Painting, pictures and projects…

Posted on April 25, 2012 by raquel

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It has been a little while since I posted anything.
Normally I would apologize for that, but this time I won’t! LOL! I have sat down so many times over the last 2 weeks and started writing, only to be interrupted by one thing or another.
I’ll come back to my post only to find that it’s gone or I find that I have no idea what direction my thoughts had been headed in the first time around!! :)
It happens.

We made it through Easter!
It just isn’t the same when you live far away from family. We do our very best to make it something special for the kids and they enjoy all the hoopla. Probably because it comes with chocolate!!

The population of Laredo has now gone back to normal, the kids are all back in school and things are starting to revert back to what they should be…what ever that may be at this time of year!

The weather is hot, the pool is ready and even our tortoise (Karl) has come out of hibernation!
Over the Easter week we had maybe three times the population and the traffic alone was insane! Going into a store? Bloody Hell, that was TOTALLY NUTS! Only 1 out of 8 cars in almost any given parking lot had a Texas plate on it!

I can’t remember it being like this last year. Maybe it was. I just blocked it out of my head?

We went to the store for basic Easter stuff and I ended up putting everything back and leaving the store. Hand to God it was worse than Christmas!! The shelves were empty, stuff was everywhere and people were just plain rude, pushing and arguing in line ups…for what? Chocolate? Seriously?
Not worth it. Not at all.

Even the grocery stores were like that!
On our street Easter morning, cars were lined up everywhere and everyone’s driveways were all packed like sardines! Everyone had family here this year.

The smells wafting through the air Sunday afternoon…OMG! I’m pretty sure you could stand outside and put weight on just from the delicious aromas floating around in the breeze!!!
Almost positive that everyone in a five mile radius was “Burnin Meat”! No one does a BBQ like they do in Texas.
It smelled SO GOOD out there!!!

We did end up with Cascarones*
(Cascarones are hollowed out egg shells, coloured and filled with confetti and then the holes are covered with tissue paper)
Not really a tradition that I ever wanted to adopt. That is my own personal opinion. These eggs are the bane of my existence every year come March.
The confetti and shells end up in your scalp (takes days of scrubbing to get it all out), all over your clothes and generally make a huge mess that is just plain annoying to clean up.
I am not a fan of chasing or sneaking up on someone just to smash things on their person.

The kids were introduced to it at school and now unfortunately we do it because the kids enjoy it and I was told I was no fun when I said I didn’t like the practice.

The kids like it.
The boys do anyway.
Teagan…not so much anymore as her brothers tend to gang up on her and she is the one who ends up with most of the eggs smashed on her head.
We managed to talk her into being a good sport, but she didn’t enjoy it quite as much as her brothers did in the end.
Although, she held her own and managed a few good shots with Mummy’s help…

So far this week I have taught my 8 year old son how to paint on canvas,he did a beautiful painting for a school project with only minimal help from his mommy that would make his Grandmother and Papa proud, and I helped him do a photo shoot with his stuffed BFF “Charlie the Cow”.

Yes, I spent several hours with a stuffed cow.
We spent time posing him in different settings indoors and out, we borrowed clothes, accessories and costumes from Mr. Potato Head (Indiana Spud and Darth Tater), we had Charlie Planking, sunning himself by the pool with goggles and a towel. We captured him hiding in a tea pot, a cardboard house and took photos of him playing video games and watching t.v. When we were done, the pics were developed and put together into storybook form. After that,my son and I wrote a very entertaining children’s story for his class and laminated it.

They read it in class the next day and I/we received rave reviews!!

I made a word search for one of the kids. A School project I was supposed to “help” with but as I did it all myself, they will have to hand in something else. They all said would be ‘easy peasy’ because I did it…how hard could it be? HA! It was hard.

That’ll teach ‘em!

Then on Friday and Saturday I did a last minute Wedding Rehearsal and then Ceremony.

Now the 3 oldest have testing AND they are starting on their Mother’s Day projects.

Finally something I DON’T have to work on, but have spent 2 days running all over town helping their dad find all the supplies to make sure that he doesn’t just give up and say “sorry guys, couldn’t find that” because Hobby Lobby gives him Hives!

Lord I hope there are no more school projects for a while! I have my own stuff to get done.

What do you think the odds are of having a nice and quiet peaceful weekend this week? Hmmmn…
Ah. Who am I kidding? We wouldn’t have it any other way :) It makes life interesting when you don’t always know what is headed in your direction.

I should run now though, while it is quiet! I think I need some sleep. Will write again tomorrow.

Drive Safe and Take Care. Be good. If you can’t be good, be careful! Remember, most children are caused by accident!!!

Raquel Kearney Elekes.

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An update on monthly projects…

Posted on March 17, 2012 by raquel

Hi! I thought I would sit down and get my writing on while all is quiet. Lord only knows how long that will last for so I am thinking and typing as fast as I can! LOL!

I have a few updates to fill you in on.

The knitting is going well. I think I might just have the 2 basic stitches under control! WOW right?! I have been told that once I master those, I should be able to pick up a pattern and magically understand how to not only follow it but understand it and create something from what I read.
We will have to wait and see. I can usually figure things out by trying something, so my fingers are crossed that this will work out the same. Not planning on making any sweaters anytime soon though. LOL! For now what started as just learning has now moved to a full on blanket in the making.
At least that’s what I am hoping it will be! I am doing a buttload of squares in all different sizes with some really pretty colours. It seems to be working out so far. It’s bigger than a baby blanket, this I can tell you for sure right now. As for how big it will end up and when I will have it finished?
That all depends on when repeats stop showing on TV every night!!!

I am able to knit and listen to shows at the same time right now. How some women (maybe some men too, I don’t know. It is 2012 after all :) ) manage to knit while you are ACTUALLY WATCHING the Television…I haven’t got a clue!! I hear people say “I love to knit while I am sitting and watching TV, it soothes me and I find it relaxing”.

? huh?!!

Could be me but I just don’t seem to have the gift of that kind of coordination!
I tried.
I failed.
I had to undo about 8 rows of stitches.

There is only one problem that I will have to over come…once I have all the squares done. How the Hell do I put them all together?! Cross that bridge when we get to it I suppose! LOL!
At the moment I haven’t quite figured out what size the silly thing will be!! I am totally winging it at the moment! Not worried. Once all my yarn is done and I am sitting in amongst a buttload of different sized squares, I reckon I will know. It’s bigger than a baby blanket so far! That’s a start.
So far so good.

My next two projects won’t be quite as time consuming. They shouldn’t be anyway. Unless of course I get carried away… (which I never do :) )

The first one is glass painting. I’m halfway through the window on the inner front door. For whatever reason we have 2 front doors. Don’t know why. They came with the house. :)

The inner door has 2 glass panes in it. It’s a nice door and all, but very plain and boring so me and my brilliant ideas thought it needed something. Curtains wouldn’t look right. Blinds would drive me crazy and it’s an inside door. Why would I need blinds?
A nice swag would maybe look nice, but unless it’s secured nice and tight all the way around, it would most likely bang everywhere every time someone opened or closed the freakin door or worse, it would keep falling down and I would end up throwing it out into the driveway!

