Pages from my bedroom: Quarantine day 3

6:30 am: I wake up but keep my eyes shut and do what I have been doing every morning since Tuesday. I go over the Swine flu check list in my head before opening my eyes

Intense head ache: NO
Fever: NO
Achy body: NO
Runny nose: NO
Nausea: NO
Soar throat: The scratchiness I have been feeling since Friday seems to have gone away. I wonder if it was the smoggy air in Mexico City that made it worse. But, for now I am swallowing with out feeling the scratchiness.

Woo-hoo!! Thank you Lord for another morning of health!

7:00 am: I could hear Alexis and Sophia from behind my bedroom door, they are waking up and getting ready for school. They are talking and trying to figure out what they will wear today. Alexis is helping Sophia pick out shoes and I love it that they are not arguing but loving each other. So close yet so far. I am dying to touch them and hold them. I want to feel their soft cheeks up against mine, I want to press my lips tightly up against their sweet faces and squeeze them. Victoria is now waking up too, and thanks to the baby monitor next to my bed I could hear her sweet cooing sounds that make me smile big. I wipe one tear away that begins to form at the corner of my eye and reach for the monitor and hold with care as if it were her tiny hand I was holding in my mine. I kiss the monitor and put up to my ear straining to hear every sound she makes. I haven't touched my kids since last Friday, but Lord willing soon, very soon...... but not yet.

11:30 am: Just finished my exercises to keep my muscles from getting to week and I hope I don't get any bed soars on my booty! I feel like the grandpa from Charlie and the Chocolate factory when ever I get up out of sitting in bed (hee-hee). Damon is doing an incredible job playing the a "single" father role while I'm in quarantine. His parents have been over a lot helping with taking kids to school and making dinner and I am so thankful for all the help. My hubby deserves the father of the year award!

WINDOW VISITORS:

Since I'm not planning on leaving my room until after my 7 days of incubation are complete I spend a lot of time by my bedroom window looking at the trees, breathing in the fresh air and saying hello to the occasional passerbyer. When the girls get home from school they run to the front door and shout out up to me, "MOM"! This has become the highlight of my days! I then watch the girls play hop scotch, run around after each other and show off their hula hoop skills to me. I've had great conversations with my girls from up here. We talk about school, what went on on the Hannah Montanah show, and Sophia keeps telling me at least 3 times a day that I shouldn't be hanging out with sick people anymore. My sweet Sophie.

Yesterday was a wonderful window-visitor day for because not only did I get to see my kids and my in-laws but also my dearest friend Bethany! She stopped by with her 3 kids to visit ME!! I was so excited to see her and catch up on all the latest gossip. She even brought me a goodie bag! In it was a Michael Crichton book which I can not wait to get started on, TWILIGHT Candy and a photo book filled with pictures of my children and of friends I love. It's amazing how something so small like that made a big difference in my day! It was the perfect gift for a quarantined friend. Thanks Benny!




I wonder if Hallmark makes cards for such occasions?

View from my window

My visitors: Bethany, Nate, Lucy, Ella and my Victoria in Bethany's arms. Thank you for stopping by.

Say a prayer for me today please that tomorrow I will again wake up symptom free and don't forget to wash your hands! Be careful.

Pages from my bedroom: Quarantine day 2

~Flu? What flu? ~

When I stepped off the airplane and into Mexico City's airport Friday afternoon I had no idea what I was stepping into. When the two large security sliding glass doors opened for travels to exit I excitedly scanned the crowd searching for my family, hoping it would be their eyes that I would first meet, but instead my eyes met blue faced, dark inquisitive eyes of strangers staring back at me. Was it my height? Was it my fairer skin compared to theirs? Or maybe it was my clothes. No, that can’t be because I had dressed down and casual since I don't like to draw attention to myself. Or were they wondering why I wasn't wearing a mask as I was wondering why they were wearing a mask. The curiosity was mutual. Eventually my mom appeared and some of my questions were answered. (*Mysterious mutated flu has hit Mexico City and all the schools had been closed that day.)

~Alexis and Sophia sell lollipops ~

I love people, culture, and the life one would find in a busy metropolitan city and of course all of that wouldn’t be complete without a little adventure. So I opted to take the subway instead of a taxi to my parent’s home. Along the way I saw more blue faced- dark eyes, some met my gaze while others didn’t. I boarded the subway and held tightly to my carry-on and tighter to my backpack. The subway was not full that day so it was easy to find a seat right away. My carry-on was squeezed tightly between my knees when I sat down and my backpack was now on my lap and next to me my sweet mother. I was comfortable so now it was time to people watch!

The subway's doors were still open when I saw two very young little girls quickly slipped in between the doors right before the doors shut! They were holding hands, I think they were sisters and If I could guess their ages I would say the younger one was 4 and the older one 6. The girls didn't appear to be frightened in spite of traveling alone. On the contrary, they looked confident and at ease as if they have been doing this their whole lives (*perhaps they have)! Right away they went to work. That’s right….they were working. They walked up to all the passengers and tried to entice them to buy their lollipops. Instantly I pictured Alexis and Sophia on this subway trying to make a living. I pictured Sophia singing, dancing and twirling as she handed every passenger a lollipop as she made her way down to the end of the train. And a few feet behind her would come Alexis collecting money from the passengers and becoming angry when a passenger would hand her back the lollipop and refuse to buy it! Alexis’ perfected art of a little bit of manipulation, charm and debate would come in handy right about now and frighten the non lollipop eating passenger. He then would hand over the money and Alexis then would graciously thank him and walk away to the next passenger. This perfect dual of a team would then get off at the next stop and re-board the next train and do it all again.


