I guess you haven’t been long or lost, but I suppose I have!

I would love to tell you I have been off having wild adventures, or traveling to far and away places, or working on the tremendous new launch of something amazing.

But the truth is, I have been taking some time for me.

I realized that something had to give.

Although I was having moments within my days that were relaxing and enjoyable, I was running from one thing to the next, with no time in-between.

I evaluated my circumstances and my commitments and obligations and decided that something had to give.

I chose two things.

1.  Work.

Whole Foods Market (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How weird right??  Who doesn’t have time to work?  Especially when it yields a paycheck!  In my case, it wasn’t really yielding a paycheck… for several reasons.  The good news is that by being seasonal, I can go back at any time!  I just couldn’t spend my only two free hours during the week at work…

2. Blogging everyday.

As much as I LOVE to share on amominspired.com  I had to take a little break to get my shit in order.

If there is one thing that I have always wanted for this blog, it is to be genuine, honest and coming from a place of passion, not obligation.   I don’t ever want to feel like I am posting just because I have to and not because it is something really important to me.

What was the result of my little break and time for me?  

Laundry.

For the last two weeks, I have been caught up on my laundry!

I know!  Knowing me, this is HUGE!  My laundry is currently washed and folded and there have been no baskets of clean laundry sitting in my room

photo via stock.xchng.com uploaded by big foot

Round of Applause!!!

I’ll take it!

I have missed posting and reading your comments!  I am hoping to get back on a regular schedule soon and hope to have upcoming news to share

Until then, what have you been doing for yourselves?  Please Share!!

I am here!

I haven’t posted in days and the week literally took off and never stopped!

via pinterest.com

Brent is home after a three-week business trip ( yikes!).  Bubbie has been with me in his absence ( thank God!) and after working last week, having a cold, starting a second class that will be weekly ( bio-chem… oh my.) and the beginning of baseball season for Brayden, we have made it to Sunday night!

I will do my absolute best to post daily this week- but know if the post doesn’t show up in your inbox, I am still thinking about the random things I want to share with you and taking photos to stock up for many posts to come!

I hope you have had a great week!!  Looking forward to connecting with you this week in the blogosphere!

English: The Portland Aerial Tram at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After many months, years actually, of being put off by OHSU neurology clinic, we saw the infamous “headache guru” doctor today.

I have to say that after all the anticipation, anxiety and emotion surrounding this event, I am absolutely exhausted at this moment.

The appointment went well.  He spent a good amount of time with us.  He too, was pretty shocked that we had been on the waiting list since 2011…

Thank you so much to so many of you that have been so supportive through this process and reached out to us

The conclusion?

Maddox has Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome.  This is a childhood migraine syndrome.

We still have to do a “sleep deprived” EEG, in which we will all be terribly cranky, but at least we do not have to induce an episode and stay in the hospital overnight…

Once we do the EEG, he said he should have all the information he needs to confirm the diagnosis.  Which will be good.

The only bummer is that this implies that my baby will most likely suffer from Migraines as a child, teenager, and adult…

At least the puking should stop at some point, I hope!

Even though I am kinda bummed about the impersonal nature of healthcare, I am glad to have seen a doctor who I feel confident really knew what he was looking at with Maddox.

That was our one shot.  Our 45 minutes.

He gave me a number to phone to schedule the EEG, and another number to phone to get the results.  I don’t expect to ever hear from him or see him again.

That makes me glad in the sense that my son doesn’t have a serious illness, and sad in the way that healthcare has gotten so far away from being about people and relationships between doctor and patient.

The good part is that unconventionally, my pediatrician is so amazing at personalizing his care and developing relationships with his patients that are based on follow-up and personal care and attention.

I guess you can’t have it all…

Or can you?

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cyclic-vomiting-syndrome/DS00835

I know that all week, you have been wondering how the table turned out, right?

My dining room table is one of the best pieces of furniture I own ( with the exception of our couch which was Brent’s diva purchase of 8 years ago…).