So… I thought I would try painting it. Something I have always wanted to try, but this is the first time I have actually attempted it.

It isn’t that difficult really. The design part is what seems to be the most complicated. Coming up with just the right look with the right colours that you want to look at for as long as the door is there. It’s not like a painting that you can just take down when you are bored with it.

The other tricky part is air bubbles because the window is, well, a window! LOL! That means it is not lying down flat and it gets a little complicated when dealing with glass paint. I have figured out the air bubble situation though after trying a few different approaches and managed to create a design that is working for me.
I like it.

When the summer sun is shining through our front hallway will be all different colours! Who knows, if I like it, I might do another one. Give the house a “churchy” feel!

The other project I’m thinking of trying is wine glass painting. I see the painted glasses all over the place and figure, if I can paint a window…

I have 2 different types of paint for this though and am not quite sure which one will work best for me. One is the same as the window. The glasses will end up with a stained glass effect. Pretty, but maybe a bit fussy for a wine glass.

The other choice is an acrylic based glass paint that will give the glasses the hand painted effect. This one will be a little more difficult because I will have to paint pictures instead of patterns. More skill involved. PLUS, you need to bake it in order to set the paint properly.

That seems a little odd to me. Maybe I should hold off on this until I can just set the glasses outside in the sun? It gets hot enough to cook on cement here in the summer, maybe that is also hot enough to bake paint?

Although…it would be kinda fun when my kids ask what I’m cooking to answer ; “wine glasses”.
(three of them are blonde and it is always fun to mess with them :) )

So these are my present projects. Thrown in there “just for fun” is also canvas painting, writing and additional learning about chakra’s, crystal healing and meditation.

I’ve been thinking about taking a few courses and earning my Practitioner’s license for the Crystal Healing. I find the more I learn the more fascinated I become regarding the whole process. It really is very interesting once you start to understand the Holistic Healing aspect.

And let’s face it, with the way the Health Care system is going, more and more people are looking towards Eastern Medicine for alternate ways to heal.

That my friends is for a different blog.

This one seems to be at an end. No where to go from here unless I start to babble on about something totally NOT related to the above mentioned subjects…
So I am going to sign off for now.

Drive Safe and take care. Be Good. If you can’t be good, be careful. Remember, most children are caused by accident!!

Raquel Kearney Elekes

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If my Chakra’s were working properly, I would have seen that coming!

Posted on March 10, 2012 by raquel

It’s the first day of Spring Break. Yahoo.
I picked up the kids from school yesterday and all the teachers were looking SO happy!
Personally, I think they were drunk. They have a 10 day holiday and good for them.

I was still in shock over the fact that it is already Spring Break.
I woke up thursday morning and was surprised to find out that it was already Thursday! I lost a day somewhere and have no idea where I put the damned thing! Monday, I remember.
Rory (my youngest) was home from school. Monday afternoon both Teagan and Sasha came home after school with tummy troubles and went straight to bed.
Delaney was the only one who went to school the next day and not only were the 3 kids sick, but Aaron was not well either…then 2 went to school and 2 stayed home and the next day all 4 went to school but Rory ricocheted back home by lunchtime. All of a sudden everyone is telling me it’s thursday!

Not only was it thursday, but then they are all excited telling me that they have no school next week because it’s Spring Break!

HUH?!

I only JUST managed to get all 4 of them better and back to school! For one day?! Now they will all be home next week…AGAIN! Granted this time they will be feeling healthy and running around all over the place instead of sleeping, quietly medicated…BUT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? How did we managed to get to Spring Break already?

I love my kids and all, I love the sounds of all 4 of them playing and laughing. The actual pitter patter of their feet running around upstairs and having a good time together. I do. But…WHEN DID WE GET TO SPRING BREAK ALREADY?!

Maybe if we had a trip planned I would have paid closer attention. There is no trip planned however because this is the beginning of Wedding Season and March weekends are booked solid. We aren’t going anywhere.

I suppose this translates into a “Staycation” . A holiday where we stay home and do things at home together. That works for me. Today is our first day and so far the weather is cold and rainy, therefor translating into staying in the house and relaxing for the time being.

Tomorrow we are supposed to heat up (again) and have hot weather for the majority of the week, so we are not going to complain. We will just snuggle up with a good book, a movie and in my case both of those things along with my meditation pillows, have a sit down and get to work with some Chakra clearing! OH BUT IT LOOKS LIKE I NEED IT!

I still want to know where that one day went while I quite obviously was busy with other things and not paying attention! I suppose it’s a good thing this is a leap year. :)

I think maybe it might be my 6th chakra and quite possibly my 7th. They seem to be messed up at the moment. Not quite broken, not lost or missing. Just…messed up and that is never a good thing.
I am noticing the signs of a slight disturbance that clearly will need to be fixed and quickly before things get worse!!

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(The 6th chakra is referred to as the third eye. It is located above the physical eyes on the center of the forehead. This is the center for psychic ability, higher intuition, the energies of spirit and light. It also assists in the purification of negative tendencies and in the elimination of selfish attitudes. Through the power of the sixth chakra, you can receive guidance, channel, and tune into your Higher self.

When this chakra is not balanced you may feel non-assertive, afraid of success, or go the opposite way and be egotistical. Physical symptoms may include headaches, blurred vision, blindness, and eyestrain. Sixth Chakra body parts include the eyes, face, brain, lymphatic and endocrine system. The main colours are purple and dark blue.)

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So, as you can clearly see…if this one ain’t workin…you can be just a little buggered up!!
IF it was working the way it is supposed to, I am thinking that I would have known where I was in the month of March. (HA! I would have known that my kids were all going to be sick last week and to check on my husband’s life insurance, because he was going to become sniffly and tell me that he was on his death bed as well! )

Yesterday was a particularly crappy day in the grand scheme of things as well. No need for details. It was just one of those…how do I explain it ? Ok! You know the #3 rule? The one where bad things happen in 3′s? Yeah, well. Suffice it to say that it was one of those days. I would have seen THAT coming to and been a little better prepared.

ROFL! I’m not psychic, but normally I am much better prepared to think clearly and I am usually the one who can focus on the “other side of the bad” to the silver lining.

NOT yesterday. Yesterday I was totally blindsided almost repeatedly! Like being cosmically hit in the head repeatedly and to be honest I really didn’t give a ‘duck’s fart’ when it all hit the fan. Definitely NOT my usual approach. :)

From what I can tell,my 7th is a little out of alignment too I think. I could be wrong. I haven’t actually checked it out yet. I will, when I am done here, but from what I know…yeah. I think its out too.

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(7th chakra or Crown. Located just behind the top of the skull. It is the center of spirituality, enlightenment, dynamic thought and energy. It allows for the inward flow of wisdom, and brings the gift of cosmic consciousness. This is the place where life animates the physical body.
When this chakra is unbalanced there may be a constant sense of frustration, no spark of joy, and destructive feelings. Illnesses may include migraine headaches and depression. Balanced energy in this chakra may include the ability to open up and total access to the unconscious and subconscious. The main colours for the crown are white and purple.)
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Ok, so I probably don’t have to waste my time checking. :)
I already know it is out and needs some fixin.
NOT COOL. I am not feeling the “animation” and my energy level is definitely a little low.

