Beauty is Coming Hoime!

Hi guys,

Its mehmeh again, this is my 2 blog on the vacation.

 

The 2 week was all in Greece ! it was beautiful but I was expecting more bleu and white L but it was really pretty J my favorite day of the 2 week was probably myckonos cuz we went to a beach and I danced there . every night we went to a show and there was this dancer named taylor that worked on the ship and that danced . I really wanted to take a pictures with her cuz she was really pretty and she was a really good dancer!  So one day I saw her and asked her if she wanted to take a picture with me and she said yes ! I was really happy!

 

Me and my dad went to a magic show . the same as last week cuz we tried to figure out how he did them . we figured out like  3 of them  ! I love all the shows they are so good !!!

 

 

I loved Greece it was so colorful and amazing and also really fun ! we rented cars in every city . remember that in 2 grade I did a presentation on Greece and since then I’ve always to go to Greece and my dream came true !

 

I am soooooooooo thankful for my  parents bringing me here for a 2 week cruise . I loved being with them even thought sometimes I was a little mean when my mom would asked me to do chores L  I will never ever forget this vacation . I love my parents soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much <3 and Ioved being with them ! I kinda realised that I was a little nicer on this trip with  my parents and I won’t change that anymore I will stay nice to them always and smile at my mom when she ask me to do chores ( well maybe) ! haha

 

This was probably the best vacation ever and I’m so sad that im leaving tomorrow L my favorite moments with my parents are when we went to the japonese restaurant , the kissy fights, the tickle fights and just traveling and touring with them <3

 

I love you mom and dad I love being with you  emma xox

 

 

Hubby Final Guest Post

Katakolon, Greece (May 15^th, 2014)

Today was one of my favorite days of our 14 day itinerary for a couple of reasons. The fantastic history of this port of call and its quaintness.

The small port town of Katakolon is about 30 km from Olympia where the first Olympic games were held and where the ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame is still held for the modern day games. The archeological site of Ancient Olympia is absolutely magnificent. The digs have revealed the existence of water fountains, gymnasium, stadium, temples which have not been recreated but the layouts are clearly defined and it is easy to imagine the grandeur of this city at the time it was built 2000 years ago. Earthquakes have unfortunately demolished the buildings but roman colums and foundations of buildings are still clearly visible.

It is a fascinating place and a museum has been built next to the site where statues and parts of the pediments of the temples can be seen. They also have on display artefacts from the ancient life, pottery, glass bottles and small objects dated from before the existence of the Olympic city. The main temple was dedicated to Zeus and a marble statue considered as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world was housed in this temple. It is unfortunately not here anymore and I intend on researching where it is being kept if it still exists!

The small port town Katakolon is charming and there is a small beach 5 minutes away where we just sat and had a coffee overlooking the ocean. Quite relaxing and quaint after a long day of visiting and walking.

The perfect mix of history, culture and relaxation.

When It's over its Over

When it’s over..its’ over

I am as thankful for this blog as a record-keeper as it is all the in between moments that touch me the most and are most precious to me. Even today if you ask me what we saw last week on this trip…I have no idea. My memory is very short term-so this blog helps me capture in my heart my forever.

Today it feels like the trip is over even though it was the last day. A day at sea but cold cold and windy. Montreal right now is way hotter than our while trip has been! Today also I woke up the dizziest I have ever felt in my life and spent half a day on Gravel and hardly able to walk or speak. By afternoon better. Weird for me as 14 days I was pretty much fine. Something got me the last day I guess. I am better now thank goodness as for a while there it was bad.

Beauty wanting to play games and talk and watch her do the splits is annoying me..I read all my library books and the thought of taking a shower in the little stall in our room is making me woozy just thinking about it.

And that’s when you know…..it is time to come home. To my beautiful life and the other beautiful people in it. To the routine and structure and work and play. Back to it and back to my Mom and the boys.

What did l gain form this vacation ? Plenty. Mostly in terms of my closeness with my daughter. Perspective on my relationship with my husband too. And then from all the books…lots of perspective on my relationship to illness, anxiety, money and how happy I am at the place I am in my life that I am at.