I found this table and chairs on craigslist about 6 years ago.  It was a steal- I think I paid $500 for the table and 6 chairs and it is an authentic Pottery Barn set

It has a bit of a rustic finish and has been used and abused for many years.

It was time for a little makeover.   Enter Papa…

Here is what the finish looked like before.

This is after it was sanded down to the wood…

Papa did the base coat, I jumped in for coat number two.

I roughed it up a little to go with the theme and give it a bit of a rustic look- it has to match the chairs!

Done!

Thank you Papa!!

Do you have any refinishing projects on your list?

http://www.pinterest.com

I had two plans today.

The first plan was to blog about our major project of the week while Papa was in town.

That plan got hijacked by my frustration about my second plan- hence today’s post.

If there is one thing that I am sure of at this point, it is that being a mother means that if you have a few precious hours without kiddos, and you have a plan to do something awesome, someone will puke.

In my case, it is always Maddox.

What is up with that?

I think my mom and I might be cursed.  Maybe it is the shopping gods sending a VERY loud and clear message that we should not be allowed to shop by ourselves…

Today Maddox was going to be in school for 4 hours.  Yes.  4 hours.

We were going to drop him off and head to the shops…eat a bite of lunch and then pick him up.

When he woke up this morning saying he had a tummy ache and felt like he was going to throw up, I went through all the things…

Me:  Maybe you just need to go poop.  

Mads: I don’t think so.  Mommy I want you, my tummy hurts.

Me: Maybe you are just hungry?  Do you want some toast?  

( as I muster up a big snuggly hug – I secretly feel pissed and am directing it a little towards him (honestly) even though I know that in no way is this his fault…)

Meanwhile my little inner voice is saying: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!Are you f-ing kidding me?  If there is any kid that knows what it feels like to have to throw up, it is Maddox… but maybe he is wrong this time….??  

I give him a little piece of toast- because despite what he is telling me, he is TOTALLY PERKY.

At this point I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, he got it wrong this time.

Then…. up comes the toast.

My plans are D.O.N.E.   Game Over.

So this is what I am doing today-

Yep.  Gumby.

I thought mom and I could sit on the couch with the computer and shop online, but it just doesn’t seem like it would be the same…

Does this happen to everyone?  Or just me?

I guess it is time for some spring cleaning and closet organization

My shoes are always thrown everywhere…

I would like to think it is due to a lack of shoe space…

So the next Papa project was my closet!

We’ll see if this keeps my shoes out of a heap on the floor.

Now since you have seen my shoes in the closet, I have to admit to you that I am a total boot hoarder.  A girl’s gotta have boots in the Northwest  Those are just my current boots that I have been wearing, what I didn’t photograph is the shelf on the top of the closet that has my other 6 pairs…

I did clean out a bunch of clothes to donate and give my self some room ( mom is in town and that means my clothing multiplies!).  I am hoping it will help the laundry situation ( dream on!).

I will report on the status of my shoe pile in a week or so!

Here is a little preview of the last and final project of the trip ( outside of replacing about 10 lightbulbs!)…

Big one!!  Stay tuned!

Have I inspired you to clean out your closet and get organized yet??

It is so nice to have a handy parent around to do all the things that I have no time to get to!

What a difference it makes when you can have someone get those little projects done that make such a big difference!!

Also nice when mom is the one saying ” what can we have Keith do?  What can he fix?”

I think she might be buying time to shop… no pun intended!  Tee Hee

Here was project number one:

    Maddox’s Closet!

If you look really closely in the photo you can see the original closet rod.  Waaaaaaay up top.

Everyday he would have a mini-meltdown about how he couldn’t reach his shirts and this was his reason for not getting up and brushing his teeth, eating breakfast, and putting on bottoms.

What’s your excuse going to be now kid?

So, thanks to Papa, Maddox has now gained a new level of independence!