LOL! Some broccoli, a hamburger, maybe a multivitamin and a little bit of meditation and Crystal Therapy and I am thinking I will be good to go! A nice large hot cup of coffee wouldn’t hurt the situation either!! HA!

Don’t laugh. Balance is important. When something is “off” you can feel it. Physically, mentally and emotionally. Why do you think that all the “smart and wise people” tell you to always make sure you take the time to do something for yourself? Have some “Me” time?
Because they are trying to promote a Selfish lifestyle?
Maybe help to create a MORE narcissistic society?

Um… No.

They are trying to tell you that you need to maintain the Holy Trinity of Balance (physical, mental and spiritual) in order to be completely healthy and happy.
If you can accomplish this you can actually be MORE open, compassionate, loving, giving and less selfish and judgmental to all of those around you.

Plus it helps you to remember things like…OMG! NOT ONLY DID I LOSE A DAY SOMEWHERE, BUT I JUST REALIZED THAT TONIGHT I WILL LOSE AN HOUR! BUGGER!!!!!!!!

It’s daylight saving time again!

Ok. As much as I would love to sit and chat a little while longer, I am going now.

Seriously. I REALLY have to get it together. I am TOTALLY OFF MY GAME!

Wish me luck. I think maybe I can use a little right now. LOL!!! :)

Drive Safe and Take Care. Be Good. If you can’t be good, be careful! Remember, most kids are caused by accident!!!

Raquel Kearney Elekes.

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3 sick kids and a rather large cup of coffee…

Posted on March 7, 2012 by raquel

It is going to be one of those days.
Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought…”I should stay in bed. I should just shut my eyes and go back to sleep”? But you can’t. You are not a teenager anymore and have things to do and people who need you. So you get up and start your day anyway.

That’s what today feels like.

The husband is sick and 3 out of 4 of my children are home from school with one form of sick or another. Nothing serious, just your basic run of the mill Springtime/weather change kind of sick.
Rory and the husband started with allergy issues and that progressed over the weekend to upper chest dry cough with sniffles and sneezing. Not painful, but keeps you miserable for a few days.

Sasha and Teagan both came home from school yesterday with low grade fevers and tummy troubles.

Poor Delaney felt left out this morning when he had to get ready for school and I am now waiting for a phone call from the school telling me that I have to go and pick him up because he is not feeling well. Whether or not he will be truly not feeling well or he decides to fake it so that he too can come home and take a day off remains to be seen. He will be in for a big surprise when he finds out that everyone is in bed sleeping and NOT at home having a fabulous day off playing video games and jumping around with the Wii.

Not sure if this is how it works with everyone or not. I have heard different stories from different women over the years so I know that I am definitely NOT alone in this. The worse thing that can happen when people are all getting sick around you is NOT that one of your kids will catch something. As a mum, you can handle that. Most kids will sleep, or read, or rest etc. When they are not running around, that’s when you know it is serious. They rarely complain and seem to be quite content to do what ever you tell them they need to do to get themselves better so that they CAN re join the land of the jumping around.

The WORSE THING that can happen is when the husband get sick.
When this happens the best thing you can do it put him somewhere, close the door and leave.
Seriously. I know this sounds horrible. I know it sounds like I am the WORST wife in the world. I get that. However…

Nine times out of ten they won’t listen to what you tell them to do anyway. Just because you have four children who have been sick through out the years and you have taken care of them and managed to make sure that they are only ever out of commission for short periods of time means NOTHING.

Just because you manage to take care of yourself and know after years of being sick and on your own long before you met him and had a family, what will work and what will not all means NOTHING.

No matter what you try to give him to make him feel better.
No matter how many times you tell him that all he really needs is to rest quietly and sleep.
No matter how many times you tell him that the moaning and groaning will NOT help the healing process.
No matter how many times you tell him that sleep is the best cure and to get off your couch and go back to bed.
No matter how many times you tell him that if he truly is THAT sick he should go and see a doctor.

He will NOT do any of these things. He WILL NOT listen to a word you say. He will continue the moaning and the groaning. He will continue to tell you that he is dying. He will make loud horrific noises just to make sure that you are paying attention, even from another room. He will NOT go to the doctor when you tell him to.

Why?
Because you are not his mother. It is a well known fact that when a boy or a man is ill in anyway (even with the slightest of sniffles) they want their mommy.
If they cannot have their mommy, then you as their wife, should respond to them in the same way that mommy would if they say they are ill. By coddling them and pampering them and waiting on their every need until they feel better.
In their head, this is what you are supposed to do. This is what all the drama is for. To get your attention, because when a man has the sniffles, he turns into a 3 year old child and the world should revolve around him and only him.
In their head this is what they are thinking.

You have two choices. Be very careful when you choose the first time. It will set the tone for each and every time an illness comes up and God help you during allergy season if you choose wrong.

In the beginning, I tried. I tried to do everything I could think of to make him feel better. That’s about as far as I got. Trying.

Now, after 13 years, I give it a shot and will give him suggestions. Then, I will make him a hot cup of tea and he goes off to his studio/man cave to do his moaning,groaning, coughing,hacking and what ever other noises he feels he has to make in order to recover.
He will appear every once in a while for a drink, some medicine or something to eat if he has the strength. We all say hello, we love you and ask if his life insurance is paid up. Just incase. The kids have a bit of a giggle, because after all these years even they know what The daddy is like when he is sick. He makes some sort of grunting noise, takes his liquid and returns to his cave. Just like a big ole bear.

The moral of the story?
You can try and do what you can. But I asked my husband last night what it was that he wanted when he is sick. Why the drama? Why the sound effects? What do you want or hope for when you are doing all these things? Is it to get my attention? Is it to make me feel sorry for you? Then what? What exactly am I supposed to do? Should I drop everything and sit with you until you feel better? Would you like me to sing you a song, hand feed you soup…WHAT?!

He sniffed and made some sort of aaaaaarg noise and said (with a very forlorn look on his face)…
“nothing, I just want to be left alone, all by myself” sniff, sniff oooooooooooh and off he went.

So, there you go.
I had better run, I have to check on my little ones. It’s time to medicine up!

Drive Safe and Take Care. Be Good. If you can’t be good, be careful. Remember, most children are caused by accident.

Raquel Kearney Elekes

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I have given up Stupidity for Lent…

Posted on February 27, 2012 by raquel

When asked what it was that I was going to give up for Lent this year, I didn’t even have to think about it.
The answer was simple.

I am giving up Stupidity.

Yup. For 40 days.

For the time period of Lent. Now until Easter. I don’t want to know about it. I don’t want to hear about it.

My chakra’s can’t take it anymore and I need a break.

If you do choose to tell me about it, do not be surprised if I sit and look at you with no reaction what so ever and then give you absolutely no advice. If you post it on facebook, there will be no response from me. Not for 40 days.
Yes, you will have to figure things out for yourself for the next month.
If anything, I may very well tell you ” I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to be rude, but I gave up Stupid for Lent. ”

I will simply not listen or pay attention to the Dumb, the Ridiculous and the Shear Stupidity that I see and hear happening around me.
My children have been notified and now so have you.

