1 life down, hoping for 6 more to go...

This is post #2 for me today...

My day started like any other.

Got up, showered, had breakfast and got on my car to go to work... As I was going just down the road from my house, in one of the narrowest roads around, out of the bushes and really fast came out a cat running to cross the road.

I didn't even have time to react, nevertheless brake...

Once I realized it, panic started to filled my heart and soul.

I immediately stopped and look back on my rear-view mirror, to see him laying on the road, bleeding.

My heart stopped and I started to feel tears coming out of my eyes.

Did I kill him? Was he o.k?

I swore it was Leroy (one of the kitties that we feel every day).

The worst part of it was, I couldn't stop and check if he was alright (as the manager at the store is away right now, so I had to go and open the store myself).

Still, I could see him still laying there and I was ever more worried that he was going to hit by another car and kill him (for sure).


So I called my husband and he immediately got on his bike to go rescue him.

Took him to the Vet.

Looks like he only got hit in the head, not a single broken bone or main organ damaged.

They sedate him, gave mi some sort of medicine to prevent the swelling of the brain and lots of rest.

Well, the cat is not Leroy, in fact is a completely new cat that we have never feed, and perhaps he even belongs to somebody.


He is now at the Vet's clinic. Still very much in pain, very swollen in the head and I just now came by from visiting him.

 
The doctor is not sure if he is going to make it, only time and God can tell what's going to happen.

I am still very sad and very much in shock of what happen although at any point I meant to hurt him/her, it was a very terrible accident that I wish would never happen again.
 
Please keep him/her in your prayer and hope God puts his healing hand over him/her and may he be recovering very soon.

More news tomorrow and hoping those would be good news.

Have a nice weekend!

Finally a Video!

Finally it's Friday and finally I am here to share a little bit of my visit to Costa Rica with a video I took at my parents house.

In the video you can see the front of their house, the big trees that surround and the birds singing.

Towards the end of the video, you can see the 3 Labrador girls they have. The dogs are Gaia (which is mine), Emma her sister and the mother Negra... aren't they awesome?

I know I promised to also shared pictures, but I haven't really had the time to sort them out, but now that my Mom is gone I am sure I will find the time to get around it.

Hope everybody has a great weekend!!!!

Did I mention?

It's been raining quite a bit here the past few days.

To me, this is fine, I don't mind rain as long as it's no Hurricane. Plus I just got a brand new raincoat so this showers give me a chance to wear it!

Did I mention? I happen to love rain coats, I think they are fabulous and a much better option that the good ol' umbrella, well unless it's a head one, like the one I used to have a as kid...

Mine used to look just like this, but I'm not sue if I would be up to wear such a thing in public nowadays, LOL!

Did I mention? I am loving my new phone, it's such a cool gadget and contrary to what I thought about the very first time I got my Treo years ago and that I thought I wasn't going to take full advantage of everything it does, with this phone, I am sure to enjoy every single application it has.

Did I mention? My Mom left this morning. Oh boy, oh boy am I am going to miss that lovely lady. Spending time with her was amazing and the minute I gave her the last hug, I started looking forward to the next time we will be together.

Did I mention? It's already September (wow time is flying by!!!), plus it's Thursday so we are getting very close to the weekend, yay for that!

Have a great day and wonderful month of September!!!

M is for Mom

It's been simply amazing and such a great joy to have my Mom around for this past couple of weeks.

I am definitely a very blessed daughter for having such an amazing Mom and best friend.

This past couple of weeks we've talked, laughed, learned and teach each other interesting stuff.

We cooked together, went shopping a few times, drank a few cocktails, bonded like the very best of friends.

And of course during this special time, we went to church together and thank God for these and many more blessings we have in our daily lives.

Now, tomorrow we say "So long" (because I am not good at Goodbyes) as she goes back home, to my Dad and her life.

It's going to be hard not having her around. But the time we've spent together, leaves me full of joy and wonderful memories that filled my soul with the best possible kind of love.

Her energy and teaching will remain with me, always inspiring me to be a better person, a better daughter and a better wife (like she is!).

So, how about you?

Is your Mom close to you? Have you talked to her lately?

Perhaps today is a good day (as any) to call her up and remind her of how special she is and how much you love her... I know I will make sure my Mom know that today!!!


Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Feels Good!

Feels good to be back to work after 3 weeks off and just on my second day back, guess what date is today?

Yeah... it's Aug. 30th, which means?!?!?

Feels good to have a job, to be productive and get paid for something I enjoy doing (most days).

Feels good to have so many blessings in life, specially my family, friends, my job and my blog!!!

And also I have to say that it feels good to be back on blogging, but mainly because I have some many nice people reading my blog and I thank them for that!!!

And last but not least, I have to say, feels good that I got a new cell phone, a brand new Samsung Galaxy S II and so far I LOVE IT...

Well, there's many more things that feel good right now, but I don't feel so good about not posting my Costa Rica pictures yet.

I promise that soon I will get my head around which ones to post, so please bear with me and soon I will be sharing them all!!!

Have a wonderful day and do something that feels good!!!

The sweet life of a baby

My name is Julian, I am 3 months old now and like most babies at my age, all I do is sleep, cry when I am hungry, then eat and sleep some more... aaaah, that is the life!

I just recently got Baptized and got a very special Godmother... isn't she pretty?

And what about me? I am pretty cute too, uh? Plus, I can stay awake, to write this post...

See?

although...

now that I think of it,

I am getting kind of tired...

and I could use a little nap...

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

What a sweet life, don't you think?

I'm back but not entirely here...

Today I woke up in Grand Cayman, in my bed and next to my amazing husband.

My trip home was simply fabulous and the best part is that I got back with my Mom that is here for a 2 weeks visit with us.

So my vacation continues and this is the reason why I'm not entirely here (yet!), so I am not going to promise that I will fully catch up from today... apologies for that!

But, I can promise that you'll see me back in action in a few days...

I will be sharing lots of pictures from back home [and in this case I am definitely not using the word "lots" lightly as I do have lots and lots of pictures].

So, 'till then, be good!!!

ready, set... go!

Oh Monday,

you are finally here

I am so happy to see you

cause tomorrow...

I'm outta here!!!

Well, I am all packed and pretty much ready to go...

Tomorrow, around this time I will be just about ready to board a plane that will take me back to the land that that runs through my veins, my people, my heritage and all things home... Costa Rica!


I can't wait to be with my family and my friends again.

It's going to be a week full of activities, fun times with all sorts of people, specially those that I've seen in a while, can't wait to catch up with them...


I am so excited to take a break from the island, work and I could even use some disconnecting from the cyber world (nothing personal with my readers and fellow bloggers), will miss you guys, but not more than I will miss my husband, my crazy dogs and even seeing the sea everyday...

But I will be back, soon...

So, meanwhile, talk (or perhaps I should say "read among yourselves") and I will be back with more experiences and hopefully lots of photos to share.

Have a great weekend and catch you guys later... Adios!

Flashback Friday

Attention all, the weekend is here (well, not like you really needed me to remind you, right?).

Anybody has any major plans for the next couple of days?

I do.

Well, maybe not major plans, like burning down the house or anything radical like that...

Burning Down the House, that takes me to my flashback Friday video with no other than Talking Heads, remember that song?

Well, today's video comes with an extra twist.

Remember VH1's Pop Up Videos? When I lived in Italy I used to love them and used to watch VH1 all the time, mostly because all the other channels were in Italian and with very weird voice translations so VH1 was one of the few in English (mostly cause of the music).

So, now to my featured video.

And back to my weekend plans... Tomorrow our friends Chris and Joan are tying the knot at a beach wedding ceremony and then to a celebration toast at a local restaurant, it should be fun!

Besides that, I am planning to start packing for my trip on Tuesday. I still have to work on Monday so if I have everything packed by then, I don't have to worry about it then and I can go to the gym one last time after work that day!

Anyway, here's to a beautiful weekend for everybody, have fun, be good and enjoy it to max!

Happy Weekend!

Photo Thursday

How is your day looking today? Sunny and hot, cloudy and cold or perhaps combination of both?

Our weather is very nice today and it's been since Saturday (that it rained like there was no tomorrow!).

There is Tropical Storm Emily lurking around the Caribbean, near Haiti and Dominican Republic and perhaps that is part of the reason we have nice clear skies today.