I have worked damn hard emotionally in my life. To confront fear, anger, pain, happiness, love. All of it. And I continue to face it all. What I realized on this trip was that not only do I face it…for the first time I am feeling it too. And allowing myself that anger, that sadness. Allowing it all in-which wants our need to do when you really want to conform your demons. I am doing it now. It can hurt a lot..remembering times people hurt you or said something that cut into your heart. But remembering is the key-and feeling those feelings and asking yourself what you did with those feelings? Because if you didn’t feel them at the time..something else happened. Where did they go? You have carried them with you somehow.

And on this trip I know I am coming home to a big series of speeches I have to give for work on Work Life Balance. I realized that my thoughts on this all come down to one concept: Formulas. There are formulas for everything in life and you have to follow them to reep the rewards. Sure you can slack off a bit here and there but mostly you need to follow them to earn success. And there are not many versions of formulas really (unfortunately) there are ways to ensure success and ways to ensure non-success. It’s very mathematical in many ways as much as people resist that concept in terms of human relations. And you need to know what you are committed to and all the things that are most important for you.

I remember on trip with Soulkeeper we have days to talk and talked a lot about parenting. We asked of ourselves and each other the question “What is the one short and long term goal you want for your children in life?”

Both of us had exactly the same answer which is why I have such a strong bond to this woman, as our hearts and minds are in exactly the same place.

Self Confidence.

And it was extremely clear to both of us. And equally clear what we needed to do to achieve it. And so we both work backwards in our lives-getting and inputting each step of the way towards this most ultimate goal we have and our visions. Ensuring stability in routines and schedules and sleep, ensuring articulation of feelings, stability all around, good examples of couple hood, fostering independence and autonomy, teaching children right from wrong and ensuring consequence to action, ensuring many other adults in the child’s lives care for them and nurture them, ensuring that vision of self is fostered early on.

Understanding that our children are not extensions of us..They are lent to us as Soul keeper tells me over and over as I struggle to prevent my children’s hearts from breaking in the big and bad world. They are not ours. They are separate. Our job is to learn from our offspring the lessons that make us better human, better partners and better parents. They are not us-they are lent to us in our care. They are there to make us stronger and better and be courageous and face our own deepest fears.

And as I looked at my highest vision for my children I realized very importantly that my parents gave me this. It is a gift to love yourself and accept yourself flaws and all. And I do.

And there is formula for everything really: Marriage, friendships, health, fitness, and promotions at work. And we either do the work and follow the formula-or we don’t. So that is what my series of speeches will be about. I am an expert in this area I think not because I follow all the formulas but because I know they exist and I consciously choose which ones hold value to me.

And then when I decide? I never ever give up. I use laser focus to get what I want.

This trip has been an abundance of culture, bonding and self-reflection for me. It has been truly beautiful. And now more than anything…..it is time to come home and put the first part of 2014 behind us. Start fully living after what has felt like an avalanche in many ways of bad luck, hard times and bad circumstances. Like I was being tested day after day after day in every corner of my life. To the degree that if I told anyone I had a sprained ankle, none would have energy left to believe or support me and which I completely understand that. It was all just too much.

And maybe all along it was Good Luck?

All part of a formula that somehow got lost along the way and that I have to now fight furiously and fiercely to get back on track on if I want to be successful..

Yes maybe it is all that.

Guilt..Gravol and Guts

A guest post from Soulkeeper!!!!!!!!




(scroll down for my parting blog)

I recently read a blog that really spoke to me as a woman and the many roles we juggle in our lives: wife, mother, breadwinner, daughter, sister, friend, cook, cleaning woman, household manager, driver, shopper, party organizer….the list could go on and on. It spoke to the voice that lives in side us all that sometimes whispers, groans, or nags “You should…. “.   “I should go to the gym”, “ I should call my sister”  “ I should turn off Dora and  read that Robert Munch story again to my 3 year old for the 10^th time this week”, “I should wash the kitchen floor”, “I should be planning dinner today so I am not scrambling to throw together freezer burnt peas and fish sticks at 6:00 tonight while my hungry kids are pestering me for snacks….It was so liberating to allow myself to imagine lifting the  “should” from my life and simply BE….present, in the moment, allowing myself the freedom to choose what I would like to do… guilt free.

However, I realize that there are times that those “shoulds” can actually be our guides, our inner compasses, our souls that hold greater wisdom than we ever could and are exactly what we need.

About a year and a half ago, while having lunch with one of my BFF’s  she excitedly suggested that we go on a girls trip to resort. At the time I was 8 months pregnant with my third child. Exhausted, sore and desperate for some rest (I also have two girls, four year old Ella and two year old Olivia).  I jumped at the idea but knew it was so far off, so  I filed it with all the other things  I plan to do when  I am out of baby making stage..

