Nine months old

Nine months! About nine and a half months ago I was doing yoga with my big ol' Buddah belly hanging out, imagining my baby inside, sitting in yoga pose, enjoying all the big breathes and stretches as a gift of space as the walls of my belly closed in on her closer and closer by the day. Now she's here - and she's a little over nine months old. And she still enjoys yoga. She likes to sit and watch the poses, waving her arms back and forth, humming along to the Sat Nam mantra's as if on cue. I'm positive she remembers all of it.

Nine months - the time is so relative. Nine months of pregnancy, spent dreaming of who this new little person would be, what she would look like, how she would fit in as her own little being in this family. And then that same amount of time, after birth, watching your little one grow - it goes by in a FLASH! This month has been a biggie. One of her top teeth has started coming in (she got the first two bottom teeth in December) and we went from getting the feel of swallowing mushy rice cereal to full-fledged chewing motions now. She almost seemed insulted one morning when I mashed a banana. Her eyes were pleading, "bring on the chunks mama - I've got some teeth and I'm ready to use 'em". Pita bread, avacado chunks, pasta fagiola - she's conquered them all! She's also been studying everything we say and do with such intent and suddenly has a full repetoire of trained acts. Her arms go up for the "How big is Arianna?" question, she can clap her hands for dancing and cheering, and four days ago the backwards seal move gave way to a full-on forward crawl - INDEPENDENCE at last!!! Today she bee-lined right out of the "play room" and into the kitchen. She went under the kitchen table, checked on Kimo napping with a little tug of his ear then grabbed hold of the bar that runs underneath, and up she went into a stand!

That's it... in just a blink, her days of infancy are over and the limited view of her world has just opened up to a whole new adventure. I'm just hoping that all that yoga pays off and through the bumps and achievements ahead, she always stays grounded as she finds her favorite stars to reach for.

Spotted this online yesterday!

More from Carnival week

Can you spot our little cowgirl? 

Carnival and Green Monday

Feast before the fast.  Cyprus is about to begin their forty day fast before Easter.  "Green Monday" (beginning of Lent) kicks off the start of it all.  No meats; just fruits and vegetables and breads. Loads of big beautiful loaves of bread - herbed, olive loafs, seeded and unseeded. This daughter of a baker loves all of it!  Families gather outdoors for picnics on this holiday and kids can be seen all over the island flying their kites, playing music and dancing.   I love traditions!

Year of the Tiger!

Happy Chinese New Year!  If you missed your chance to clear out the old and usher in the new, back in January, well, here's your chance.  Place plates of fresh fruit throughout the home to represent abundance, clear out the clutter and get ready for a great year ahead!

Scenes of love for Valentines Day weekend

Me and my Dad, my first true love!

More help still needed

As the weeks pass, its easy to lose sight of how much help is still needed in Haiti.  Last week Mikayla and her friends held a bake sale as their contribution.  If you are not sure where to send money, the Red Cross is always a safe option. 

A little piece of heaven at the stable

If dogs can be angels, then surely horses can be too. 

I took this up at the stable a couple of weeks ago.

Can you see the beam of light shining straight down into the pony's pen?

Do I believe in angels?

Without a doubt! But what about little white furry ones? Well, exactly one year ago today an angel moved into our house. All these years I’ve been picturing angels as cute little chubby cherubs joining hearts on Valentine’s day, or beautifully radiant beings with long white flowing robes and wings, and of course, my all time favorite – Archangels standing ready to guard and protect me from – well – anything I need protecting from! I never really stopped to contemplate the concept of angels in animal-form, but I am now convinced that I share my life with one daily.

As I write, he is resting right below my perch, close by, as he always is, ever faithful, ever present, and I swear I think he sleeps with one eye open to just to make sure he doesn’t loose sight of me at any given moment. Even when he goes outside to do his “thing” he stays close to the glass doors like a dutiful sentry would.
Its not like he’s a stalker though – he does like his play time and will run circles around Cadie and Max when they all hang outside – but for the most part, where ever you find me, you will definitely find Kimo. And as I said, I am pretty sure this little guy was sent from Heaven to watch “under” me as I was over him.

