totally ignore the book on Sunday.

3) Decide to do something scary on Monday. Not dream/desire related as I haven´t got a clue what that is but scary anyway.

Now, on Wednesday you asked yourself "How can asking for a sandwich be difficult?". Today you will ask "How was THAT scary?" after reading the next paragraph.

The scary thing was to go to the tyre shop and have my tyres (yes, I use the British spelling :D ) rotated and balanced.

Go on, you can say it now: How could THAT be scary?!?!?!?!

An unknown place. An unknown task. I was out of my depth. For someone whose reputation is based on knowledge, doing something I didn´t know about in a place I didn´t know was shaking hands scary. (Side note: I realized this on Thursday, the knowing part)

On Monday morning I faced my list of "What if"s. What if there was a queue? What if they were too slow? What if they broke something and the car couldn´t move? Fear won, I postponed the task till after school, so I was sure I could pick the kids up.

On Monday afternoon I took my car in. The mechanic boy (mechanics, just like policemen are getting younger every day ;) ) asked something about the wheels. I laughed it off, saying that even if I sounded like I knew what I was talking about when I asked my tyres to be rotated and balanced, I was only repeting what my hubbie said and I had no further idea.

There. I´ve said it. I have no idea what this is about. I fitted the stereotype. The helpless, ignorant, damisel in distress. Darn!

Hubbie had also told me it was a 5 pesos job for each wheel. The quote was $120. (Side note 2: my car is a small two doors Volkswagen Gol, not a monster truck or an 18 wheel trailer) I asked for (EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK! I HAD TO ASK FOR!!!!!!) a detailed bill.

Car was ready in an hour and a half, I went home and waited for hubbie.

He was happy about the whole event. Over the moon I had remembered to ask the wheels to be balanced and aligned. Happy as, in the price was right happy.

Uh?

4) I wasted Tuesday being sick. WARNING: Marja you can stop reading now. Anybody else who is upset by barfing stories too because when I say feeling sick I mean sick as "in all fours, head in a bucket" sick. As in keep walking like a zombie around the house not to pass out sick. As in doing said walking with the bucket in my hand because I was not quick enough to reach the wc sick. As in I totally blanked out Tuesday sick. As in forget the drink plenty of fluids advise ´cause I can´t even hold water sick. Darn! Again.

5) Use Wednesday to get back to normal. Decide not to do anything scary in the near future.

6) On Thursday morning decide to go to another unknown place to buy an unknown piece of oven accesory. This time I´m taking the thingie and placing it on the shop´s desk ask for (eeekkk) an identical one.

With the excuse of "no parking space" I didn´t stop at said unknown shop.

7) Friday ... time will tell. ;)

Saying Yes to ...

Wednesday. A day for wishing. Today Jamie asked us "What do you wish to say Yes to?"Asking for what I want. It took me hours to finally ask dh for a sandwich on Saturday. At this point you frown and ask yourself "What is there SO difficult in that?" Wellllllllllllll. I´ve been "trained" not to ask for anything, not to "bother" others. I do everything for myself and as much as I can for others. In that case, asking for something is hard. Asking for stopping at the delicatessen shop and actually buy something for me was big. Asking dh for a sandwich was big. I could do it in the frame of Mother´s day on Sunday (in Argentina Mother´s day is the 3rd Sunday in October every year). I wonder if I could start asking for things for me now.
Motherhood. This is a picture of my mom and my daughter on mom´s day. I´m the ultimate chicken mom. Lol.
My kids growing up. Some moms wish their kids to stay little (e.g: my mil says she cried buckets each time one of her kids finished Kindergarten). I thrive with my kids. I enjoyed each stage:babyhood, toddlerhood, Kindergarten, first years of primary school, now I´m on to late years of primary and first years of secondary. Cuddles, singing, playing, and teaching are commom elements in all of these. This is a picture of my son (13, doesn´t he look older?) learning golf from his uncle. His first time with a golf club in his hands.
Being kind with those around me. Cute bugs are easier than ugly ones, aren´t they? ;)