Sick again

My son was diagnosed with mononucleosis three weeks ago. His Dr. prescribed a lot of rest, but how can I 18 years old rest??? He missed school and when I got home he was changing some parts to his car. He is loves car and his hobby is fixing them. Of course his immune system suffered and today he got sick again. The Dr. said that he must rest. Hopefully this time he will. Tomorrow I will take him to his homeopathic Dr. he can find the real problem and bring him back to his normal balance. I am a fan of alternative medicine, for me and my kids has worked very well.

Final week

Monday anatomy lab, Tuesday English, Wednesday anatomy lecture and any time this week Chemistry. I am tired, but satisfied with my first semester in BC. I have been very busy, school has taken all my free time away and it has been hard to get used to my new routine. If I study hard I will be able to finish my AAS on December. I never thought that I would be back to school after so many years. So far it has been a wonder experience. See you tomorrow!!

Yesterday Concert

Yesterday was "The Annual Concerto and Composition Winner "at the University of Miami. There were to performers: one flutist and one pianist. The other piece was my son's composition: "La luz y su desvio." He wanted to express darkness and light in terms of sound. It is by all means a contemporary piece with a great variety of sound and textures.The auditorium was packed: teachers, schoolmates, friends, general public and of course two proud parents and grandparents. At the end was nice to see how people appreciated his music and approached my son to give him lots of compliments.Thanks God the long days and nights of hard work have paid off.

Google Earth

This summer my husband, kids and I will be heading to Europe. As always, I'm in the one who makes all the reservations. We don't like hotels because in Europe the max. occupancy is two people; therefore is necessary to rent two rooms which is very expensive. An apartment makes you feel more like home. My husband loves to go every morning to local supermarkets and buy fresh mozzarella, bread and fruit. I make the coffee and we enjoy a relaxing breakfast. It was not easy to find and apartment in Italy since the rental periods run only from Saturday to Saturday. Finally, I found one in a small village called Colmegna. It s located at one mile to Maccagno which is the town where my son is going to be. The owner accepted to let us rent for thirteen days starting Tuesday. The photos were great so I paid and the deal was done. Two day a go, browsing on the internet I went to Google Earth to see the place in 3D. I zoomed in where the apartment was supposed to be located and in fact I saw he house from above and right across the street I saw an open space which I thought it was a park. Then I saw something that looked like little squares and I thought, "well, it might be a parking lot." I set google into 3D mode and guess what I saw. An old cemetery right across my house!!!! My husband didn't care much, and my son thought that for sure it was going to be very quiet. But where was my lake, my street with WALKING people? My husband wrote an email to the owner and told him that I was "a little impressed," immediately he responded that the house number was wrong and the house was located one Km from the cemetery. In disbelieve, I opened once again my google earth, and zoomed in toward the correct address. Fortunately the house I saw matched the house on the web. There was no doubt, I was looking to the right house. It is located less that two blocks from the lake in the middle of the town and far from the cemetery. Thanks Google Earth!

Summer

If I survive this last week of school and the coming summer term in which I'll be taking three courses, I will be going to Europe!!!!! Yeah!!!! My son was invited to participate in a composition workshop in Maccago, Lago Maggiore in northern Italy. My husband and I decided to take a well deserved vacation and go with him. My son will be studying all day, and my husband and I will be driving from one town to the other every day. The Lake is so beautiful and it is surrounded by hundred of little towns: Venice, Como, Parma, and Switzerland are less than two hours driving. Because my son won't have much time to relax we are going to spend four days in Spain. We rented a little apartment in downtown Madrid so we can walk to museums, restaurants etc. We are planing to watch the final world cup soccer game in a tasca eating tapas.

Tonight

It's very rewarding to see my son succeeding on his studies. Tonight the UM Orchestra will perform a concert, and one of the pieces is going to be a piano interpretation of one of my son's compositions.
In addition to that on July 24, it's going to be the composition award concerto, and another piece is going to be a full orchestra composition written by him. It's good to see that all his efforts to succeed have paid off.

A great surprise

Yesterday, while I was studying for my Chemistry exam I received an unexpected phone call. It was my best friend Yolanda. I have not seen her in years. We graduated from the same college many years ago. She came over to my house with her husband, and we chatted for hours until well passed midnight. It feels good to be able to keep close to long time friends. It might be a coincidence, but in few weeks another friend from elementary school is coming to visit me. I'm really very fortunate to have such a wonderful friends. Life is good!!!

What are we eating?

After seeing Mr. Pollad clip in Oprah, I realized that what he says about the food that we eat is absolutely true. I remember when I came to the USA I bought a cake. The cake was good; it was really moist and lasted days. Then I read the ingredients. There were more that fifteen or twenty of what they called ingredients. At the end of the list I found out what I was looking for: butter, eggs, sugar and flour. This was my first and last cake!!!!! Although I would love to simplify my life buying ready to eat food, I simply can't. I love whole food. Unbleached flour, brown sugar, organic eggs, butter and milk make the best cake ever. My Dr. who is an homeopathic doctor always tells me to stay away of highly enriched and processed food, and I try to follow his advise.
To be honest I like oreo cookies, pizza and doughnuts, but I bought the Oreos at Whole Food market, I make my own pizza and with the doughnuts, well.... nobody is perfect.