Here I was thinking I was the one who would make a difference in his life when I plucked him out of that dirty, smelly, overcrowded puppy pen at the shelter last year. You see, he was the runt, and all the other little puppies just barreled over him to get at the food. Survival of the fittest is what they call it, and I would just watch as he sadly backed inside the little doggie house and lie down on the blanket, knowing full well he was not going to get past all those big bully’s up front.

I was pregnant at the time, and certainly didn’t need to take on yet another responsibility three months before having a baby, but when I plucked him up out of that little wooden box I just knew I would never put him back down.

So here we are, one year later and this little Cyprus pup has brightened my days, lifted my spirits and given me more unconditional love than a person can ever imagine they could receive in one lifetime. I know that sounds so over-the-top and you want to say, “yeah, I love my dog and my dog loves me too,” but seriously, I think he is more than just my furry animal companion, in fact I’m sure of it. He is most definitely, without a doubt, my living, breathing guardian angel, who has come to spend some time on earth with me to laugh and play and brighten each and every day.
Luckily, it was a smooth transition when he moved in. Cadie and Max welcomed him like a long lost relative. Now that Arianna is here, she and Kimo have grown up together and play like all siblings do. They roll around on the ground together, take naps in the afternoons and sometimes like to share their toys. And yes, I have caught Arianna chewing on Kimo’s bone and have also caught Kimo chewing on Arianna’s stuffed animals, but the BEST part lately is that they can share her clothes. These days are, for sure, the most wonderful days ever! So keep your eyes out for those angels, you just never know who or where you’ll find them 

Good morning

The first thing I see when I wake in the morning is this sunrise - straight out my bedroom window. I've never been much of a morning person.  I didn't realize what I was missing!  Happy Saturday everyone.

I've been hibernating I think

I don't know why, but the last few weeks I just haven't had the energy to do much of anything outside of day to day living, and it dawned on me today that the weather had turned cold and I must have gone into some sort of mini hibernation.  I finally got out of Nicosia today. Took a nice long walk along the beach and let the sun melt away the winter blues. Granted, it is not as cold as what NY and much of Europe is experiencing right now, but it is certainly not warm, and its definitely not summer.  I also went into my pictures tonight for some further inspiration of the beauty that surrounds me and found this scene from the top of St. Hillarion Castle.  I hope you enjoy the eye candy as much as I do.  Time to snap out of it and get all my latest pictures uploaded and get back in the game now!

Clarity

That's how I feel today...clarity in motion.  We all make our own little ripples in the water, and yet we find we can all live in peaceful harmony - together - and as one.

This photo was taken by our good friend David who accompanies his beautiful wife Jill to Hawai'i every couple of years.  This moment was captured at the Byodo-In Temple in Kaneohe which houses one of the largest golden Buddah's I've ever seen.  I'll have to see if David has any more photos to share!