This is 2012 and there just seems to be more and more of it everyday.
Women in particular are really starting to bug me. Not all women of course. Most of the ones that I know are very strong, intelligent and happy people. There are, however, some that, well…they bug. I know that they are also smart and supposedly intelligent women. For whatever reason they just seem to do really stupid things sometimes, especially when it comes to relationships. It confuses me. It irritates me and it hurts my head. So for now…

Stop. Just Stop. I don’t want to hear about it for a while.

Blaming other people for your own stupidity? Why? OWN IT. YOU didn’t pay attention to the red flags that were waving in your face. YOU didn’t stop to think … No one else can make you feel anything. YOU are responsible for your own emotions and feelings. YOU alone are responsible for your reactions.

Good Lord, we have come so far and yet…

If you want to be happy, then be happy for God’s sake STOP waiting for someone else to give you permission or do it for you!

Pull your head out of your butt and use the brain that you have put in storage!
Dust it off, put your big girl panties on and get it together! No one wants to hear about it all the time. It gets old really fast and you start to sound bitter, repetitive, sad (as in pathetic), and frankly NOT all that intelligent.
Sit and think for a minute. PAY ATTENTION TO THE RED FLAGS AROUND YOU! They are not just popping up because you live in a Disney film!

It’s not just women. It’s all different people. Some people always have to have someone else to blame.

A car accident the other day.
…There was a person leaving a school. At the end of the drive leading out of the school and onto a main road there is a sign.
This sign is not new. This sign has been there for a very long time and was put there by people who had surveyed both the street and the drive and with their intelligence and testing, charts and knowledge, they had come to the conclusion that turning left at this particular location would NOT be a good idea and would in fact be dangerous.
The sign is in very clear english.
‘NO LEFT TURN’
There is a drawing above the writing for those who may be illiterate (although why and how you are driving around if you cannot read nor do you understand the simple child like drawings, is beyond me).
The person leaving the school and wanting to turn left has an alternate exit. Allowances have been made for people who have to go in that direction. They are not stuck driving in such a way that they will never get to their destination. This is common knowledge. People are given this information every year when school begins.

Despite all of this I do see people ignore the sign all the time, quite obviously thinking that it does not apply to them. Sometimes road signs (or RED FLAGS) are very clear, but optional to those “Special” individuals.

Well CONGRATULATIONS! Not only did this driver ignore the sign, but they did it AFTER they had picked up their child from school so that they were not alone in the vehicle.
They were t-boned (hit directly on the side of the car) turning left where they were not supposed to.

What are the odds that the driver of the vehicle that was t-boned blamed the driver of the vehicle that hit them for the accident?

I am not saying that I have not had my own moments of “oops, I probably should have thought that one through a little better…” Believe me when I tell you that I have indeed had my moments of ‘Stupid’!
I am 41, I have had a life. I have done some pretty dumb things.
Maybe the difference is that I try really hard NOT to have a whole lot of those moments but I learned A LONG TIME AGO that when I do have those moments of Stupid, I recognize it, learn from it and don’t dwell on it for very long periods of time. I certainly don’t want to sit and talk about it to everyone I know and on every social media!

It happens. It’s the repeat offenders that really get me.

There are levels though.

Some things are “giggle worthy”. Some things are stare blankly and think to yourself WTF?!! These may be the hardest to avoid for a month and certainly will be the hardest NOT to laugh at.

-almost putting the coffee pot in the fridge or almost putting the container of milk in the cupboard.

-the cat running down the hallway and slamming into the wall at the other end.

-wearing Stiletto heals at the park (I have never done that but have seen it plenty of times).

-shoveling snow and throwing it behind you,only to get to the end of the driveway, turn around and see that all you have done is re arranged the snow in the exact same place and now have to shovel your way back.

-putting an antenna on the roof of your house and then wondering why your home is the only one on the block to be hit by lightning in a storm.

-ransacking the house looking for something that is very clearly sitting out in the open for everyone to see except you.

-running all over trying to find your glasses that are sitting on top of your head.

-watching a television show repeatedly every week waiting for it to become as funny as the “reviews” say it is, all the while knowing that it will never get any better than it already is.

-somehow pouring and squeezing your size 12 butt into a size 6 pair of skinny jeans and thinking that you look good. (um, no this one is NOT ME)

-accidentally adding salt to something that clearly should have sugar

-leaving the house after locking the front door, only to find a few blocks away that you do not have your house keys with you…they are still in the front door.

-all of grade 5 math homework

-The Bachelor. Although this is not really a lower level Stupid and should be up there with the “UBER and CATASTROPHIC” . This one I will have to see through to the end. Not because I really want to,but because it has been epitome Shear Stupidity up to this point and I am still hoping that he is NOT as Stupid as the show has made him out to be, but will turn out to be some sort of joke played on all of the viewers in the end. Maybe, just maybe HE HAS BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO THE RED FLAGS AROUND HIM AND WILL SURPRISE US ALL IN THE END. So this will be my one “cheat” for Lent.

-eating 5-8 milk chocolate covered coffee beans because they are SO GOOD, and then trying to figure out why you are still not asleep at 6 am the next morning.

-going out to eat and asking anyone in Texas if a dish is spicy and believing them when they say “no”!

-assuming that just because your own children can behave in public, that everyone else’s can too!

I could go on and on just with lower level examples!
As for the bigger examples?
You have to think about those yourself. I am not going to list those. Maybe AFTER LENT.
You know what they are. They are the things that you know are there. You see them happening but choose to ignore at the time and then sit there in the end and say “I didn’t know, but when I look back now…” Yeah Hindsight Stupid is a Bitch.

I am going to go now. I have other blogs to write.
What are you giving up for lent? Think about it.

In the mean time…

Drive Safe and Take Care. Be Good. If you can’t be good, be careful. Remember, most children are caused by accident.

Raquel Kearney Elekes.

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Valentines Day and extra space…

Posted on February 16, 2012 by raquel

Woke up to a very muggy and humid morning today and I totally understand the need for a straightening iron! I look like a poodle!! Do you remember the Friends episode where they all went to the Bahamas? Remember Monicas hair? Enough said.

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentines Day.

Mine was technically the same as any other day, but with chocolate. :) It was a very nice relaxing and quiet day at home. Spent most of it in my jammies, my daughter was home sick and in bed, my three boys all had tons ofun at their school parties AND…wait for it…Aaron started cleaning his Studio! Best Valentine Present ever!!

I know what you are thinking. Big Deal. So he is running the vacuum around and dusting, maybe a little bit of tidying up…
OH NOOOO. He is actually sorting through 5 years of stuff, throwing things away (!!!), selling things he doesnt use and organizing everything! FIVE YEARS! For anyone who knows my lovely husband they will know what a REALLY BIG DEAL this is to me! Dont get me wrong, he isnt a hoarder or anything. He is just one of those people who doesnt like to get rid of things (even when they dont work!) because you never know when I might need one of these and I can fix it .
He NEVER uses those things again.
He cant always fix it

I am more of the ; if you havent seen it or used it in a year and it hasnt made a difference to you or you dont even remember that you have it…get rid of it

You really will never use those things that you tell yourself you never know. YOU DO KNOW! YOU KNOW YOU WILL NEVER USE IT!!! If it aint broke…sell it or give it to someone who can use it. I PROMISE YOU NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN!!

