Its been 2 weeks today!!

So I have been back from Ecuador for 2 weeks today!! What I have not done however is fully "re-enter" my world and my life back here. I met with some women on my team yesterday for a lunch meeting, who are not only be glad to be back, but have fully re-entered their lives seamlessly, and with just Happy Memories of a "Wonderful Experience". I feel so differently. Every fiber of my being is consumed with thoughts of Ecuador. I am learning to speak Spanish, I have been to the Library and picked up not only tourist guides but picture books, photograph books so I can pine over the photos. I think about it all the time. I dream about it every night.. I dream in SPANISH. Everyday, all day long... all I think about is ways to get back there!! When I left I didnt feel finished. There were too many experiences for me to describe and some of them really personal.. I dont even want to share them with anyone. Its like my own secret little memory. Of course everything was known by the team I was with.. nothing particularly secretive happened.. its just that I am fiercely protective of my time down there, and I dont want to talk so much about it, that it loses some of that novelty. I dont want to share with people who dont REALLY care about what I learned, and saw. I dont know. I dont want it to end.. and so holding on closely is a way for me to keep it alive!! Keep it recent. I dont know if this is Healthy or not. I just know from the deepest parts of me. Ecuador is where I belong. I have a vision but not the plan. Its frustrating, but yet I am learning to wait on the Lord.. I know there is much preparation I need, and much I need to learn about so many things before I could go and minister to the people there. There are "issues" that would need to be resolved before I could go and be FREE to minister to people down there. I am just so grateful that the Lord called my husband and made his heart soft. He is ready to go when the Lord says its time. Anyways.. thats my heart. I just had to share. Please pray for me. I know that the Lord "has a plan for me, a plan to prosper me and not to harm me, to give me a future and hope!" but I wish I had more details.

Love Mia

Has this ever happened to you???

God has a sense of humor doesnt He? Just when you step out in faith and wonder.. okay Lord, hope you know what you are doing.. cuz I sure dont have a clue. He reveals his Sovereignty to you.

This happened to me yesterday/today. I felt "led" for those of you UN-Spiritual types who don't speak christianese.. that means in my spirit, in my heart, I felt strongly-- that I was supposed to pay for some women at our church to attend our Womens Retreat... I am on Womens ministry committee.. and I never want inability to pay to ever exclude people from times like this. This retreat is going to be so important, for bonding, and building relationships, cross-socio-economic lines, and generational lines.. and there were 2 young women in particular, who have been going out of their way to participate at church as much as they can. Who despite their young age, and inexperience.. have made it clear to me, that they strongly desire to have relationships with other women in the church, as well as seek the Lord to guide their young families.. and I knew they couldnt pay!!

Incidentally the cost for one person is $80 and for the other gal who was also getting a scholarship.. would be $135 for both of us. But I just got back from a Missions Trip! I am broke. I havent worked for a whole month, and my husband only worked a portion of the hours he normally does while I was gone.. and so things have been pretty tight for us.

Yesterday at church I had my tithe check (82$), and it was communion sunday. On those days they take yet another offering to help the needy, and usually I give to that. Anyways.. I started doing some math and realized that I could sponsor these 2 ladies if I made some sacrifices.. IF I used my tithe money, and if I used my Paycheck from the end of the month.($135) And didnt pay Tithe, or Benevolent fund. But I didnt exactly feel right about either option ... Anyways.. the feeling of paying for them was just weighing heavily on my heart.. so I went ahead and paid for one gal in full.. (Using 80 of my 82)and post-dated the $135 for mine and part of the other gals.. (since she is getting a scholarship for the balance). Anwyays.. I got home and re-did my budget to reflect these changes.. and wouldnt you know it!!!! We have exactly enough in our account to cover those extra checks AND still TITHE.. but it didnt leave any money left for anything else at ALL. I was a little concerned, but our fridge is full, and we have gas in our cars etc.. to last until Jack gets paid. So I just assumed that all was as it was meant to be. And just Praised God that He provided for those ladies.

Then guess what?? I worked today and found out that today we submit our time-cards.. I didnt even know this, because of being gone for so long, I forgot when the pay periods were.. and discovered that the hours I submitted today.. are worth EXACTLY $81!!--after taxes. Thats like the Lord is Paying me BACK for the cost of this one gals fee!! I couldnt believe it.. I re-checked and thought.. oh my Gosh.. God is SOOO GOOD!! I just followed my heart--also known as stepping out in faith and obedience-- and the Lord rewarded me. I just wanted to jump up and down.. and say I was RIGHT. I was RIGHT to use the tithe check, because we had enough to cover both.. and I was right to use my end of the month paycheck for this other gals and mine registration fee because that is exactly what I will get paid.. and The Lord is just soooo good. And I know in my heart of hearts that these ladies are supposed to be there. So I just covet your prayers that childcare and other unforseen obstacles dont hinder them from coming.