Finally the months and week passed and it  was one week before leaving. I didn’t even own a suitcase anymore and borrowed one from my mother in law! As the days went by I began to feel nervous, scared, sad anxious about leaving my 3 kids for 7 dodos…. It had nothing to do with leaving them with my capable husband….it felt unnatural to be so far away from them….thousands of miles away….I had all sorts of irrational thoughts…what if the plane crashed, what if Roman (20 months) choked on his sister’s marble? What if the kids were so sad without me? 

It was dramatic leaving the house in the wee hours of the morning…I got the gastro in the night (throwing up…it had done the rounds through my family that week and sure enough I was not spared! Hpw was I going to fly like this? Would they let me on the plane? After popping gravol and having my BFF’s hubby pick me up and put me in the car, I made it on the plane with BFF and passed out for the 4 hour flight. I woke up 20 minutes before landing.

The trip was nothing short of perfect. Perfect weather, food, and friendship. It was so restful, rejuvenating and it brought me back to a self I was before having kids…It was nice to reconnect to that self that was footloose and fancy free. What I discovered during this precious time, was that I was so thankful that I did what I felt I shouldn’t do because it was the best thing I ever did and I am actually sad the trip is over but look so forward to returning to my hubby and kids as a refreshed, rested and rejuvenated moma……what I want to be for them. What I realize is that we as women and mother’s feel so much guilt which is often at the detriment to ourselves, our marriages and our children….what we and our families need is a mother who can be the mother and wife that she wants to be because she makes her needs a priority.

Ps-since my kids are not old enough to be able to read this...I might as well admit I secretly want to stay here an extra 3 days (or more!)

"V"

One of my BFF’s has three gorgeous kids under the age of 5 yrs and we have never ever gotten a Christmas picture of them, a Christmas card, a baptism card or a baptism invitation.

And each time I think about this…

I feel so envious and admirable of this girl!!!!!

I totally and sincerely look up to this so much. She is an amazing example of someone who really does live in the present, with her kids, with her husband, with her friends. She is out to prove nothing to anybody.

She takes her photos for her, and displays them for her. It’s for her. She keeps her kids gorgeousness for her. I have honestly not seen such a beautiful family. But she does not concern herself with the time spent on so many of the things others, including me, that we busy ourselves with. And that we create stress and havoc  with.

She is the most religious non religious person I know. She doesn’t need anything to guide her…….her goodness is enough.

So while I am sometimes  a bit sad to notsee a scrumptious photos of these three darlings, or have an occasion to wear my little black dress to with champagne in hand……I fully realize that these non-events and no cards are symbolic of this friend’s utter devotion to her life.

And that same devotion she shows her family she shows me too. You would not catch this girl ever checking texts or answering her phone if you are with her. She is yours when you are hers. She will put you before everything and everything going on in her own life when you need her and she will always make space for you. And if she cannot she will gently let you know.

You know that feeling when you are with someone but you know they are thinking about a million other things? Or when you are talking to them and their husband has something going on and so the phone is always next to them? Or when they are listening but always interupting just in case their kids need them (guilty as charged in some instances eventhoughI hate this quality!!!!) Why is it our kids always have to come before everything and anything else? I have to get better at that and quickly.

She is fully present in her life and this to me is the only goal I should ever have. And she chooses very carefully who gets to have her. Lucky me eh???

So for 2013…..I will choose a word. A letter actually. It will be easy because it is so simple to remember. “V” for her name. To aspire to become more like her, more peaceful and calm. Caring less about the future and more about the present, giving the gift of my prescence to myself and others. And having the confidence and security to never need to send a Christmas photo in hopes that someone out there will think me and my family are great. And knowing full well internally that they are. (I may still send one btw).

Knowing myself well enough to get the help I need, relying on my friends for support and understanding, telling people things I have never admitted to myself, and understanding that life comes with it a lot of punches and I better get with that program if I am going to enjoy the ride.

Finally being fully supportable by others…..since my life has been a long road of supporting others. And allowing that love and feeling of being loved to coexist with intellect and my own love for them.

Allowing others to see me fall.

And letting them catch me before it is too late.

Becoming the student before I become the real teacher.

Letting her not just teach me, but following her utterly lovely example of life.