So, to prove my point here are some random pictures around downtown...

Cruise Ship in town

Kayaks for rent

Another Cruise Ship

The Port Autority

Pirate Ship

 Well, hope everybody has a great day wherever you are!!!

And, since I am "abroad", well at least for those reading anywhere else than the Cayman Islands, today I am liking back to "For the Love of Blogs" - Abroad Group, in case you'll like to read other blogs that are also abroad.



Have a great Thursday!!!

change of strategy

Thanks to everybody that commented yesterday.

But, I think I have changed my mind...

Instead of having one of those signs for unattended children at the gallery, perhaps I should just hire one of this instead...

LOL! Just kidding...


I am so looking forward to next week as I'll be getting on a plane outta here and back to Costa Rica to visit my family, can hardly wait!

Also, if you are in the mood to win yourself something nice, head over to Perfectly Imperfect and sign up for Holly's very first giveaway of some awesome Mary Kay products.

I've tried Mary Kay before and the products are quite nice, so head over there NOW! In case you don't have time right this minute, just make sure to sign up before August 9th.

Happy Hump Day!

calling all parents

Having children is definitely not in my agenda, not for a long time (perhaps since I can remember).

Now that I work at an art gallery were items range from the 100's to the 1000's of dollar$$$, the little desire left on me, decreases every time people show up with some spoiled, rude or plain naughty little ones.  

But then it's worst when those little ones are not only naughty but also completely very unattended by their parents or guardians. That's when I lose faith in parenthood and I believe that not all people are cut up to be parents.

NEW sign I want at the gallery

Because having sex is the easy part, perhaps too easy nowadays. And for the purpose of procreation it only takes two (male and female for that specific purpose). 

But then it takes more than just being female to be a mother and male to be a father, it takes; commitment, responsibility, dedication, unselfishness, communication, respect for thyself and your offspring and of course lots and lots of LOVE!!!

And this is the part that a lot of people need to focus once they are on that boat...

In my case, I am not on that boat, so I see no reason why it should be the one paying attention to other children (unless asked for or they are my responsibility), so people MIND YOUR OWN CHILDREN!

This little detail would make my days easier and much more enjoyable...

The sign above is what I would like to put in the gallery nowadays, although I would change the kitten part (cause I love kitties and I don't want them to be abused) and give away baby iguanas!!!

Isn't it a great idea?!?!?!? LOL

Have a great Tuesday!!!

Wet Weekend

The weather was wet, wet, wet and then some more rain!

Well, Saturday to be exact.

It started raining from morning and it only stopped for a little while, which gave us enough time for us to go pick up a bed that we borrowed from a friend (and that my Mom will be using while she is here in August for two weeks, can't wait).

Other than those two hours, I believe it rained none stop for at least 4 to 5 hours.

Enough for our back yard to get flooded.

Sunday was pretty dry but still quite cloudy.

Now, as far as my hair goes... Well, I did it. I went on Friday and spent almost 4 hours! at the hair salon... (and that's the reason why I don't go to hair salons very often).

Here are the results.

side view with still a bit wet hair

back view, I like it!

What do you guys think?

Have to say I have mixed feelings about it and at times I think it looks o.k. but others, not so much...

Also because the highlights are kind of "fresh" they don't curl as the rest of the hair and this makes it look strange...But, it's a change and I look different, so that's was the whole point.

I am going to give it a few more days to settle and see if I finally like it 100%.

Meanwhile, let's have a great week and a wonderful Month of August!

Flashback Friday

The weekend is almost here.

It's so close I can almost touch it!

But before we make it to the weekend, how about a little "Flashback Friday" in honor of the week that is almost gone...

Still lacking some inspiration to exercise during the week?

Perhaps this video will make you change your mind and get you in the mood the "get physical" [insert your own interpretation here!].

Or not.

Maybe it would make you dance or as a last resource, at least make you Laugh Out Loud- I know that is the effect it causes on me. [besides wanting to know where I can get one of those machines that show at 0:13, I could use one to improve my much wanted JLo backside, LOL!]

Still not inspired to hit the gym?

Well, you can't say I tried my best to bring some "flashback" inspiration your way... You are welcome!

Have a great weekend and if you don't get physical, then get lazy instead!

hair issues

Lately I've been pretty tired of my hair.