Okay so thats all.. I just had to share. I hope you all get a lift out of it. After all the Word of our Testimony is the most powerful tool we have as Christians. And all Gods People said what????


Amen,
Mia

Stream of thoughts...

Okay so it couldn't be because I have 4 children, work part time, a husband, house, and I just returned from a Missions Trip where I worked really hard and traveled for days that I am so tired could it?

I didnt even know how tired I really was.. because I went to sleep last night and took a NAP. Unintentional one.. I laid on my bed, with my 4 year old to watch Winnie the Pooh... and I woke up 2 hours later. I just completely and utterly CRASHED. THEN I went to bed around 10:30 and slept in today until about 10 a.m. Man. I needed that. And yet I STILL feel tired. Its been a week since I have been back, and I still feel a little jet-lagged. Oh well.

My eldest child has ADHD and she would be so mortified if she knew that you all knew that!! Of course she looks at this site, so I will hear about it later. Anyways.. she didnt take her meds today, its saturday, I never make her take them on the weekends, unless its a special occasion where I need her to be on her best behaviour. Anyways.. she is bouncing off the walls, and driving ME to distraction.

So enough about my pithy little life.. at least until I get a real one!! I have nothing else to say. Except that isnt it sad that Will Reeve lost both his parents in the last 18 months and his grandma.. he is only 13 years old. The time of your life when you need the most stability. My heart aches for him, I cant imagine what he must be going through and to have to go through it publicly.. he is like America's HRH Harry York/Edinborough/Spencer whatever 'is name is...

But whats up with Lance Armstrong... being all buddy buddy with him, while his ex fiance.. is battling cancer herself??!! Celebrities.. who can figure them out. I mean who IS this guy anyway... sure he fought cancer and he can ride a mean bicycle. But its not like he discovered the CURE for cancer.. sure he created those trendy little STRONG bracelets.. and the money goes to FIGHT Cancer and fund cancer research.. but I still dont get why he is that popular. He's not even cute. In MY opinion. Better make sure I cover my bases on the very off off off chance that Mr. Armstrong ever reads my blog and says.. HEY.. thats not PC of you to rank on a guy who won the Tour De France 7 times and fought off Cancer!!! I am like.. dude.. it was in FRANCE. Need I say more?? Whoops that wasnt very PC either was it? That was the republican in me coming out. I apologize.

Better Shut my Yap before I get into real trouble. C'est La Vie..

Au Revoir
Mia

My rugrats

This one is of my son, sitting nicely at his desk, right after his Christmas-er uhm, excuse me WINTER Program! Whatever. He's still cute.



This picture is of Thanksgiving.. sorry its so dark. There are more,probably even better pics, they are making funny faces in this one. Figures.

But I keep getting an error message saying it can't upload.. again I say Whatever! I'm sure its operator error. I'll figure it soon enough I hope. (And to think I want to actually try my hand at Digital Scrapbooking.. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.)

Enjoy.

Mia

What No Pics??

Okay so we havent quite moved into the 21st century.. we have 56k modem with DIAL-up.. and I dont even own a Digital Camera. YET. But what good is a website, even a make-shift fly by the seat of my pants one such as this without pictures?? Its hardly worth coming to.. so just to apologize to those of you who prefer Picture Books instead of ones with words.. I'm Sorry. Someday soon I hope to join the rest of civilization and be able to add more pics to my site. In the meantime. Use your imagination.

I am going to attempt to use some pics that we have already in my computer but they are from 3rd hand e-mails, so I cant gaurantee the quality. The first is of my 11 year old daughter dressed up like Paris Hilton.. she was "Beverly M. Hills" for Halloween.. and the other is of me. But I look kinda weird. Oh well.

Sorry the pics are so HUUUGE.. I havent figured out yet quite how to start over and choose the smaller option.

Enjoy!
Hasta La Pasta
MIA

26 Random facts about ME.

Just in case you wanted to know.. here are 26 Random facts about me. I might add more later..

Okay so if you read this Terra.. you know I fully stole this idea from your Digichick pages!! But I dont care. I liked it.

Only you can't get me on copyright infringement on account of you had 29 and the facts really are different. :o)

1, 2: I stand 4'11 inches now, and was always the shortest one in my classes.

3: You couldnt know it to look at me now, but I 'lettered' in Track in High School.

4,5: I was a lifeguard for 2 summers, and taught swim lessons too.

6: I have 4 wonderfully adorable children.

7: I was born in the Jungles of Ecaudor, South America.

8: I was in a CITY-wide spelling be in 4th grade... took home honorable mention.

9: When I was in 6th grade, a book of mine was published in a state-wide Young Authors Conference.

10: My husband and I eloped in Reno NV, March 1994.

11: I am exactly 100 lbs overweight.

12,13: I had to have braces with HEADGEAR for 2 and a half years in Jr. High, because I had severe buck teeth.

14: I was adopted.

