Tears from heaven...

My mama used to tell me that if it rained then there were angels in heaven who were crying because their loved ones were hurting. 

I sit here looking out my window right now as the rain falls down... It gets lighter and heavier and back again... over and over... There must be a lot of people hurting right now... 

My family is no exception... The other day we lost a great woman.. She has joined the love of her life and is no longer in pain but I'm sure she is still shedding tears for us as we all deal with our loss. that's just the type of person she was.  

When she was alive she did everything she could to make you smile. She had such an upbeat personality and such a contagious laugh! So, for her I try to smile. For her I hope the rain stops. Because that means she is no longer crying and she can smile knowing we will be ok!

I'm sure she would want you to know this too... When your hurting and it starts raining... Remember someone is crying for you.. Someone loves you and worries about you even after death. So smile for them.. Live the best you can for them.. An most importantly... Never forget the good times you had with them because when you remember them and smile they will smile to!

Miss you already Little Ma!!! Say hi to my mama for me!

In memory of you "Little Ma"

May you Rest in Peace!

28 day Planking challenge...

OK.. I am issuing a challenge to all my friends, family, and followers.. Can you do this planking challenge? It's not as easy as it might seem.. Or so I'm told.  

First let me explain what planking is for those who don't know...

Your in a push-up position but instead of being on your hands you are resting on your elbows.

Sounds easy enough right? Well, for the entire time your doing this you don't move and you keep your back straight as a board... I guess that's why it's called planking lol

Challenge Time!!!

Here is what you do. i'm going to list 28 time periods here. You do one per day.

1. 20 seconds
2. 20 seconds
3. 30 seconds
4. 30 seconds
5. 40 seconds
6. REST
7. 45 seconds
8. 45 seconds
9. 60 seconds
10. 60 seconds
11. 60 seconds
12. 90 seconds
13. REST
14. 90 seconds
15. 90 seconds
16. 120 seconds
17. 120 seconds
18. 150 seconds
19. REST
20. 150 seconds
21. 150 seconds
22. 180 seconds
23. 180 seconds
24. 210 seconds
25. REST
26. 210 seconds
27. 240 seconds
28. Hold the plank position for the longest time you can!

You're Done!!!

That's it! Now for those of you who are into the exercise thing and are thinking this is way to easy... It's meant to be added to your current exercise plan or as a starting point to get people who don't exercise into an easy exercise plan. After the challenge is done, if they decide to continue exercising, they can just add a second exercise to this or just keep doing this. 

So can you do this challenge? If you ask me the real challenge is actually doing it for the 28 days!

Let me know what your max plank time is in the comment section and on the 28th day I'll do the same!! Good luck everyone!!!

being a mom with asthma...

A lot of people think asthma is not that big a deal and for a lot of asthmatics it isn't a big deal. But then you have people like me.. the ones who can barely walk up a flight of stairs because at the top they are gasping for breath through the wheezing... and an inhaler is the only thing preventing them from not breathing at all!

That's right! My body fights even the simplest of activities! It's not that I don't want to do that long walk with my friends on the beach... I can't.

Now lets step out of being a teen and into being an adult... the hustle and bustle of a job is much like that flight of stairs for me... on a good day I am just out of breath... on a bad.. I could need a hospital. So work from home or self employment seemed like the only job I could do... then came the kids....

yup... I have three... and all three have missed out on a very big part of being a kid... running around with your mama chasin you yellin "I'm gonna get ya" with her tickle fingers going crazy! You know what I'm talking about... I couldn't do that... so I found other things we could do cause I wasn't letting my asthma kill this job... it was finally one I could manage that only I could do!

Now my youngest is 5 and they have had to learn that sometimes mama can't breathe and it is scary. They had to watch as I am gasping trying to get to the neutralizer so that I can get a good breath of air again, and they have seen me fall as my oldest son (who I had when I was very young so he is 17 now) runs to me with that same machine I was desperately trying to get to. They watch after he hands me the part I need he is frantically trying to plug it in, and they relax a little when it starts working.

These are things a child sees their mom or dad go through when they have asthma, and it is very scary never knowing if they will be ok or not. As a kid I saw all of these things so I know how they feel and I do what my mom did... smile and tell them it's ok... that I'll be ok.

As a mom with asthma it kills me to know what they are going through. To know how scared they are and to know that even though I say it is ok and I'll be ok, they are never truly convinced. All I could wish for would be that they never have to see it again... even though I know they will.

That's what it means to be a mom with asthma

The struggle is real!!!

being self employed of any type had its ups and its downs... for one up you get to pick your own hours... but the down side is that you have no one to answer to if you don't follow your own schedule. this can be a problem for some people but a blessing for others.

Another plus is being able to chose what your work space looks like. It could be notebooks and a computer... and a snack to keep you motivated....

Or it could be just a drink and a laptop...

It could be anything... and one of my acquaintances shows her work space on her Facebook page. here it is for you if you want to take a look...