Becoming somebody my husband is proud of for my heart and not for my mind.

Letting go of the need to protect myself.

Believing they will all still be there even if I slip a bit

Now that I have forgiven, the next step is to free myself of the weight of having to conduct the entire orchestra around me.

Letting go of the coping skills I mastered as a child, and leaving those behaviours at the front door.

Letting her lie down next to me and let me cry my heart out if I ever need to one day.

Letting them in.

 

 

Un gros merci à mes parents!!! (by Bear)

Tout le long de ce voyage’ je pensais comment j’étais vraiment et vraiment chanceux d’aller sur un voyage tout seule avec mes parents

.

Ce voyage a été une expérience inoubliable que je vais me rappeler toute ma vie.

Ma meilleure journée dans notre séjour était quand nous sommes allés à Mykonos .Pourquoi car nous sommes allés à la plage et parce que je me suis presque fait mordu par un pélican.

Quand nous sommes retournés à Venise nous sommes allés sur une gondole. J’ai vraiment aimé car nous nous sommes promenés dans tous les petits passages.

Pendant ce voyage, comme je le disais dans l’autre blog, j’ai dû coller des collants à des places originales pour gagner un certificat cadeau pour un magasin. J’ai collé les collants dans des places historiques autour du monde. Une des places ou je l’ais collés  est sur un canon à Athènes. J’espère bien gagner ce concours car le magasin qui nous donne le certificat est un magasin que moi et mon frère aimons  beaucoup.

En ce moment, je suis sur l’avion pour rentrer chez moi L

Aussi, ma mère a pris beaucoup et beaucoup de photos pendant notre séjour, elle a probablement pris près de 700 photos!!!! Moi j’étais dans au moins 600 photos. Près de la fin du voyage je me tannais de toujours être dans les photos donc j’ai décidé de dire à mes parents je ne veux plus de photos de moi!! Finalement ma mère m’a dit qu’elle allait plus prendre de photos de moi. Mais l’avant dernière et dernière journée elle me voulait dans cses photos. Donc je lui ai dit ok parce que c’est la fête des mères.

J’aime ma mère et mon père, il sont les meilleurs au monde.

Mother's Day in Venice

Mother’s Day in Venice  ( by my Protector, My guy, my Hubby-all the same wonderful man of mine:)

Travelling is quite an experience for the mind and the body. For the mind because of all the beauty, sights, culture, smells, tastes, languages and sounds  and generally the whole experience of absorbing so much information in so little time.


For the body because it is exhausting to be on the move continuously, not wanting to miss any of these precious moments.


I remember my first experience of travelling to Europe. I was 20 years old (that’s a little while ago!) and went touring in France from Paris, to Normandy, then making my way down to Toulouse and passing through Champagne, Bordeaux, Bourgogne, and then Provence. It was my first contact with such a different world than our North American culture. I was impressed by the castles, the museums, the history behind all of it, the sights, the food, the culture everything that makes Europe what it is. Different.  Since then, on numerous occasions, I have travelled back to Europe to relive this first experience feeling.


But the journey this time was much more special because I could relive Europe through the eyes of Bear: HIS first experience of Europe.  Venice, Bari and Polignano in Italy, Corfou, Mykonos and Athens in Greece and  Dubrovnik in Croatia, finally ending it all back in Venice. That’s a lot of beautiful sights for 10 days.  Every stop had its special moment, its special experience. Bear almost even got eaten by a huge pelican roaming the streets in Mykonos. He looked friendly but don’t get too close we learned!


I am sure Bear will remember this vacation all of his life. It will stay printed in his mind forever.


It was all perfect. We enjoyed every moment to the brim.  I can’t even express how wonderful this vacation was. There are just too many memories in my mind but one really will stick with me forever.


This morning we woke up in Venice where we spent our last night after the cruise before coming home, sharing a room the 3 of us. Today is Mother’s Day. When Bear woke up, he crawled into bed with his Mom, hugged and kissed her and wished her a Happy Mother’s day. Even far from home, across the world, his bond to his mother is so strong. He just loves her so much and she loves her little Bear with such passion. What a beautiful sight!


If we are in Venice with Bear, it is because of her, of her purposeful parenting. Wanting to have something special for each of our children, memories that will last a lifetime, bonding us in a different way that we could at home, because of the craziness of our lives, always running around.

Happy Mother’s Day from Venice.

Quel Beau Voyage!

