Friday 12 April 2013
Sunday 7 April 2013
Your "Weakness" is Your Strength!
I've often felt
discouraged by my emotions. When I'm feeling sad, depressed, or
lonely, I wonder why I can't just NOT feel that way. Why can't I control my emotions and just be happy? At times, it's left me feeling weak.
I'm happy to
say that I have a new attitude towards feelings now and it's just that; they
are just feelings. You can't control them anymore than you can control
your body from not feeling cold in winter or hot in summer. What you can
control is how you handle the feelings.
 |
| Having emotions doesn't make you weak! |
As we work towards acceptance of others in life and changing our attitude towards mental illness, it's critical to keep this in mind. Often, we judge others as weak or lacking because of the depression, addiction, or anxiety they might be experiencing. I came across this quote the other day and it made me ponder a bit on this theme.
"Depression, anxiety, and panic attacks are NOT a sign of weakness. They are signs of having tried to remain strong for too long."
And then it made me smile. What a positive way to look at things. Instead of viewing anxiety as a defect or weakness, I choose to see it as a result of too much strength for too long! :)
 |
| Keep fighting those battles, and don't take on the world alone! |
 |
| Don't forget to take care of yourself too! |
Wednesday 3 April 2013
A Typically Atypical San Marcos Night
I was home today by 3:30 pm with high hopes of having a relaxing afternoon/evening reading in the hammock. I had no plans, and that's how I wanted it. I should know by now that that's not the way things work here in San Marcos lots of the time. My no-planned evening quickly turned into this:
Arrived home at 3:30 to find 5 men working on my house to put up an awning. Spent about an hour talking to them and finishing my stained-glass window I made. As they were leaving, I went inside and discovered both of my home's light bulbs were burnt out. My landlord, Aniceto, brought a ladder and fixed one light bulb but had to run to the store for another one. During that time, I tried to read in the hammock but one of the guys was watering the yard so I had to move.
While I waited for Aniceto to return with a lightbulb, a woman and baby walked into my yard. Turns out she is his sister and informed me that they will be building a house...right in front of mine. So much for my banana tree views : ( As we talked, another woman walked into the yard to sell fruit and let in 4 dogs when she opened the gate (including the one that followed me home this morning and looked like he was going to die so I let him in, called a woman in town who rescues dogs, had her rush down and turns out he just looks like he has a disease and it's actually just really bad fleas--whew!)
I was still waiting for Aniceto so I popped up to my neighbor's house to bring them some dinner, only to discover Kim is also sick. I offered to help in any way and came back down to try taking a bath in my shower (not bath tub, shower. I'm small, remember?) I began filling it up with the shower and simultaneously boiling pots of water since my non-existent shower pressure would have taken a year to fill up my shower. I even had candles and flowers set up. I was going to do this bath right!
Aniceto still hadn't shown up but it was dark outside so I gave up hope. Right when I was about to bathe, I got a message from Kim and Dan to see if I could watch the baby, Luminar, while Daniel cooked dinner and Kim tried to sleep. I rushed through my "bath", which now had to be a shower, and while I was in there, I heard a "Daniela" outside my window. Since my house is sort of part of a hotel, one of my colleagues was looking for a visiting teacher staying at the hotel. I shouted through the window and resolved that then rushed up to the neighbors to grab the baby...but he was sleeping.
So, I came back home and Aniceto finally arrived, but no lightbulb (at least the right wattage) was to be found in town so he grabbed the ladder and promised to fix it tomorrow. I had just turned on the stove top to start dinner when I heard, "Dani" and saw a cute baby-face appear at my door. Luminar was awake and ready to be cared for. He and I hung out and literally just sat and watched Loki. He is the sweetest, calmest baby and a really good snuggler : ) We had a great time hanging out. He left to go back home, I ate dinner, and was about to get into bed when I heard another, "Daniela" outside my door.
This time, it was another colleague and a different visiting teacher who arrived tonight had just gotten into town and no one working the hotel was around. I walked down to help out and called the owner. He informed me that he was far away traveling (even though I had confirmed today that she would arrive around 8) and couldn't help. He told me to go down into town to his son's (Emilio) store to have him get the key. So, in my pink, bananas in pajamas pants and wet towel on head, I walked to the center of town to search for the hotel owner's son to get a key for the room. Only we showed up and he wasn't there. I decided to then call Aniceto, Emilio's brother, to see if he could call his brother. Some random guy drinking a beer overheard my conversation and turns out he is friends with Emilio. He called him for me and had him come back to open the room for her.
I came back to the hotel to inform them of the happenings and by this point Josh and another visiting teacher and her sons showed up so we had a big, impromptu hang out for a bit while we waited for her room to be ready. It's 9:15 pm and I'm just now sitting down to start my "night of nothing". There's never a dull moment here in San Marcos where the community is all interconnected and I wouldn't want it any other way! : ) G' Night all!
*PS--after posting this, I got a call at 9:30pm from an employee who needs permission to leave work early tomorrow...geez I'm popular tonight! : )
Arrived home at 3:30 to find 5 men working on my house to put up an awning. Spent about an hour talking to them and finishing my stained-glass window I made. As they were leaving, I went inside and discovered both of my home's light bulbs were burnt out. My landlord, Aniceto, brought a ladder and fixed one light bulb but had to run to the store for another one. During that time, I tried to read in the hammock but one of the guys was watering the yard so I had to move.