When you have very tick curly hair, maintaining it moisturized and in good shape is HARD WORK.

Back in high school I was never pleased with my hair, always wanting and trying the latest product or treatment on the market to make it straight and manageable. But in many ways I sort of felt like I was living in function of my hair and it was the ruler of my life.

Until one day I say: "the heck with it!" and cut all off, literally, went to a barber and asked him to use the #2 blade on me... And oh boy, did I felt great, renewed and from then on, during the years I used my hair short, it was lovely not to live around the fact that my hair needed styling.

me with some friend in Egypt, when I had my hair shorter

By the time my hair started growing I had already made peace with my appearance and instead of fighting the fact that I have very curly hair, I just decided to make the best out of it and let it grow, be happy and grateful, I believe that this phase in life is called "maturing!"... LOL!


Time went by and I've had very long hair since, at times it's in good shape, but at times not so much, lately I feel my hair is pretty bad, lots of tangles and definitely need some chopping (but I am scared because most people can't really cut curly hair well, and this could be a disaster!)....


Another little detail is the fact that during the years I have acquired quite a few gray hairs and although I am still pretty young, I believe it comes from the fact that my Dad has had gray hair from the age of 21... perhaps it's in my roots (literally!) and it's something I just can't avoid, well, that is unless I get it color.... Which is what I am planning to do tomorrow!

Dunno yet what I am going to go with exactly, but at this point and because of how bad it looks, perhaps even this psycho Bob look is an option

Kidding! I am not that crazy desperate!!!

And I promise I won't go for something like this either... that is just plain ugly and ridiculous!!!

So, although I am not sure what I want, at least I am sure of what I don't want... A crazy looking hair color or anything blond (because that is just not me!)... But I do need to revive it, with color, some light or just something different for a change.

Tomorrow is the day and I am looking forward to it, will be posting some photos next week, hopefully I will be happy with the result, wish me look!

Have a great Thursday!!!

let's get physical

It's been almost 3 months since I joined the gym and at times I wonder about new exercises for some specific areas of the body.

Well, you know the saying: "Ask and you shall receive"!

I have found a website that has an fantastic exercise finder at Divine.ca (Canada's Online Women Magazine), and being that this is a women magazine, of course the exercises are specific to the women body and each area.

The best part is that you can find exercises for the front part of the body.

source

And for the back side as well.

source

Most exercises are pretty specific and some of them to be done in the water or even as simple as in the comfort of your own home...

So, now there's no excuse for no exercising at least a couple of minutes a day, right? Well, other than laziness (but then that's another story!).

Have a great day and let's get physical!!!

not your average blockbuster...

Every now and then comes a movie that breaks the so called "Hollywood blockbuster".

Perhaps it's not an Oscar winner, an action pack edge of your sit kind of a ride, or even a deep inspiring story line that will change your life forever. But it's a movie with character, funny and charming.

This time, that movie is Larry Crowne, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts - which by the way have great chemistry together!

Tom Hanks is enjoyable as always, but this time, not only was acting, but directing and he co-write the script as well (pretty good, uh?).

I had forgotten that he is the kind of actor that does not hogs the spotlight on himself too much, he lets every supporting person shine in there own way, and I like that in a movie.

We watched this movie on Sunday evening and it was a great way to wrap the weekend, with a blend of comedy and drama.

So if you want to get away from the overrated blockbusters hitting the screen nowadays, and instead you would like to see something light on it's feet, then Larry Crowne is that movie for you... Enjoy!

Have a great Tuesday!!!

Con te partiro

When I think about my weekend I am happy to report that nothing major happened, it was a relaxing one, where I got to stay home, work on my amigurumi project and just be happy.

But in this time of day, just being here and having a quiet life is a big blessing and probably better than most people have.

Because nowadays in our world, there's so much to be sad about, as there are so many bad news (wars, killings, poverty, etc.) and unfortunately the amount of bad news is usually higher than the good news.

I am still in shock and deeply sadden by the devastating news of the massacre in Norway, where so many young people lost their lives.

Terrible crimes like these are an inexplicable part of us humans. In my heart and soul, I find it very hard to believe that a monster like that can be made in the same image as God and should be call "our brother".