Texan in Tokyo working

I guess the down side to this work space thing is that it can get to be a reallllly big mess and no one is going to say anything when you don't clean it... and if you're anything like me and don't pay attention until its getting to the point you can't move... this can be very bad. Luckily my husband has started to help me out with that lol... I just get way to engrossed in my writing lol

Others have the luck of their workplace being the great outdoors... where pictures like this can be taken....

Or these...

All pictures were taken by: Mistique FireMaiden Photography

As you can see there are a few ups and downs and i'm sure you're saying "that's not so bad" and your right... those aren't so  bad! the hardest downfall to get used to is the pay... you don't get payed unless you get results.

For me I have to finish my book and publish it (paying money out of pocket to do so) and then if my book sells I'll finally get a paycheck. For others it could be selling a product door to door or over the internet. It all depends on your job... but the one thing they all have in common is that you don't get a paycheck that is regular.

sometimes it might be a big check and then there might be the weeks where you get no check. It's hard to make a living with just this unstable income so it is the biggest downfall I can think of. For me it isn't so bad since my hubby works a full time job. 

well that's all I can think of right now... so I have given you food for thought if you ever want to work from home. there is lots to think about so make sure you do your research before you just jump in!

Have a great day everyone!!!!

and the sickness hits... (combo)

7:00am 

it's time for the cooler weather to start showing its face around the neighborhood... being up on a mountain it gets cool at night and warm during the day... so this inevitably mean....

you get sick easier...

at least that is my experience! now my daughter has had a cold and my husband is sick with a "Flue-like illness" and it is not a fun house! now my daughter has been sick for a week and is super cranky... making her younger sister cranky too,... and last night my husband had to go to the hospital... dang 104 temp!

i don't know about the rest of you men out there but my hubby is like a three year old when he gets sick... so now for the time being i am a mommy of 4 lol. and he can take care of me when i eventually get this lovely present from him lol.


but for now i can only think.. and so it starts... with the fog the sickness has hit!

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10:18am

a little scary...

Everyone knows that any kind of procedure where you have to be sleeping is a bit scary... for me this is doubled... the last time I had to be put under anesthesia I was getting a camera down my throat to look at the lining of my stomach. It was supposed to take a few hours and when it was done I could go home. But something went wrong and I have no memories of the first week after they woke me up.. all I know is I was in  my normal clothing when we started and when I woke up I was in a gown.

 It was not fun to try to figure it all out.

So you're probably asking why I brought something like this up right? it's because next month i have to go under anesthesia again... yup... and three months after that I'll be doing it again.

Needless to say I'm scared. So to anyone reading this can you possibly send a little thought to the universe to let me have nothing go wrong during the upcoming procedures.

Thanx a bunch in advance!

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11:38am

lets help her out!

I know if you read her comics you will love "Texan in Tokyo" as much as I do!!! lets all help support this amazing artist!

Texan in Tokyo videos

and here is her comic series...

Texan in Tokyo Comics


Thanx everyone!!!

9/2015 Combo Post

9~8~2015 

a long time... 

    It has been a really long time since I wrote on here... a lot has happened... we moved again!! That's right... we are no longer in southeast Texas but instead we are up in the mountains in New Hampshire! Things have gotten so much better for me here.. I'm lovin the neighborhood and the kids like school so far lol. we may not own the house we live in but it is still a beautiful house! Life is just going good now!!! I have a feeling that i am going to learn a lot about me soon. yes i said that right.... about me lol... I don't know much about myself beyond the "mom" me and now that all the kids are in school i can learn more about myself again! yay hehe.well time to go for now... hope you all have a great day!!!

じゃ また ね！

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9~18~2015 (8:40am)

And... my day begins...

I have a very hectic morning... every morning... as a mother of three I find my day starts off all kinds of crazy. first i have a teen in high school who gets up at 6 and of course that wakes the dogs and his younger sisters up... so that means i'm up too... so it's walk the dogs then get breakfast together... they finish eating just in time to bring brother to school and then we get back and change into our clothes for the day... then it's about a half hour wait of fighting over toys for the girls and making lunches and doing whatever else i have to do before it's time to bring the girls to school... yes this happens 5 days a week!

i have to say though that i wouldn't change it for the world... maybe for a little more sleep though lol.

I love my family and my life... and now... since kids are in school it is time to work on my book!

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9~18~2015 (10:09am)

Why I don't draw for a living!!!

Seriously love Grace's humor and her way of getting the point across... I know what she means though... here is grace from "Texan in Tokyo" talking about something that happens a lot to artists who draw full time. This is probably why I refuse to draw for a living lol...

http://howibecametexan.com/2015/09/18/comic-time-to-find-a-new-hobby/

Don't worry grace... We will love your comics no mater what the lines look like!

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10~8~2016

UPDATE: I am going to be putting random posts from this year together to make them into more than just little tidbit posts... I want them to be real content but I'm not editing what I wrote because then that would change the content and I want to be able to look back at how I grew as I wrote!

I shall let you know when it is more than one post combined by putting "combo" in the tittle.