I love him to death. Really. He is one of the best things that has ever happened to me .

However… he needs to have his own space. His own place to do what he does and I dont touch it. I stay out of it and no matter how hard it becomes for me, I am not allowed to say anything about it.
His own, keep however he wants to but I dont have anything to do with because if I did I would start throwing things in the pool kind of place. The main house is tidy and clean, organized and I know where everything is.

He is not allowed to keep his work stuff in here. It is allowed to pass through on the way out the front door to go somewhere, but if I find it laying around…it will get picked up and put in his space.

You are reading this and thinking WHAT?! and they are happily married?
YUP. :)

We have been married long enough and I know him well enough to know that IF we want to stay happy, he has to have his own little cave where he can go. That is his space. I am WAY TOO OCD/Anal retentive/picky/annoying/whatever with the house. This is my nest. I am a taurus. We like our things just so and I like things to look a certain way. Over the years I have created a warm, cozy and safe place for our family. Our house is a place where friends are always welcome and you can feel it when you walk in. I like it that way. It is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it is home.

I am an intelligent woman. I think I have this whole man/woman thing all figured out. I am who I am. He is who he is. He loves me for me, all of me. The good, the bad and the totally insane! :) ( and believe me there have been MANY insane moments!) I love him for who he is. The good, the bad and the complete mess that makes him who he is.

He is very talented with what he does and that means he focuss on what he is doing sometimes more than the area he is surrounded in. He really doesnt seem to notice the stuff piling up around him! Just because I cant focus when things are not just so and if things are lying around where they dont belong. Just because I get cranky and cant concentrate until they are put away, doesnt mean he cant. That would be MY ISSUE. NOT HIS.

He takes the I was going to do that eventually, when I feel like it because its not bothering me right now kind of approach. I, on the other hand take the if you use it, put it back/if it doesnt belong there, move it and if you do it now you wont have to do it later kind of approach.

HE DRIVES ME CRAZY! Believe me when I tell you that we argue over this all the time. Most couples #1 fight trigger is money. Not us.

He thinks its funny and I want to smack him (I dont ). Our battles over putting things away are EPIC! Friends that have known us for years can tell you sometimes it gets very odd around our house. It is not uncommon to come to our house for coffee and find a large box in the middle of a room, a decoration from a previous holiday (usually something large that I cannot manage alone), or a pile of something odd in a place where most people would trip over it and get frustrated. Not here. No frustration. Just another one of our stubborn battles over something. You get used to it after a while.

I will get angry because the garbage is over flowing and no one seems to care. If we leave it long enough, mummy/Raquel will do it…I empty the garbage and put the bag right in front of the door. A normal person would pick it up and take it out when they leave to go outside. Right? Not here. Aaron will step over it, move it to the side or go around it. I wont take it out. This battle will last until one of us gives in.

The last Christmas tree was still up and in my sitting room until the night before Valentines day!
I couldnt move it because a)it is much bigger than me
b) it weighs 100lbs more than I do
c) there is NO WAY IN HELL I AM PUTTING IT AWAY WHEN I HAVE BEEN ASKING AARON TO DO IT FOR WELL WEEKS!

He kept saying ok, I will do it after I… or I have to… first then I will do it etc. etc.
I think I was pretty patient. UNTIL the day before Valentines. Seriously?! Come on!!!

A couple years ago he took the Christmas boxes into our room but not around the corner to the Panic Room where they are stored. That fight lasted until it was time to get the boxes back out again for the following Christmas!! We were both to stubborn to give in.

I fell in love with him a little over 13 years ago and I still love him now. The secret? Give him his own space. :) He can pile things up, he can have papers and boxes everywhere, he can do what he wants…in his space. When we were looking at houses that was in fact one of the things on the top of the list. No matter how much we liked the house, if it did not have an extra space for Aaron…it was a flat out NOPE. Not gonna work. LOL!!

All of this may seem a little extreme to some. Maybe it is and maybe we both need help from some sort of professional. But it works for us.

Compromise.

I have to run. I am looking at a pile of boxes that do not belong here…

Take care and drive safe. Be good. If you cant be good, be careful. Remember, most children are caused by accident!

Raquel Kearney Elekes

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uh oh. My daughter is reading my blog! :)

Posted on February 6, 2012 by raquel

I am in my kitchen a few weeks ago and puttering around, as you do, having a conversation with my 11 year old daughter.
Not so unusual. She likes to talk and I am trapped in the kitchen with no escape.

KIDDING!!!

I love to talk to Miss Tig. I dont always understand what the Hell she is talking about, but I listen and give her what ever feed back I can.
Or… I stand there and give her my blank HUH?! WTF?! face and she rewinds and translates back for me. Anyone out there who has a pre teen or a teenage girl out there right now will understand this. I swear to you half the time I feel like a total moron because I really dont understand what she is saying. I know the words are some form of english and if I try REALLY hard I can sometimes get it. But Seriously. Who wants to stand there and concentrate THAT hard just to have a basic conversation? It hurts my head. Honest. I have to concentrate THAT HARD! She uses words from the internet and apparently EVERYONE else understands. Dur.
So, I am having a conversation with her and I look over and notice that she is sipping her cup of tea and looking at my ipad.
Tig. Did I leave my ipad on?
yes. (giggle)
whatcha reading?
your blog. whats the address again?
again?
yeah
so… you have read it before?!
I googled myself and it came up. I read it. Its really funny mum. My friends and I read it all the time.
? . You googled yourself?
Dur. I wanted to see what would come up.

You have to understand that my daughter has her laptop SO LOCKED DOWN with all kinds of child proof things, she is lucky she can see anything but disney on it! One of the programs we use even barks.
I suppose this means my blogs are PG.
The fact that she not only found it, reads it and shares kinda makes me a little happy. I definately did not expect any of my kids to see it and the fact that she likes it…!
I know it doesnt mean much to other people that an 11 year old likes my blog. I get that. However there is a warm fuzzy feeling that surrounds you when you find out that your child is proud of something you do and then if they SHARE it?! If it was one of my boys it maybe wouldnt mean as much to me. They kiss my ass all the time. I love em to death. But my daughter? She is in middle school. That has a very powerful impact.
I hope she continues to read this and maybe some of it will help. Although I suppose I now have to keep it PG?
NAH. Her computer wont let her read the ones that arent child friendly for many many years. LOL! That thing will be barking at her until she is 21. Hand to God. I am NOT taking the blocks off until then.
Maybe I will have to write a few of my entries for her and her friends though. Maybe Dating 101…dont be a dumbass. Or Dating for girls…CAN YOU SEE THE RED FLAGS?! RUN! RUN FAR AND FAST!! How about The Honest truth and reality about boys and men…100 things I wish I didnt have to find out the hard way.

Hmmmn I am seeing a series in there somewhere that may benefit more than just my daughter! I will definitely have to look into that thought.

Alright. Now that I have shared that information, its time to get back to regularly scheduled blogging!!!