Watch out- you should’ve seen his getup this morning  I wish I wouldn’t snapped a photo!  Maybe tomorrow

Stay Tuned for the next project!!

Did you work on any projects this past weekend?

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The F word can impact anyone.

There have been so many times when I have been stopped by it.

When I have really dug deep trying to figure out what my roadblock might be, it always comes back to this.

FEAR.

http://www.pinterest.com

As I progress in my education towards nutritional therapy and nutritional coaching, I think to the future and what this will all mean for me.

When I began, I wanted to just learn.

I wanted to learn more about the things I was passionate about.

As I get closer to the completion of my educational journey, the inner voice inside my head says ” you can do this”.

My husband says ” you can do this”

My mom says ” you can do this”

My friends say ” you can do this”

But the pit in my stomach tells me that it is scary to begin fresh.  To start a new chapter professionally.

My FEAR is so there.

http://www.pinterest.com

FEAR is so big.  It can just completely create havoc.

Inside of myself I know that this will be awesome, but then I am left to question what the FEAR is all about.

Should I ignore it and carry on?  Should I spend a bunch of time trying to figure out what exactly I am afraid of?  

Or is it just my inner child that again ( like when I began this blog) is afraid to put myself out there, to be vulnerable.  FEAR of rejection…

FEAR is so powerful.

What do you think about the F word?  Is it just doubt in ourselves?  Or is it something to really listen to and change course?

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EEG fragment (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My amazing pediatrician has been so attentive through the process of “triage” at our local children’s hospital and now after us both pushing and pushing to get someone to give us some answers, we are still getting the run around.

This is just CRAZY.

You can imagine my frustration as I call the office to schedule our in-patient video EEG at the urging of my pediatrician who has had no success getting through the (lack of) customer service process. The nurse on the line says ” well, I have to speak to the doctor because there hasn’t been an order put in.” .

Really??

The order, by the way, was put in by the doctor over a month ago…

Me: “My pediatrician says that he and the neurologist have been in contact and the test needs to be scheduled within the next two weeks.”

Nurse: “Huh.  Well, I don’t think we have anything open in the next two weeks.”

Me. ” Well, my doctor has been working to try to schedule this for a month and he thought that if we both called it may get done.  My now almost 5-year-old been suffering for over a year and half while we have been sitting on the waiting list”

Nurse: ” Yeah.  I am going to have to call you back after I send the doctor a message.”

Really??

What is going on?  I cannot believe that this is how good healthcare is carried out.

It is just so discouraging to be so powerless when it comes to the healthcare of our children.

Good thing for my kid, I am as stubborn as they come.  I am not going to give up until that appointment is scheduled.

Have you had any experiences like this?

My post is a little late today because my mom came to town!

So in honor of my mom, who is my inspiration, and moms everywhere inspiring each other, I wanted to share the latest from Melinda Kim at Aspirely!

For those of you in Southern California, this would be an amazing event to attend!  The name in itself is worth the trip!

So here it is!

Are you ready to live a life you have imagined?  The biggest part of trying something new is to NOT do it alone!  Come and meet the moms of Aspirely who have been through different life events that propelled them to positive changes.  They are here to help you take action so you too can step forward into the life you have always imagined.

Moms Inspired

An Event By Aspirely

April 26, 2013

11:00am – 1:30pm

Come meet the Aspirely Moms in a Champagne Brunch full of conversation, motivation and connection.

Featured Speaker:

 Sonja is a mom, author of My Master’s Degree is Useless?, speaker and artist.  Also known as the “Chealsea Handler of Business, Personal Development and Entrepreneurship,”  Sonja Landis helps inspire, uncover and guides people to their true purpose and dreams… then sets them up to make money doing what they love!  For realz! 

For all the details- go to  http://mominspired.eventbrite.com 

Sounds like the title of my life’s book!!

Amazing mom speakers will be presenting their work and insights and it is guaranteed to be a wonderful way to connect to yourself and others in finding your path.

It’s Tuesday, let’s get inspired!

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