Lundi :

Quel beau début de voyage (by Bear)

Commençons par ma coupe de cheveux, avant j’avais toujours les cheveux très long. Je disais a mes parents que j’allais les couper mais quand la semaine et venu, j’ai dit non je veux garder mes cheveux long. Finalement  samedi, à Venise Italie je me suis fait couper les cheveux courts par un italien et maintenant j’adore ça.

Quand nous sommes rentrés  dans notre merveilleux bateau carabin of the seas, c’était super beau. Il avait  piscines, de stables de Ping pong, un mini put etc. c’était magnifique.

Dimanche, nous sommes allés à Bari. On a planifié un tour guidé mais moi et ma mère on vraiment pas aimer donc nous avons décidé d’aller sur des rochiers et une plage pour explorer.

Lundi, nous sommes allés à Corfu, une ile en Grèce. On est allé à une plage qui était très belle. Il faisait très chaud mais par contre l’eau était très froide.

Demain nous allons a Mykenos . Je suis sûr que ça va être très beau.

Pendant mon voyage, il faut que je prenne des photos avec un collant de Exclucity(un magasin) car il a un gros concours. Le concours est qu’il faut m’être le collant à la place la plus originale et tu auras la chance de gagner 200 $ pour le magasin.

Moi, je ne voulais pas  faire ce blog mais ma mère ma forcer !!!!!

FAQ from Guest Blogger-Teacher of Beauty

We had some great questions about my guest blogger's first post...

Here are some answers that she has put together for you below:

al-oh-PEE-shah

Q. When you say you have lost your hair, what do that mean?

A. Exactly that. I have no hair on my head. Not one strand.

Q. What is it the name of the condition?

A. The condition is called Alopecia. Although I am by no means an expert, research tells me that it is considered an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system, which is designed to protect the body from foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, mistakenly attacks the hair follicles from which hairs grow. This leads to hair loss.

Q. Are there varying degrees?

A. There are a number of different types of Alopecia, but the ones I am most familiar with are:

Alopecia arreata – bald patches appearing typically on the scalp

Alopecia totalis – complete baldness on the scalp

Alopecia universalis – complete hairloss on the body

Q. How do you get it?

A. Now this is a very difficult question to answer. In short I do not know and neither do the medical profession. There is no known history in my family. There is no known medical cause. There is no way to catch it and there is no way to cure it.

Q. Is this a serious illness?

A. Alopecia is not a life-threatening disease and it does not cause any physical pain. In fact I have to say I am very healthy person. However let’s be clear this affects a person’s appearance dramatically which is of course a serious matter. The main effects of alopecia are primarily social and emotional however in the case of alopecia universalis, the loss of eyelashes and eyebrows and hair in the nose and ears can make a person more vulnerable to dust, germs and even bright sunshine.

Q. Does the hair grow back

A. Its apparently possible – who knows, I am not betting on it

Q. Is there a cure/treatment

A. To my knowledge, neither

Grounding - (Teacher of Beauty-Guest Blog Number 2)

My Teacher of Beauty was popular last week ! I sent her your comments....she was very pleased to receive them and your questions too. She has prepared a Q&A about Alopecia and this will be posted next week on my blog.

Below you will find her second post. Through knowing this woman I have learnt so much, and gained so much, and changed in many deep ways.  I feel glad to have the opportunity to share some of her with some of you in this way on my blog.

Tarina

Grounding

If you ever find yourself in a place where you have lost your grounding, or have begun to believe that you have achieved something, become important or even successful, I have found the solution: Pack up your bags and head off to a remote place with your parents and siblings and lock the doors. There is nothing like family to rip off any stripes you may have thought you had earned in the workplace and put you firmly back into the family hierarchy, your place

Sounds bad, not at all, it's great.

In the family unit, neither title nor financial gain counts. There is a different system and when you are in it you know your place within seconds, you immediately know the rules. Dad is always right, older sister is always wiser, married in male spouses are the butt of all jokes and me well, I am the youngest child who basically doesn't know much about anything. This may sound like a bad place to be, yet it isn't, it is warm and familiar, it is fun and it is accurate, it's wrong yet it doesn't matter. What it is, is a reminder of how it used to be, when you were reliant of others, when you were looking for direction, when you needed help all the time, when you had nothing to worry about as it was all taken care of. In short what it is, is a reminder of what really counts, your contribution to the nuclear eco system that is your family, what it is, is real, and what it is, is love in its purest form.