Super Bowl Sunday is over. The New York Giants won. (YAY! :) )
I thought it was a great game! For those who read my blog yesterday my team in our friendly rivalry was in fact The Giants. It was a little competitive there for a few minutes when The Patriots were up a few points. But in the end it was all good. Aaron pouted a little and said he was just watching for the commercials and it didnt matter anyway but I am thinking with the way he got just a little cocky for a while, that he would have sung a different tune had his team won and not mine. :) LOL!!!
I did like the halftime show. I am, however, a Madonna fan and grew up through the 80s.

I was reading a few negative comments on facebook and am thinking that the people who were making the dumbass remarks were in fact the ones who were born in either the late 80s or in the 90s and there for have no idea what they are talking about. I thought it was one of the best half time shows we have seen in a long time! Um…3 words…Black Eyed Peas.

The ones who were commenting about her being old and her music being too old and slow? It was a production. I think it would have sounded a whole lot worse if those songs had been sped up. NOT ALL SONGS NEED A REMIX FOR A DANCE CLUB!
I find it kind of interesting because without her music and her stage presence the crap that younger people are listening to now would not be around.

Maybe she should have rethought a few of the moves. I understand that she did not choreograph her dance or the rest of it. You also have to remember that the stage wasnt level (when she was on a level stage, she did quite well) it was moving half of the time and she was wearing stilettos. I dont know many women who can actually jump around in stilettos on level ground at the best of times let alone through bleachers and with things moving around. As for her age… the people making these negative comments only WISH they could look as good as she did and enter a field carried by a buttload of gladiators when they are her age (which incidentally is not old)!!

The commercials were good, but safe. Does that make sense? I think the ones that really stood out were David Beckam- HM. $14.95 is a pretty good price for what I saw! Dont you think so?
The Brown MM commercial was hysterical! I had a good laugh at that one.
Mathew Broderick and Honda.Broderick…Broderick… CLASSIC! Although I think they should have shown the WHOLE commercial during the game and not just the highlites of it. That was disappointing.
The Audi commercial with the Vampires I had to rewind and watch a few times because THAT WAS JUST PLAIN FUNNY! SO did NOT see that coming :)
Love Clint Eastwood, but I dont know that the Super Bowl was the best place for that one. Kind of a downer. Keep it light and fluffy!
WeGo. The rescue dog that fetches Budwiser. Cute.

Off the top of my head I cant think of any of the others that really stand out from yesterday. Budwiser was disappointing. I look forward to those ones every year. The coke commercials were cute with the Polar Bears. I did like that each one was different.
The Pepsi commercial…? well? It was nice to see Regis again.

Maybe next year.

There you go people. Start thinking now about your favorite product and come up with something funny, exciting, new, never been seen, surprising, a little shocking, sexy and memorable for next year. See what you come up with!

My kids thought it was a little odd that daddy was the one who wanted to hurry up and get to the commercials! while the Mommy was the one jumping around and actually watching the game.
Mommy, do you like football? …yes, actually I do.
How come you dont always watch it?… well, because its kind of sad and lonely to watch it by yourself and daddy prefers to watch hockey.
Mommy, I thought you liked hockey too?… Sasha. I am Canadian. Of course I like Hockey, but I can like Football too.

At this point in the conversation we had to stop and think for a bit. Poor kids were a little confused.
After a little while though, my twins wanted me to explain how the football game works and told me that if I wanted them to watch sometime with me, they could do that. (I think it was more about the fact that I had said it was lonely watching alone and my boys dont like me to be lonely. So…if watching a game will make me happy and less lonely, then their conclusion was that would be worth taking the time away from their busy play time to do. :) )

AWE :)

We had a good weekend. There was no running around, we all stayed home (for 6 of us that doesnt happen all the time.

So now we move on to the next holiday of the year… the one that usually creates more debate than any other holiday of the year.

Valentines Day.

Thoughts?

PFFFFT.

I am writing this blog and therefor the thoughts expressed here will be mine. LOL!
I will of course read any comments you want to send me. I always do. But the bottom line here is ;
My Blog. My thoughts.

I have a few thoughts on this subject.

I am thinking now that they will all be shared with you in my next blog.
HA! That should keep you coming back tomorrow!
Sorry. But the more I think about it the more I can write. The more I write the longer this particular blog becomes and the more likely you are to stop reading because IT IS JUST TOO MUCH!!!

I am going to go and start on tomorrows blog now…

Take care, drive safe and be good. If you cant be good, be careful. Remember, most children are caused by accident!!

Raquel Kearney Elekes

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Back up and running!

Posted on February 5, 2012 by raquel

Hello!
It is now Saturday, February 5th 2012!
I cannot believe how long it took for all of the technical difficulties to be fixed so that I could actually write something and have it publish!!

Oh well. Thats life right? You plan things one way and then have to make sure that you have a plan B, C and D just to make sure that things work out.
It really is ok when things dont work out the way you want them to and sometimes I think that someone somewhere has a better idea than you do as to how and when life should happen.
Give up the control. Relax. Just go with it. Maybe you will actually learn something.

Anyway…

I am still hearing a whole lot about New Years Resolutions. Did you make any? I didnt. Never do.
I know for a fact that I would never in a million New Years keep any of them.

I like to take things day to day. There are way too many curve balls in my world to make those kind of promises.
Not to mention the fact that … um, do you really have to wait until a New Year rolls around to go on a diet? Really?
Did you wake up on the 31st of December and notice for the very first time that your butt jiggles when you walk? Did you only just think ; I should do something about that. HEY! tomorrow is January 1st! I will start to get rid of it then.
Over the last 6 months you did not have ANY indication that maybe NOT eating so many calories in a 24 hour period was a good idea? Hmmn. Interesting.

So?
We are now almost 6 weeks into 2012…how are those resolutions working for you?
Considering tomorrow is Super Bowl and next week is Valentines day, if they are working…I wish you luck because those two days alone are going to shoot your resolutions to Hell in a BIG way!!!
(especially if you live here in Texas!)
I have watched the commercials for the snacks and the booze. I have been to the grocery store and seen all the specials for Super Bowl. New Years Resolutions dont stand a FREAKIN CHANCE!! Guacamole is NOT a food group. Beer WILL add calories. Even if you pee a lot while drinking it and even if you eat your Valentines chocolate when no one is looking, it WILL still count. (Flowers dont affect resolutions :) Stuffed critters dont either and Jewelry is accepted no matter what your New Years Resolution was! )

OH…and PEEPS…pure sugar. They taste good and all, but they might as well be sold with a larger pair of pants. PUT DOWN THE PEEPS!

Its laughable really when you take a step back and look at it.
I have watched Super Bowl for a long time. Way before we moved down here. Its fun. Aaron picks one team and I pick one team just to make it more interesting. I am not going to say which team I have this year. I dont know who is reading this and dont really want to start a blogging rivalry or receive any hate comments because I am cheering for the wrong team.
I didnt get a huge choice this year. Aaron decided and then announced without much of a discussion. I will go with it. You never know.

We dont have a big party or anything. I am making a large pot of chili, there will be snacks ( I have seen the sneak peeks for the Doritos commercials and now I really want some! DAMN IT!) and most likely a beer or 2 :) Just a nice family sunday with REALLY GOOD COMMERCIALS and hopefully a really good game to go with them! LOL!