So, when I think of all the people that lost their lives, their families and friends going through their loss and trying to accept their departure in such a terrible way, makes my heart aches.

I try to reflect on the way my life is and all I can do is ask myself:

Am I ready to die, either of natural causes or any other way?

I'll like to think that I am.

Because I have a good life, I don't have debts with anybody (morally or even financially), I don't harm people and if I ever judge or offend others, well, that's something we all need to work on at some point...

I feel I am very close to God and if he is ready to call me to his side, all I hope for is a good way to go, in peace and with my heart full of love.

But, if God doesn't call us and instead we get rushed to meet him; by the hands of somebody that just wants to steal our wallet, or perhaps just wants to kill a bunch of people and we just happened to be in the crowd.

I just hope and pray for Him to still be waiting for us with open arms and to fill the hearts of our love ones with peace and strength in such times of sorrow.

I like to think that when people die in a terrible way, angels will come and sing for them. And to me an angel must sound a lot like the amazing Italian Singer Andrea Bocelli.

So in honor of all the Norwegians that lost their life this past weekend, their families and loved ones that are going to miss them, as well as all other people around the world, dying in vain and for the wrong reasons, I dedicate this song to them.

God Bless us all, today and always! Happy Monday.

intense failure, success fixing!

Yesterday I decided to give IntenseDebate a try as a new comment moderator on my blog.

The reason I decided to try it, is because I felt the need to be more interactive with my commentators and reply to people more directly.

Well, that was a fiasco!

My husband tried to leave me a comment and then, even tough his comment was there, it would not show, then I tried to tweak the settings and then I lost the comment completely...

So, after trying to work it out for a few minutes, I decided to avoid future glitches and completely uninstall the whole deal.

Now, I've lost Wednesday's comments and I apologize to those that did commented, although I received them and read them all, now, none of them show... That's what I get from messing up with 3rd party services.

So, I am back on square one with the comments thing and I have the classic choice again!

In a change of subject... I am happy to report that both Goldie & Shadow are back after their surgery and shots. Both are doing great and both are confirmed males, yey! Now I know that we have 2 males and 2 females on our lovely resident kitty family...

We are still missing to catch one of them (formally knows as Tiger, as my husband wants to change it's name) and we are hoping to get a hold of this one as well, although we haven't seen it around for a few days, so I'm not sure if we are going to be able to catch it.

Friday is finally here and I can smell the weekend just around the corner. I can't believe I am too weekends away from leaving on vacation! The excitement is building as I am so looking forward to some days away from work!!!

So, here's wishing everybody a wonderful weekend, enjoying every minute as it comes, as every minutes is a wonderful blessing in the hour hours of our life, Happy Weekend!!!

source

 

inherited talent

If my grandmother Yvette was still alive, today would've been her 96th birthday!

last picture I ever took with my grandma

Now, she is been gone for almost four years and I still miss her.

When Billy (as we used to call her) was alive, she was always a very crafty person, in fact she used to crochet (mostly tablecloths, dollies, and house decoration things) all the time, now I find it kind of ironic that while she was alive and creating some amazing pieces I was never interested in learning that skill.

Years later I decided to get into crochet with the Amigurumi art and now every time I am crocheting I think of her and how much she would've enjoy my creations.

And taking about my latest creations, I am still working on my cat and it's going to be a beautiful one as the pattern is for a Siamese, can't wait to see how it will  turn out.

A couple of days ago my boss brought back from Jamaica these lovely hand made basket and gave me one, I am very happy with it, specially cause it's the perfect place to have all my yarns organized.

Pretty, isn't it?

Well, I know my grandma Billy would've loved to have this color yarns.

Now every time I sit quietly to crochet I think of her and know that my talent comes from her.

So, today if she was still around, I will be singing "Happy Birthday" and giving her a hug.

Instead, I will be saying a prayer so that she keeps giving me inspiration to be a good person (like she was) and asking God that one day I get to see her again in heaven.

Happy Birthday Billy, I love you!!!

On another very exciting note, yesterday I managed to trap the two kittens left (as the third one is being gone for a couple of days), so today I am taking both Goldie and Shadow to get fixed... Hope everything will go well.

Have a wonderful Thursday!