~I know what lies over the rainbow~

Dorothy said it best when she said, "There is no place like home" because when I woke up in Mexico City Monday morning I wanted to click my heals three times and be home. The 5.7 earthquake sealed it for me, watching swinging chandeliers through the mirror where I stood curling my hair and feeling my parent’s apartment building sway side to side was the icing on the cake and it was time to go home.

When the plan flew over downtown San Diego never has the other side of the rainbow looked this beautiful before, I could practically taste the tangy rainbow flavor of coming home in my mouth! Upon landing my first thoughts were of thanksgiving because I had survived a nasty flu epidemic (*Well, this is what I am praying for and that is why I sit here quarantined to bedroom for the next 6 days) 1 family reunion, 2 subway rides in a city of 20 million habitants and 1 earthquake! Phew. My mission to Mexico City was completed and my reward was to come home with a full heart (*Mission: Share gospel with family and 1 passenger on the way to Mexico. Mission accomplished!).

~Quarantine~

I took my shoes off at the door, left my luggage in the car and adjusted my facemask before entering my house. I was anxious to see my children in spite of knowing I was not going to be able to hold them nor touch them. All I wanted was to see their sweet faces and take in their scent. Alexis and Sophia wear laying in their beds when I stepped into their room, they both starred at me and I could see both excitement and uncertainly in their eyes. I instantly began to cry because they were so beautiful and I couldn’t look away. I told them I loved them and have missed them and soon we will be able to snuggle and play tackle again, but not right now. I said goodnight and walked out wiping my tears. Next I got to peek into Victoria’s room. Both her arms were straight up over her head and she must of grown over the weekend because her pajamas look tight. I held my arms across my chest, each one tucked under an armpit to remind me to resist the urge to reach out and touch her. I was then ushered to my room by Damon and have not been out since then.

I don’t feel sick nor have any symptoms but I don’t want to take any chances with my family. The news yesterday said it could take up to 6 to 7 days to incubate, which is why I am going on day two of quarantine.

I’ve kept busy by reading, watching the news, writing in my journal and today I got my laptop back! Something else I got today was window visitors! Whenever I want to see my children I ask Damon to send the girls to the front door of the house where I could see them play and I could talk to them. Well, today a friend stopped by. BETHANY!! I really enjoyed visiting with her from my second story bedroom window and watching her chase after Ella. It was a great distraction and helped make the day go by quicker. Thank you Benny!

It’s getting late and I’m getting sleepy. I pray that tomorrow I will continue to be swine flu symptom free again!!

My mommy epiphany

According to this blog-less blog my life looks pretty boring and non eventful, but because my life is quite eventful this blog is so empty. 1 kindergartner, 1 part-time pre-schooler, 1, four month old baby and 1 traveling husband is enough to keep my schedule filled with excitement, madness, fun, adventure and yes, even some drama mamma meltdown moments, which apparently can win you a cruise ( http://www.parentingsites411.com/win-a-cruise-for-your-mommy-meltdown/)! Ah-yes, it's great!

Sometimes I feel like I'm 37 going on 7.

Damon has a new job now, which has been taking him all over the U.S! He loves the diversity of his days, and I love that he is getting to see so many new places and meeting new people. Oh, and did I mention he is collecting miles?! Oh yes, many-MANY miles which equals exotic vacations on lovely beaches, or riding bicycles on ancient cobble stone roads. The possibilities are endless! But, it comes with a price. With every good-bye comes another day or week home alone. Yup, just exactly what every mom dreams of, being home alone with ALL her kids……aaaah! It's been hard and it's been easy, it's been up and it's been down, it’s been sweet bonding and we’ve had lot’s of “Let’s snuggling in mommy’s beds because daddy’s is gone” moments and nights (my favorite times). But I have grown through it all.

I have learned to accept help, ask for help, say no, step back and manage my entire social life on Face book. Phone calls are out of the question most of the time unless you don’t mind listening to me refereeing a girl fight (ages 3 and 6 which usually is instigated by the 6-yr old) and then playing judge followed by becoming the jailer and eventually giving in to grace and letting the convicted one out. Or. I can just let the girls take full advantage of me (because that is what kids do best when mommy’s are on the phone. There must be a secret convention or something for kids all over the world for that) and feed them all the popsicles and candy they ask for just to keep them quiet so YOU never know I was being pestered and harassed by these little people living in my house that entire time! Whoa, that was a hand full to say. Okay, so it’s not ALWAYS like that but I’m just saying.

During this time I also experienced an AMAZING epiphany! My eye’s were opened when one evening I decided to give my girls an early bath: 5pm. Soon after that I witnessed a domino effect. By 5:30 we were having dinner, at 5:45 we were cleaning up, at 6:00 we started homework and by 6:30pm all was done! We had plenty of time to play because all responsibilities were done and mommy wasn’t stressed out of her mind trying to juggle a lot of sequence of events so close together as I usually do. By 7:45pm lights were out and at 8:00, girls were sleeping! Oh-my-goodness, I heard sweet music that night. By mixing up my usual routine I felt freedom. I had broken the existing state of children's bedtime routines! Bathes don't have to come after dinner when it's dark, and homework doesn't have to come before dinner when kids first get home from school, and story time doesn't have to come right before lights are out. So why have I been so strict in following the status quo?! Who said I had to follow this order? Yes, children need routine I know, but when you’re down 1 daddy and you have 3 kids for one mommy you gotta do what works for you. Ah yes, I’m a rebel ; ).