HOWEVER…like I said earlier… I didnt make any resolutions. I will be totally guilt free.

I did promise myself that I would learn one new skill a month though.
Technically I didnt do that until the 17th of January though, so that is just something that I woke up one day and thought I think this year I am going to add to my list of things I can do and went from there. Not even sure why I woke up and thought that. Who knows how the hell I come up with half of the things that are in my head when I am fully conscious, so I dont spend a whole lot of time questioning the ideas that come to me when I am sleeping!!

Januarys skill was knitting. Very interesting. Aaron is now calling me an old lady and my kids are totally fascinated with the fact that I am sitting still and doing something they have never seen me do before. Let me just clarify something. Knitting is NOT JUST FOR OLD LADIES.
I am finding it kind of addicting.
When my mother was here for a visit, she taught me the basics. I can now (after practicing and pulling apart and re doing) a square of knit stitch and of pearl stitch. Call me crazy but I personally am having a hard time seeing a really huge difference between the two! I know that I do both in totally different ways so there MUST be a difference, but I dont see it.
I finished the first ball of yarn and instead of saying; ok, I got it I did set out to the store and bought a few more rolls to do what I am hoping will be a really nice blanket when I am done.

I have not yet figured out HOW to put all of the squares together as of yet… but Im sure when the time comes I will. Dont over think. Will cross that bridge when I get to it!
In the mean time I really am finding it quite interesting. I would like it much better if I could figure out how to have a cup of coffee AND knit at the same time though. That is proving to be a little bit of a challenge. Not quite as relaxing as some people have told me it would be, just when I think I am doing a fabulous job and am really quite proud of myself, I take a look and find holes.
I could leave them there and call it a pattern.
I could leave them there and not worry about it. Maybe I am the only one who will see them.
I could…but I dont.
I take the knitted wool off of the needle and I pull the damned thing all the way down and past the point of the hole.
Then I spend 20 minutes VERY SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY putting the needle through the loops at the top and start again. (nobody showed me how to fix it when you drop a stitch. maybe that information would be helpful?)
So you see why it is not quite so relaxing at times. :)
I have the television on sometimes when I am knitting. I havent figured out how to actually WATCH the TV and knit at the same time, so its kind of like listening to the radio. Fortunately all the shows on lately have been repeats so I dont think I have missed anything!
I will keep working on it. I know it can be done, it is just going to take practice.

Februarys new skill has not quite been determined as of this moment. I have a few ideas rolling around in my head though and as I did not start my learn a new skill a month thing until the middle of the month, I have this week to put something in place without falling behind. We will see what I come up with.

I have to run, I am cooking Chili for Super Bowl and it is now time for the next step in the cooking process.

Will write more later on today so check back and see what is going on and what we are up to!

Take care, drive safe and Be good. If you cant be good, Be Careful!! Remember, most children are caused by accident!

Raquel Kearney Elekes

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The Loop

Posted on January 10, 2012 by raquel

There are many things that I have learned in my 41 years. Some I am not even aware of learning at the time, but manage to retain the information none the less.

As I go along, I figure things out. Not always right away.

Like everyone else I sometimes find myself in what I like to call The Loop.

*The Loop is a pattern of repetitive behavior that you find yourself constantly stuck in ,over and over for reasons that you cannot seem to figure out at the time.*

HA! This my friends, can be stopped IF you learn to recognize the a)when, b)what, c)why and d)hows of what the hell is going on when it is going on and why it is going on!!!

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to do this. After repeating the same mistakes over and over again you will start to recognize the signs.

Have you ever sat and thought to yourself; Why is this ALWAYS happening to me? or What did I do to deserve this?
Well.
I can tell you that it is not ALWAYS something that you do but, I can also tell you that if you are sitting thinking What did I do to deserve this that you need to seriously get over yourself and pull your head out of your ass. More than likely you did do something somewhere along the line and are now dealing with the fall out.
In that moment of self pity you are not thinking about WHAT has happened, nor are you thinking about the WHY. You are not really thinking about the actual situation,or how you got there in the first place, you are thinking about yourself. A tiny bit narcissistic are you?

This is where learning even just a little bit of meditation would come in handy.
It isnt hard. I can do it. If I can do it then anybody can. I am not any more special than the next guy, I have just learned a couple of secrets and have been doing this for many, many years.

(I think the hardest part is finding the time. Thats the first thing everyone says. I would love to, but I just dont have the time. Thats a pile ocrap! You have time. You just dont want to find it.)

For someone who is just starting, it only takes 5 minutes. Most people cannot keep the quiet or sit still for longer than that without sending a text message, answering their phone, checking out Facebook or watching the latest amusing video on Youtube. We spend an awful lot of time wandering around with Smart phones in our hands constantly and worrying that if we put it down and shut the ringer off for just a half an hour the whole world will stop and fall apart.
Five minutes is the amount of time it takes to drink a cup of coffee OR the amount of time it takes to brew a pot of coffee.

Take the time.
For five minutes sit somewhere comfortable with your legs tucked up indian style, if you are not comfortable that way, you can lie down flat on your back with your arms resting on the floor, palms up. If neither of these work then find a flat back chair, sit with your back straight and your feet touching the floor.

Relax. Roll your shoulders up, to the back and then drop. Rotate your wrists a little bit to loosen them up and then place them (if you are sitting) on your knees with your palms facing up.

Now try not to think about all the crap that is going on in your life right now. Forget for a minute all about your grocery list, the kids, what you are going to wear to work tomorrow, who you are friends with, who your frienemies are at the moment, whether or not to delete or block people from your Facebook page and prepping for your next meeting etc… Try really hard to just let it go for a minute and listen to the sound of your breathing.

Breath in through your nose while expanding your tummy and abdomen. 1…2…3…4 Now exhale quietly through your mouth while letting the air out of your tummy and abdomen. 1…2…3…4.
Again. Same thing.

Do this a few times counting so that you get the hang of the rhythm and until you feel a little more relaxed. When you are ready, try to do it without the counting part and focus all your attention on your breathing. Totally clear your mind and concentrate on that sound and only that sound.

Congratulations! If you can do this for 5 minutes without interrupting yourself with outside thoughts or getting wiggly because you HAVE to check your phone for texts messages or emails, you are ready! You have just Meditated. You see! It wasnt that hard. I can totally clear my mind and empty EVERYTHING stored in there for much longer periods than just 5 minutes! If I can do it, so can you!! (warning* if I have had a long meditation session where the kids can actually talk to me and get NO response, I dont move and am TOTALLY tuned out… give me a few minutes after I am done before asking me anything or expecting me to do anything or function in any way. It takes a little bit to refuel and get all the thoughts and stuff back once you have put it away!)

You cannot expect much the first few times when you do it by yourself. If you are with an instructor, (you will probably do different breathing and relaxing exercises and will do it for more than a few minutes) you will have to do this basic part more than a few times to start with.

Once you get the hang of it though…wow. You will learn how to TOTALLY clear your mind for longer periods than 5 minutes and you will start to understand more of what I am talking about when I say you can learn soo much when you learn to REALLY listen.
We all have an inner voice. Call it intuition, call it your instinct, what ever you want to call it, everyone has one. Not a lot of people can access it and listen to what it is trying to tell you.