Spring Break???

I wish I had a spring break. Since my two sons and I different spring break dates, we could not have a real vacation. My husband has been working in the studio finishing a project that he has to deliver very soon. My older son had classes and his break started last Friday, but he has to compose for his senior recital so his also buried in his studio. I organized my house a little bit, and studied chemistry for next week mid term. I really don't like chemistry, but I have no other choice but take it. On the other hand, the weather has been fantastic and I have enjoyed long walks with my dog Max. Hopefully during summer we will be able to enjoy a well deserved vacation somewhere outside Florida.

Earthquake

I was a little girl when long time ago an earthquake struck Caracas. My sister and I were watching TV. and mi parents were about to go to the movies. My parents were leaving when the TV signal was interrupted. My dad went back in into the house when we heard a deep sound coming from everywhere. The walls of the house and the floor started undulating like paper sheets. My dad took us out of the house immediately. I remembered my little dog trying to get out but the movement of the floor was so strong that despite its efforts the dog stayed on the same spot. My sister tried to go inside the house to bring him out but my dad didn't let her. She started crying hysterically. The earthquake lasted seconds, maybe a minute, but I still remember it clearly. Our house didn't suffer any damage, but many of our friends' houses did. My parents offered shelter to several families that had lost their houses. They slept in sleeping bags on the living room for several days. I don't remember how many people died but the smell in the air was very strong. I am praying for the people in Haiti and now Chile. I understand the horror and the destruction that an earthquake can leave. I hope the earth finds its balance and this wave of telluric movements stop soon.

Flu

I have my bases full. My husband and two sons are sick. Everywhere I turn, I hear somebody coughing and sneezing. I hope I don't join the team, and I hit the home-run. So far and I am good, a lot of vitamin C and prayers. This coming week is going to be crazy, and I have to be strong.

"When I Was Left to Speak for Both of Us" by Paula Ganzi Licata

Death is something that nobody wants to think about. At least I don't. I've been married for 25 years, and still my husband and I have so many things to do that the word death is not even mentioned. The only thing that I have said is that I don't want to be buried. When I pass I want to be free, and I want my family be free as well. Being buried attached your loved ones to visit the cemetery or make them feel guilty when they don't . I have a friend whose child died and was buried in California. They simply don't conceive the idea of moving because they can't leave far from their daughter. They are stuck in California. I like the idea of being everywhere, and being part of the Universe. The author of the essay saw herself in a situation in which she was completely unprepared. But how to be prepare to see your loved one leave? I felt very sad reading her story. Actually it was weird to see her trying to find a sentence to describe her feelings for her husband and on top of that her words had to be approved by an stranger. There is not a word in the dictionary that describes 25 years of relationship. At least not for me. In fact the best place to visit your loved ones when they leave is your heart.

Movies

Finally, I was able to find the time and my husband, son and I went to see Avatar. I think the movie is AWESOME!!!!I enjoyed every second of it. No only does the production but the story were amazing. I loved the connection between all creatures and its surrounding. They didn't have to talk; they just knew. As always and sadly true, humans were responding just to their economic interest. They were capable to destroy everything to obtain what they wanted. Definitely the 3D has evolved greatly over the last years. If you haven't seen, it don't miss the opportunity. See you!!!

Sunday

I am scratching my head not knowing what to write about in my blog. I am not a writer; I am a better listener. I could write about my best friend's daughter who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 25. I could write how I tried to comfort my friend knowing that it is just impossible. I just can pray that the treatment does its part and soon all this comes to an end. I think that I better write about this quiet Sunday watching tennis and going to the movies to see Avatar in 3D. Has anyone seen it?

2010 goals.

2010 came as any other year. Usually I don't make any resolutions. What I do is analyze what I did in the past and continue or make modifications. For me, the future is really uncertain; therefore, I don't think to much about it. I like my present. It is the only thing I can control, but in order to be conventional in 2010 I look forward to finish all the course requirements to obtain a bachelor degree as soon as possible, then we'll see......One activity that I'm doing as part of my list of 2010 goals is running. I love training. Swimming and biking are my favorite sports, but after swimming for many years, mi skin started to show funny lesions that I had to remove, so I decided to give me a break. It will sound silly but my dog Max, a mix lab, has become my best companion. He never slows down and makes me keep the pace. He learned to run by my side without pulling. He looks at me and once in a while he licks my hand showing me that he is enjoying the moment as much as I am.

Winter break

As you may know, I'm from Venezuela, but I've lived in Florida since 1996. For first time in fourteen years my sister and nephews, who live in Venezuela, couldn't come to celebrate Christmas with us. It was sad because I'm going to have to wait another year to see them. My parents, who live one mile from my house, had to split their vacation in two, so they spent Christmas in my house and New Year's Eve with my sister in Caracas. For New Year's day I decided to invite some friends over and celebrate the last night of the year with a delicious dinner that I prepared. It took me two days, but the results were awesome: a prime rib made with French herbs, rosemary roasted potatoes and mix salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette. For dessert: pouched pears in white wine syrup and chocolate sauce. After eating, we had to take a long walk, but the night was nicely cold and quiet. As you can see, I enjoy good company and cooking for my family and friends.