Get it together girl....

As in blogging....

How ya doing people?

The blog life is surely suffering over here....

Who's ready for the heater to turn off, raise your hand!
Whew, what a wild week in weather.
Before you know it, we'll be bundled and complain' about the cold...
And so...let's just cherish these days.
And the beautiful sunsets.

How bout a little about me.
The girl behind this blog.
Don't care to read? It's all good, just click that little x button.
My love and peace to you. All the days, all the time.

• I love classical music. 
• I also love old school punk rock. 
• I am obsessed with peoples license plates, especially expired tags. The more expired, the more I scratch my head.  #payyourway. #doyouevenhaveinsurance
• I am extremely independent, but recently find driving alone after dark, scary!
• The following words make me laugh watching people say em- Grand Marnier, Worchester Sauce, Moist, Bunion. Oxnard LOL!
• I majorly dislike LED lights.  ew.  
• I love birds. 
• Music moves me.  
• I am impatient.  Like really bad.
• I have OCD. Little weird things. If you ask Bill, they're really big things.  But hey, it's all balance, right? LOL!
• I love to see people in love.  Parents hugging children --the best!  
• I love to water the lawn and flowers.
• My kids have made me a better person.
• I don't like people in the kitchen when I'm cooking. 
• I hate bully drivers who tailgate me.  Catch me on a bad day, I'll likely brake check those fuckers.  
• My kids don't like that part of their mom. 
• I am a chronic hand washer.  
• If my wet hands touch a plastic bag it makes my stomach turn.  *freak*
• I cuss like a sailor under my breath.  Something I'm not proud of. 
• I also pray like a saint.  All. Day. Long. 
• I question religion.  Something I am not proud of.  Just keeping it real. My son is an answered prayer, so just imagine how crazy my thoughts become. (recently a family member said something that resonated deep "what about Santa, and the Easter bunny...we can't see them") and it floated in my head all night.  
• I can't wait to meet our German donor.
• I can't leave my house with beds unmade and a sink full of dirty dishes. 
• I love the smell of my home after preparing a wonderful family meal. 
• I love my friends. 
• I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread.  Something I never do because...white bread..lol
• I feel sorry for those pumpkins on display with lumps all over em.  haha
• PTSD is real. 
• I'm really disappointed in the state of our country.  
• I have no fear of flying.  If it's my time, it's my time.  Didn't feel that 5 years ago. 
• I'm obsessed with bowls.  
• I love Pottery Barn. 
• I just cut a bunch of hair off, and really wasn't stoked.  But it's hair....
• My goal before the end of the year is to give blood.  I am beyond freaked out about needles.
• I love Bad Company.
• I'm not the spa day type of girl (like that whole robe thing sitting around a quiet room-lolz, but love me a good massage)  
• Unsweetened Iced Green Tea is my jam.
• I added John Denver to my Pandora playlist ..and listen to all the beauty in this song....I hope you enjoy it as much as I did...Sunshine On My Shoulders-  the words. 
• I am not into fancy cars.  Just muscle cars.  
• I am not into designer clothes either.  Or shoes.  Although my dad taught us to spend on quality. 
• My sister wears high heels like a boss.  I do not. 
• I do not like my nose.  It's a running joke in each picture. 
• 

As they say, we all have our insecurities....(wish I knew where those earrings went)

• My dream would be to stop stressing over gifts at Christmas time, and to just enjoy the music, food and being together. 
• Finding quiet time each morning to pray has been a slice of sanity.
• I am yearning for another get-out-town breather.  
• I am easily distracted by stalking my birdies on social media.  I fall down a rabbit hole chasing Kali around Italy and Europe in general through Instagram. LOL 
• I have a staring problem.  
• I over analyze EVERYTHING.
• I don't care for Disneyland, or any amusement park.  #germs
• Probably goes with my germaphobia issues. 
• Giraffe's mesmerize me. 
• I can't stand peas. ew. 
• I still stare at Bill across the room and feel so in love. cheezie
• I like to stay home on Sunday's.  Until I don't work Monday's...it's just the sensible thing for my body. And mind.
• I love to bike ride. 
• I'm not afraid of spiders, but their webs make me dance The Mamba. 
• I think of old friends through music. 