This is where The Loop comes in. We make the same mistakes repeatedly, whether it is the way we talk to people, the way we treat people, or the way we prioritize money and objects etc…
I can tell you with 100% accuracy that if you dont stop to think about these things…

You will A) have more frequent illnesses
B) will never succeed in anything past a certain point
C) not ever be really happy
D) have no balance in your life
E) constantly be asking what about me and what did I do to deserve…

I know some of these people. It makes me sad. They really dont get it. Not at all. These are the people that are always sick. They are running around all the time making themselves look busy.

When you see them and ask them how they are doing they will ALWAYS answer with some great long story about how everyone else is making them miserable. Nothing is working out properly because OTHER people are causing problems and not doing things the way you want them to.

OOOh, poor you, you cant catch a break. I am soooo sorry to hear that you arent feeling well and everyone else is messing up what would be your perfect life if they would just conform and do what you want them to do…

I am willing to bet that you know these people too. Maybe you even get sucked into it and really do end up feeling bad for them. These are also the people who will ask for your prayers and good thoughts. Because of course, God will fix it. You dont have to take any responsibility for your own problems, just get God to do it.
I have a news flash for those people…

God is looking down and holding a lightening bolt in his hand! He is trying desperately NOT to knock some sense into you!!!!!!!

I read this once and it kinda stuck with me…

Both God and the Devil are frequently credited with things that neither one had anything to do with. Sometimes stuff just happens. anonymous

I dont remember where I read it, nor who said it so I will leave it as anonymous.
The point though is that too many people put the blame and the credit in the wrong hands. Most often it is us who create both the bad and the good in our lives simply because we dont stop and think first and sometimes, stuff just happens. How you handle that is what will determine the outcome.

Once again…The Loop.

I get stuck here too. When I do, its almost like a slap on the forehead and I know that if I can just figure out HOW I got there, I can think about what it is that I am supposed to be learning from it.

Once you learn from your mistakes, you will then be able to jump out of that loop and move on. If you dont learn, then even when you manage to somehow get yourself out of the loop(or in some cases someone rescues you, which is fine AS LONG AS YOU HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING, because everybody needs help sometimes) you will be doomed to fall right back into it again sometime soon.

With meditation you can figure out how to let go of blame and gain perspective. Dont blame yourself or anyone else. See the problem. Learn from the problem. Fix the problem.

Before you knock it, try it.

Now that I have totally depressed and bored you to the point where you are never going to come back and read my blog again…

LOL! Sorry. This is just something that I wanted to put out there for the beginning of the New Year. Maybe it will help some people, maybe it wont. I know that most my readers want the humorous side of situations. I understand that and 99.9% of the time, that is exactly what you will get. Meditation is how I am able to do that. I wanted to share.

Check out my next blog for a little bit of humor. :) Spoiler Alert!!!
My parents are coming for a visit and I am always a basket case when that happens!!!
I just found out that my daughter (11 years old) has been reading my blog and sharing with friends!
Pretty sure that this time I HAVE lost a Chakra. It is not just broken!
OMG! There are little tiny white balls of light zipping around in my house! I caught them on video, I had no idea but it explains my cats behavior!!!

I am not making this stuff up! Welcome to my life. I hope you will continue to come back and read about all the above and more!

Take care and drive safe!! Be good. If you cant be good, be careful.Remember, most children are caused by accident!!!

Raquel Kearney Elekes

PS…please feel free to leave me a comment. Even if its just to let me know you were here. I have no idea who is reading my blog. Am I writing to myself? Should I start each one with Dear Diary? I really would like to know. Especially if you are someone I actually know! Say Hi or something! I wont publish it.

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Happy 2012!!!

Posted on January 4, 2012 by raquel

So….?
Did everyone enjoy their New Years Eve parties?
LOL! As usual, we didnt go to one, nor did we do anything overly exciting. I would like to think that its because I am getting older and there for boring… NAW! :) age has nothing to do with it. I dont do New Years Eve Parties. Never really did. I prefer to end my year on a more quiet note and begin my new one sans hangover. I do stay up and reflect a little, watch fireworks if there are any around to watch and enjoy the evening at home.
Rory(our youngest son) spent the day with his girlfriend :) , came home just before 9pm and all of our kids were in bed and asleep by 9:30.
I had to set my alarm for 11:45pm so that I would not miss the last few minutes of the Year! Sounds very old and boring doesnt it! :)

Not really. I was right where I wanted to be.

At midnight, I was with my husband watching neighbors fireworks while my children were snuggled in their beds fast asleep. I cant imagine anywhere that I would have rather have been.
I didnt have to compete with loud music or people drinking too much, getting all sloppy and telling everyone around them that they love them…

I didnt make any huge resolutions. I dont know that I ever do. I know myself well enough to know that they wont stick just because I say them on December 31st. Im more of a day to day type person who just tries to figure things out according to how things are going at the time. I find that more productive than making promises I know I will never keep just because a tradition tells me I should.

2011 was an interesting year for me. I am holding onto hope that 2012 will be SO much better to balance everything out. There are still things out there that I need to learn and in my experience so far…some lessons tend to find me the hard way.
So heres hoping!!! Cheers to the wisdom of yesterday helping me to get through today and tomorrow, one day at a time!!

Tomorrow the kids go back to school. This means everything will return to what we like to call in our house, normal.
Normal for us is by no means normal for anyone else I know. LOL! It works for us and thats the main thing. Lord only knows how the kids will be first thing in the morning when they have to get up at sparrow fart in the morning and actually function. My prediction is not well! We will see what happens, and they may in fact surprise me. I doubt it. But one never knows for sure!
We have all been just a little spoiled over the last two week period with sleeping in and eating late, enjoying the quiet and being at home with no schedule to keep. Phones have been quiet (for the most part) and chores have been fairly relaxed because The Mommy has been sick and there for not really up to the challenge of enforcing all the regular rules of the house.
The regular rules have been in place and those are the main ones, but sometimes you have to relax some of them in favor of the PEACE.

The next 2 weeks will be spent getting ready for our Christmas Do Over, so everything will be rectified and caught up by the 14th of January at the latest. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, homework etc all back on track. We have 2 weeks.

My parents are flying in on January 15th and have already requested that we celebrate Christmas once again with them. I am putting this out there so that anyone coming over to our house during the next few weeks will not think that I am a total fruit cake who just likes to keep all the decorations up, thereby extending the holiday to a ridiculous time period!!
Its for a legitimate reason. I am not a total nut job! I usually remove all decorations on the 6th when The Season is over. There are exceptions to every rule and this year will be one of them.

More on the parents upcoming visit in a later blog as I am quite sure the insanity of preparation will no doubt be blog worthy and more than likely highly amusing to those of you who live close to family and dont have to go through the once a year everything must at least appear to look perfect visit.

I truly hope that everyone has enjoyed their Holiday Season and I wish you all the best for 2012.

Drive Safe and take care. Be Good. If you cant be good, be careful! Remember most children are caused by accident!

Raquel Kearney Elekes

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