I have learned over the years, sometimes through teary battles and weeks of the silent treatment that you can not change this hierarchy, no evidence can cause a shift in position nor discussion can explain why that view is wrong, it is futile, it is tiring and it is not effective. Thus my years have taught me to stop fighting and start enjoying it for what it is. This shift was wonderful and I wish I had understood this earlier.

So now that I have had a few days of family grounding, I am ready to step out of it again for a least another year and get back to being who I have worked hard to be after I fled the nest all those years ago. The other me.

I wonder who all the others go back to being?

Order of Life........ (Introducing My Teacher of Beauty)

Like Tarina Lauren Kate, my “Pathfinder” I too am a lucky girl. I am lucky in health, and lucky in love. And just like my “Pathfinder”, I also believe that luck is something that happens through careful considered deliberate actions and is not something that lands in your lap.

Yet I am unlike her in many ways. I guess that is why I find her so intriguing, so interesting and so desirable to get to know.  Life is defined by experiences and mine like anyone else’s are unique. Mine like anyone else’s are different to my “Pathfinders”. The nature of my blogs will be around the experiences and hardships that define me and my life choices. My theme will be about “Being Beautiful”. I ask you to suspend judgement about what that means at this stage and read on. Thank you for allowing me to be your Guest Blogger dear “Pathfinder” I hope your loyal readers don’t mind the interruption.

 

Order of Life

There is an expected order of life, like the oldest person usually dies first, the oldest child goes to school first, the youngest child grows up quickest, you know the sort of thing. We often don't think about the expected order of events, however as soon as this pattern is broken or something happens the wrong way round, we are stunned and often unable to accept the turn of events.

One event that I am sure none of you has given much time to think about is losing your hair. So the unspoken, undiscussed and highly likely expected order of events is as follows. From a male perspective, the granddad loses his hair first, then the dad as he gets older and never the children. From the female perspective, again maybe the grandfather, then the spouse and that's it. So what happens when the 30 something year old woman loses her hair first?? Now that is a change of the natural path, a little unusual and some would say freaky. Well that is what happened to me.

The first reaction, is “well that can't happen, that’s not how it works, that’s just wrong”.  Then over the next few years you manage to get over the shock of losing one of your defining assets and build in coping strategies, and after that you even enter into the playful stage of “oooohhh what type of wig suits me best, are blonde curls really possible?”  And then finally, the most liberating phase kicks in, the phase of acceptance.

So why is it that things happening in the wrong order are so hard to deal with.  Why is it that there is an order at all, where does that order come from? Are we so reliant on past patterns that we can’t deal with any alterations?

For me in the first instance of being dealt an incorrect order of life, was that my life seemingly falls apart, there are very few constants in life, few reliable events, but those few that are sure, we rely on, so when they change, our world view shifts, we begin to question everything and wonder what else can happen. The good news is that we learn the most out of hardship. It may not seem like it at the time (does the question - why me??? Sound familiar?) however if you look hard enough there is always some good to be found in any event. You just have to care enough to look and sometimes look real hard.

The good that I discovered was plenty. I started looking at my assests in different ways,  I discovered how lovely my eyes were, I understood for the first time that purple makeup makes my green eyes look beautiful, and I also saw that the colour of my clothes made a difference to my complexion and finally and very importantly I understood that my bum did not only look good in this new dress but GREAT.

It's a shame that I had to lose my hair to appreciate the gifts I had been given by mother nature, but that's how this stuff works isn't it.  So I as sign off, I encourage you all to spend 60 seconds thinking about something you have in your life, something that you have not yet spent time on appreciating in it's entirety, then acknowledge it and go tell somebody about it.  My tip for the day, don't wait for your hair to fall out!

Enchanter...

Starting in a few days I am going to have a series of guest bloggers , hopefully one per week for the next couple of months.

Why?
Because.

At work I am in charge of diversity,so I think about it often as a subject. Diversity is what makes the world turn.
I want some on my blog.
I want some for you.

Also this year besides the 25 fiction books I estimate I read, I also read another 25 at least non fiction books-mostly on family, business or life work integration. Many of them had opinions that were radically different than my own..but they were enlightning just the same (one I am reading right now which is advising me to gently tell my child 35 times in the same day to not eat a poisonous apple off the ground and go play a game inside the house where she is not tempted) Anyone hear of "NO APPLE!"??? (the same book however has a whole host of awesome parenting techniques for getting kids up and out in the morning on time and communicating effectively with teens) Love it! Hate it!