Well gang, I filled up a post with a buncha narcissistic info you probably didn't need, but took.
Way ta take one for the team kids...way to go.

Work hard, play harder. 

Remember, some don't get the chance. 

 Do what makes YOUR heart happy.  

Be happy. Be Bright. Be You.

Kali in Ireland- October 26, 2017


Enjoy this song...it's one that takes me to childhood--

Give Me Peace

....."Give Me Hope, Help Me Cope".....

This Mama Lisa

ps- Words to live by: If its not helpful, kind, respectful or requested, think before you send, or verbalize. 

Healing

She's home.  She's healing.  She's not happy with her shaved head.  She's alive, and she's moving forward just like we imagined she would.  Pathology reports are making their way in.  Something I don't stalk or push for.  Same for my dad.  We'll get the answers we need, in all the right time.  

   

The trip was all I expected, and yet, not what I expected, at all.

We had our aunt wrap her arms around us in full form. Opening her home and two cozy beds to us.  Two aunts that sat in that waiting room with us.  Sorting.  Talking.  Laughing. Loving.  Eating. And of course sipping on a good margarita! 

A dad that paced the outer parts of that hospital, because that's just how he rolls.  Hugging and kissing his wife before and after surgery.  A kiss so special before they wheeled her away it made me fall into a blubbery mess. 

The "Sickness And In Health" clause they vowed to one another almost 50 years ago. 

The smiling eyes she gave us in recovery.  Her two daughters.  Her husband.  The words that blossomed from her soul, "I'm so glad it's all over and that devil tumor is out"-

Us too mom, us too. 

Her amazing doctor that gave us the much needed laugh we all searched for in those long hours in a hospital.  Not because he was funny.  But because when he explained the details he'd close his eyes for a long duration of time.  Have you ever encountered people that do that? They talk, and close their eyes.  LOL!

The hospital was a step beyond what I imagined.  Almost wanting to say "they had a grip over Kaiser"-  They did. Their nurses, their doctors, their staff, and most importantly....the cleanliness...

All of it. Amazing. 

The restaurants within walking distance from her very room.  Two different places my sister and aunt tucked ourselves into.  After long grueling days staring at our mom/sister....sharing a good margarita while catching the Dodgers game (Woot-Woot!).....

So yesterday is gone.  So is last week.  And the week before.  The reality of closing out that chapter is yet another reminder that "You will get through this" is true.  

The morning of surgery I had no extra words for my mom.  As a matter of fact, all I could type was "I love you".  I felt like there was nothing you can prepare or tell someone going in for brain surgery....

It's like....just walk.  

Just go. 

Just go....

And she did. 

My mom is a quiet, stoic, go-with-the-flow type of gal.  The type of woman that mumbles her frustrations under her breath.  She stands tall when she has too, yet most always just lets the vibe clear itself.  It's who she is. 

Pam.

Mom.

My aunties.  Nettie-  Thank you again.  You took us under your mama wings.  Jeff, thank you.  You both made your home feel like our home.  From the cozy bed and linens to the alkaline water you poured for me that night before we all tucked away.   The laughs we shared at dinner Nettie. My advice to you, and yet your analogy of some things still resonate and crack me up. God, the Easter Bunny, and Santa- LOL!)  

Family.

I'm thankful.  

Lyn;  Thank you for making the trek up there.  To sit with us.  Laugh with us.  Hugging us. 

That long chat we shared before bed covering things in our family.  As you stood there with that shower cap on, and I wiggled my feet in bed so relaxed, and yet learning more tid bits about our vines. 

Moments in that night that I'll remember forever. 

Thanks for flipping pages in this chapter with me. With us. 

My sister. Whom bolted back and forth with me in my "Tic-Tac" rental....LOL!!!!!

vrrrrrooooommmmm

We found sweet little restaurants close to the hospital where we'd re-group, sip wine, eat good food, and stare at one another. Sisterhood.  Gossiping in a good way about our parents.  About this life. 