15: I don’t really know how old I am. My birthday was made up and was most likely at least a year off.

16: My favorite food is garlic!

17: I am learning to speak spanish fluently.

18: I know all the streets in my home-town by heart.

19: I lived in Arizona for 13 months and loved it!! It really is a dry heat.

20,21,22,23: I broke my ankle in December.. consiquently it’s my right leg, which I broke 3 years ago falling down some stairs, my right toe I broke 5 years ago-in a horrible table accident, too painful to recollect, and finally I sprained my right ankle in Vegas 2 years ago.

24: I HATE Mcdonalds.

25: I am a sucker for Musicals, and I purposely subject my offspring to the horrors of my vocal skills far too often. But they NEED to know who Rodgers and Hammerstein are!!

26: My secret dream is to one day don a little black dress, put on my biggest white hat, and gloves, complete with sunglasses and really and truly eat a danish, and coffee in front of Tiffanys Dept. Store in New York City.. all while humming Moon River.


There you have it. Enjoy.

--Mama Mia

Lets Commence..

So I decided to jump on the proverbial Band-wagon.. and claim my own little stake in the cyber world. I'm nervous though there is no turning back from this point on. From now on.. my thoughts, and opinions will be out there permanently for the universe to see, forever recorded for posterity, and what happens if I have a change of heart on a topic?? Or if I am proved wrong.. I dont want my own words to come back and bite me in the proverbial ass.

To tell the truth I got a little jealous that many of my friends were hosting blogs and thereby being "published" without having to actually submit their editorials to a newspaper or book to a publishing company, only to be told that because you cant stay within a 500 max. guideline, (or write worth crap) your opinion isnt going to be available for anyone to view it. So this is my warning, this blog will contain sometimes rants, and sometimes raves.. and many times editorials that I have written over the years, maybe even a poem or 2, that otherwise were rejected.. for one reason or another. YOU lucky people get to be subjected to it wether you like it or not. So there.


SOOOO Welcome!!

A little about myself.. I am no authority on any subject, I am a student of life, a little self-depricating, and very verbose!! A writer by trade. What do I write? Good question.. glad you asked. I write everything, Poems, short-stories, novels, childrens books, editorials, essays and even plays. I have written a song or 2 but thats not really my forte.

My name really is Mia.. and my husband calls me M*I*A Mouth In Action.. because I never shut up. Thats why this forum is so great. Its said that Women use about 20 thousand words a day.. and men only like 9. Well I use probably about twice that many, and my husband about Half. (We are polar oppostites on MANY things.. but its our mutual passion about such things that keeps us together. We fight like cats and dogs.. but its that same animal magnetism that makes it impossible to separate. So we are stuck with each other.) But if I could spend even a fraction of my allotted words here than he wouldnt have to deal with me talking so much.

I have 4 children.. they give me lots of fodder for writing believe me. They range in age from 4 years to 11 years old. 3 girls and ONE very lonely, and often frustrated boy.

My eldest child is a lot like her mama.. she is wordy, and smart. For example, when she was about 8 I told her to stop "talking back" to me, and she said " Mom I have to talk back to you, thats how people communicate, they talk back and forth to each other!" Smart ass. But I cant really blame her, she learned from the best. She is very studious, and has even begun practicing her SAT preps.. and gets straight A's and actually one of the few kids I know, who hates missing school.

My next kid is VERY stubborn and obstinate.. very uhm.. creative. She draws, and writes, and SINGS so beautifully.. she is 9 and has the MOST incredible voice.. she did NOT get that from me. But she is the one who is in my face, and tells me no, and will prolly end up smoking and skipping school when she is 14. But I am going to go ahead and rebuke that word curse in Jesus' name. More about what that means later.

My son.. well he is all Boy. He is into video games and running around outside, and star wars, and soldier toys.. and rough-housing. Cute as can be.. and sweet too even if he is more of a daddy's boy.

My youngest.. is a princess. As you would expect the baby of any family to be, it doesnt help that she has 2 older sisters who dote on her also. She is VERY spoiled.. she has in essence 3 mommies, and therefore is used to having INSTANT Gratification of her every desire. Can we say High Maintenance?. I feel sorry for whoever she dates!!

My husband.. Lord Bless him.. is laconic, and introspective. He is a disciplinarian, and VERY old fashioned. But it works for us.

I on the other hand.. am free-spirited, and out-going, and fun to be around. I have a "Great" personality. (Read: fat-ugly. But I am okay with that now.)

So this is my site. I daren't say too much more, for fear of running out of things to POST about.. ha ha ha ha yeah right. So if anyone is interested in just asking questions.. and hearing what I think??? Ask away.. please don't be mean. And don't use harsh language.. But I am open to hearing what your thoughts are.. How am I doing so far???

Is there any particular subject you would like to discuss?? I am sure I have an opinion about it. I am Italian by the way so I am VERY opinionated.

See you soon!!

Mia