While I waited for Aniceto to return with a lightbulb, a woman and baby walked into my yard. Turns out she is his sister and informed me that they will be building a house...right in front of mine. So much for my banana tree views : ( As we talked, another woman walked into the yard to sell fruit and let in 4 dogs when she opened the gate (including the one that followed me home this morning and looked like he was going to die so I let him in, called a woman in town who rescues dogs, had her rush down and turns out he just looks like he has a disease and it's actually just really bad fleas--whew!)
I was still waiting for Aniceto so I popped up to my neighbor's house to bring them some dinner, only to discover Kim is also sick. I offered to help in any way and came back down to try taking a bath in my shower (not bath tub, shower. I'm small, remember?) I began filling it up with the shower and simultaneously boiling pots of water since my non-existent shower pressure would have taken a year to fill up my shower. I even had candles and flowers set up. I was going to do this bath right!
Aniceto still hadn't shown up but it was dark outside so I gave up hope. Right when I was about to bathe, I got a message from Kim and Dan to see if I could watch the baby, Luminar, while Daniel cooked dinner and Kim tried to sleep. I rushed through my "bath", which now had to be a shower, and while I was in there, I heard a "Daniela" outside my window. Since my house is sort of part of a hotel, one of my colleagues was looking for a visiting teacher staying at the hotel. I shouted through the window and resolved that then rushed up to the neighbors to grab the baby...but he was sleeping.
So, I came back home and Aniceto finally arrived, but no lightbulb (at least the right wattage) was to be found in town so he grabbed the ladder and promised to fix it tomorrow. I had just turned on the stove top to start dinner when I heard, "Dani" and saw a cute baby-face appear at my door. Luminar was awake and ready to be cared for. He and I hung out and literally just sat and watched Loki. He is the sweetest, calmest baby and a really good snuggler : ) We had a great time hanging out. He left to go back home, I ate dinner, and was about to get into bed when I heard another, "Daniela" outside my door.
This time, it was another colleague and a different visiting teacher who arrived tonight had just gotten into town and no one working the hotel was around. I walked down to help out and called the owner. He informed me that he was far away traveling (even though I had confirmed today that she would arrive around 8) and couldn't help. He told me to go down into town to his son's (Emilio) store to have him get the key. So, in my pink, bananas in pajamas pants and wet towel on head, I walked to the center of town to search for the hotel owner's son to get a key for the room. Only we showed up and he wasn't there. I decided to then call Aniceto, Emilio's brother, to see if he could call his brother. Some random guy drinking a beer overheard my conversation and turns out he is friends with Emilio. He called him for me and had him come back to open the room for her.
I came back to the hotel to inform them of the happenings and by this point Josh and another visiting teacher and her sons showed up so we had a big, impromptu hang out for a bit while we waited for her room to be ready. It's 9:15 pm and I'm just now sitting down to start my "night of nothing". There's never a dull moment here in San Marcos where the community is all interconnected and I wouldn't want it any other way! : ) G' Night all!
*PS--after posting this, I got a call at 9:30pm from an employee who needs permission to leave work early tomorrow...geez I'm popular tonight! : )
Monday 1 April 2013
Making a Natural Antibiotic
As it always happens, I had off of work all week....and promptly ended up sick! I don't like taking medicines so I researched ways to cure myself with things I already had in my kitchen. Nature is wonderful in this way, and really provides all we need. An in-home, all natural antibiotic right from my kitchen!
It's simple folks! Here goes:
1. Gather:
* 2 cloves of garlic
* About an inch of ginger (optional--if for kids, leave out because it's pretty strong)
* Honey (raw and unpasturized)-about a 1/2 cup
* Apple Cider Vinegar (also optional)-about 1/2 cup
(I don't really follow a recipe with quantities so perhaps check this out if you want to be exact)
A SITE THAT IS WAY MORE PRECISE THAN I AM
2. Mix them all together in a blender and store in an air-tight container.
3. Store in the fridge for 5 days
4. Take a teaspoon each morning as preventative medicine or extra when you need a boost
*You can also make a tea from just lemon, honey, and a clove of garlic.
It's simple folks! Here goes:
1. Gather:
* 2 cloves of garlic
* About an inch of ginger (optional--if for kids, leave out because it's pretty strong)
* Honey (raw and unpasturized)-about a 1/2 cup
* Apple Cider Vinegar (also optional)-about 1/2 cup
(I don't really follow a recipe with quantities so perhaps check this out if you want to be exact)
A SITE THAT IS WAY MORE PRECISE THAN I AM
2. Mix them all together in a blender and store in an air-tight container.
3. Store in the fridge for 5 days
4. Take a teaspoon each morning as preventative medicine or extra when you need a boost
 |
| Honey, Garlic, Ginger (optional), Apple Cider Vinegar not pictured and also optional |
 |
| Blend and voila! |
*You can also make a tea from just lemon, honey, and a clove of garlic.
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