About sickness and health.  About how life is good, and yet so hard.  

And that tic-tac car would get us to and from our aunt and uncles house.  

Another chapter in our family vine book closed.  Another set of pages we wrote.  

Together.  

Nettie, not sure if you read my blog anymore.  I can't thank you enough.  From the living room chat that morning.  To the reassuring hugs the morning of surgery.  To the bed I laid my tired head in.  Your home is extra warm and welcoming.

When I landed back home and my handsome birdie picked me up from the airport I reflected back to the days leading up to this closing chapter.  The nervousness I felt.  We all felt.  The unknown.  The hovering.  The fear.  The trauma.  The scary parts of surgery.  Recovery.  IV carts. Nurses with language barriers that always fuck me up.  The beeps.  The queasy things I'm not cut out for, yet partially so.  

I truly felt none of that. 

None. 

Tis' the things in life work out that way, right?  We expect to step in fire, and yet it's not fire. 

It's the complete opposite.  

There was love.  Conversation.  Laughter.  Learning. Sharing.  Family time. 

It's what I expected, and yet not what I expected. 

October, you're a wild one, that's for sure. 

 

Come on November....

I hope you're all doing okay.  Life is hard, but then again, it's pretty easy in comparison to others. 

Thankful, even when it's Monday.  A hot, dry and very warm Autumn day....

Peace, 

This Mama Lisa

ps- Baby birdie is currently in Prague-Czech Republic- Next stop Amsterdam, and Dublin Ireland!

October 2017- Chasing Dreams.....

Seasons

Seasons in life.

Chapters. 

Pages and pages of our family story.

Love, through sickness and in health. 

Vines and roots that come together. 

To help their wife. Sister. Mom. 

My mom has surgery tomorrow.  A day we all dread, yet pray for.  We pray for steady hands.  We pray this tumor comes out the way it should.  We pray that she's the strong mama bird she's always been. We pray for kind nurses that will accept her family. That will allow us to help them, help her. 

We pray for strength as family members.  As husbands.  And daughters. For her sisters.  

Seasons change.  

Healing is in the works. 

The mountain in the back she's feared to climb.  She's gonna climb.

October 18th.  

Please pray for my mom if you pray. If you're all about good juju's and well wishes....send those too.

Smile at a stranger.  You never know what they're fighting for. 

All my love,

Lisa Lynn 

Piping In.

I've been completely obsessed with an achy heart just like the rest of you with this tragedy.  I can't imagine those mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters and sons receiving that phone call.  As I made the bed Monday morning and Bill made his way back to the bedroom "Hun, did we know anyone that went to a country concert in Las Vegas"?  Not even realizing what the heck was about to unravel.  I did however have this sick gut feeling we'd someway or somehow know someone effected.  

Little did we know.  Just like many of you....so and so, knew so and so.
So and so related to so and so.  So and so was a mother. A father.
A teacher.  An officer.  A good fellow.
My cousin whom loves Vegas and concerts was one of the ones jumping walls and separated from his wife scrambling in a horrid bad nightmare of fear trying to imagine she's okay. Ending up in a strangers home.  They'll forever be changed.

Hate.

Trying to keep politics out of this horrible devastation, I, like many, have my views. 

I will say, I DO NOT support any person that owns a machine gun.  Or automatic weapon.

As I do NOT believe any American household should carry/house a machine gun or weapon of that degree.

Seriously. 

Why....

Not sure what else to blog about this week....just sending you all light and love. 

I keep reading peoples posts'..."Hold the ones you love a little tighter"-

For me, it's making solid choices to say you're sorry if you are.  Or I love you, to those you do. 

Thank you to my littlest birdie whom recommended I listen to this song today.
Dear Hate
Feeling a little homesick or sad this morning she wanted to chat with mom. There's nothing better than staring at her little face on the other side of the world.  Sipping my coffee, as she settles in for the afternoon. Smiling at me.

Mom.

Daughter.

Love.

And pretty lucky.

May you walk in peace.

Smiles begin with you.

This Mama Lisa