It's so important in life to read or hear about views different than our own, to either alter our perspective or more often than not solidify our initial way of thinking.

So I am excited for my guest bloggers.
I am excited to be able to share this creative outlet with them. Excited to read the drafts coming my way.

None will have access to my blogger spot but I will copy and paste and send their way any comments you may have. So please let me know how their posts are landing for you?

I will encourage topics that fit well with my blog....and posts that I enjoy reading myself and learn from.

Won't be having anyone guest post about the joys of making paper airplanes or how to ensure your child lives at home with you until he is 41 yrs old. I promise.

After all it is my blog right?

After my Sexy Girls post yesterday I hear that some are thinking my blog is getting a bit racier than in 2011? That is correct! I am having some serious fun with this lately.

And while you are at it-please send me any good blog suggestions that you read yourself. Besides my BFF's blog (which I LOVE) and another Mommy blog I read about a woman with lots of kids and lots of great ideas and a whole lot of optimism and zest for life (which sometimes depresses me and other days inspires me).....I have given up on some of the other blogs I have been reading on and off.

Either the writers don't write often enough for me , they depress me about how life is just a bowl of cherries day after day, or they just don't impact me in the way I am looking for.

I want to Learn. I want Bold. I want Real. I want to be Inspired. I want laughter, love, family, sexy, tears and drama. I want to look forward to every morning at 6:55am to reading something that will keep me keen and interested.
Ideas anyone?

So hope my guest bloggers will spice up my own blog and diversify my own style, thoughts and ideas.

May the blog high jacking begin!! Stay tuned!

Me blog…why????

(Introducing my first guest blogger! My husband. Sometimes in life...I just have to sit back and laugh (even if it's at myself I guess). I am thrilled at least that he wrote this creative, funny and hilarious blog -it's a good creative outlet. What it has taught me is " don't touch masterpieces of others-they are perfect as they are".

Happy Reading! Hope my next guest poster is as sweet and creative as my husband when they  highjack my blog).

Here I am on vacation, having the best time of my life, enjoying every single moment as if it was the last moment ever, basking in the sun, listening to the waves crashing on the beach, feeling the wind on my skin, looking at all the beauty around me (if any guys out there are reading this, you know what I mean…!), enjoying a cold beer while reading my  third  novel this week, eating the best food ever, snacking on honey roasted peanuts and Lays BBQ chips, walking for hours on the beach with one mission: looking for the perfect shell,  thinking of my 6 o’clock martini (shaken not stirred), thinking of the next big decision I have to make today (chips or peanuts?), rekindling my near death experience on the sail of my life.

And then it hits me in the face as if I had just been sentenced to life: my Better Half tells me ‘’you have to write a blog tonight!!!!!’’  A what?  A blog! What the hell I am supposed to write about?  I barely speak to anyone all day (by choice), I only listen to my Better Half talk all day (not by choice!) about all her lists, projects, plans, future, past, present, ideas, money, food, friends, family, vacations, renovations, kids education, money, wills, other vacations, family relationships, Holidays, meals, food, exercise, kids discipline, pluck-a-buck, no more pluck-a-buck, zones, chores, allowance, gifts, order in the house, chaos in our lives and the lists to achieve it all, and the lists to get there, and the lists to list what we need to list to get there, and the lists to make our life better, and the making of the master list of lists to make our life simpler. Oh boy, do I ever need a vacation now!

So what am I supposed to ‘’Blog’’ about (if I only knew what a blog is supposed to be in the first place). So anyway, here I am, probably going to be in the biggest fight ever with my Better Half for the content of this first actual blog (whatever that is).  But you know what, I am actually enjoying this. What an outlet! It’s fun to just write and know that maybe, maybe someone out there can relate to it. This is like couples therapy except much, much cheaper!!!

So, for all you blogging widowers out there (it used to be golf widows but times are a changing!!), this one was for you guys!

Cheers!

PS. My Better Half just read my first blog before posting it and guess what? We are in a big fight! She doesn’t understand that boys are boys! Oh well! But, you know what, she is the best Better Half anyone one can dream of! She is always one step ahead of anything that can harm our family life. She is the best, the one that makes all this worth while and especially the only one that makes this beach the most  beautiful one in the world!