My Mom - The Star

Seven years without a Mom. Such a strange thought and so very hard to believe. I always imagined my Mom in her late 90's, doing astrological natal charts, reading tarot cards, hanging with her best friends and dragging those willing out on a Friday night for yet another weekend of dancing.  Cooking all of Nonna's tried and true recipes for all us girls and our families on Sundays, and mostly being the pillar of family life she had become.  I guess she had other plans and moved on to be the true Star she always saw herself as, just like the one in that deck of cards she kept wrapped in silk. The first year without her I walked the beaches of Hawaii and threw flowers to the ocean, the second year I left trinkets in the snow by her grave, and then each year thereafter - I now realize - I've pushed further and further from all the gifts and wisdom she shared with me, in some kind of denial/punishment/rage for my lack of understanding how someone so vibrant, health conscious, artistic and truly unique could just up and leave like that.  I stopped the magic inside me and I only "real"ized that truth today.  The magic never left me you see...I left the magic, and I forgot how to live with my TRUE self, the person I was shaped to become when I was born to such a clever/healing/loving mother. The last month or so I started re-visiting that little girl in me, who was fascintated with the stars and begged for just one more reading. Who liked to stand beside her mother with healing hands and draw the white light from the heavens, believing without a shadow of a doubt, that love and faith is better than taking two aspirins any day of the week!  Wishing on rainbows, shooting stars, the flowers that you blow on as they take your dreams to the winds...all of it, I am feeling all of it again, and I will never let it go this time. Seven long years, it has taken my heart to mend, and the pieces are still a little tattered around the edges, but today, when I look out at the stars and I think of my mom, my first best friend, I can truly say I am at peace with her passing and I no longer feel anything but love and grateful thanks for every minute I had with her physically, and welcome our continued love that we undeniably share eternally.  I am back to meditating daily, sending healing rays to all I love, reading up on astrology and even did an online tarot reading for my birthday - something she would have really dug!!!!  I do miss her hugs though, even her sarcasm -and of course- her wit.  But I proudly announce that today, I am back - 100% pure ME and it feels fucking great!  By the way, that tarot reading I did online basically ended with the Star card as my destiny. I know that's you Mom, watching my back, just like always.  I LOVE YOU RINA ANN TORRICE!!! XXOOXXOO

Her favorite tarot card - The Star - of course!  Here's what it means...

What has traditionally been known as the Star card is about reconnecting one's Soul with the Divine -- the transcending of personality, family, community and reputation. It has to do ultimately with the freedom to be one's Self. The Soul is responding to celestial influences -- forces that can provide the personality with a stronger sense of purpose. The Star card helps us to remember our exalted origins and our attraction to a Higher Union.


This card could also be called the "Celestial Mandate" -- that which refers us back to our reason for being, our mission in this lifetime. The Star reminds us that, in a sense, we are agents of Divine Will in our day-to-day lives. If we let go of the idea that we are supposed to be in control, we can more easily notice and appreciate the synchronicities that are nudging us along. In this way, we become more conscious of the invisible Helping Hand, and we better understand our place within -- and value to -- the larger Cosmos.

Poetic..or rather...Musical justice

When I started blogging I made a pact with myself to keep it light and find a way to bring, if not laughter, at least a smile to my face and yours. There's already enough "buzz kills" in this world, we don't need blog sites with a bunch of rants and raves out there since the world is already full of news stories giving us bad news daily. That being said, I've been thinking long and hard on how I could make a personal statement to the airlines that Tara flew out on this last trip to see us. I was so disgusted in her story, and as it turned out, many more people I know who experienced real crappy service during the holidays. So... when I got this email about this guy Dave who found a creative solution to make his voice heard I knew I had to post it right away.  Airlines are taking more and more money, giving us less room (I swear the seats are stacked twice as close as they used to be), less luggage and weight allowances and WAY less customer service, and we're bitching and moaning to each other, but not making them change a thing.  The longer we allow it, the more it will continue to happen and I am not happy about it. Are you? Let's all be more like Dave and sound off in the best way we know how. Tara, this one's for you.
BTW - TARA DID NOT FLY OR HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH UNITED, but Dave did!
United Airlines and The Guitar

This is a true, and wonderful, story....

A musician named Dave Carroll recently had difficulty with United Airlines. United apparently damaged his treasured Taylor guitar ($3500) during a flight. Dave spent over 9 months trying to get United to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom Taylor guitar.

During his final exchange with the United Customer Relations Manager, he stated that he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for YouTube exposing their lack of cooperation. The Manager responded : "Good luck with that one, pal".

So he posted a retaliatory video on YouTube. The video has since received over 6.8 million hits. United Airlines contacted the musician and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video. Naturally his response was: "Good luck with that one, pal".

Taylor Guitars sent the musician 2 new custom guitars in appreciation for the product recognition from the video that has lead to a sharp increase in orders.

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&feature=channel

Someone...anyone

I just got this picture in from Dee, who got the picture from Jillian and now I need to know where I can find these - pronto!  Anyone???

If I could be a Christmas card, this is what I'd look like :)

Nice is sooooo over-rated!  Ho Ho Ho to the Kaufmann Clan!

Look who's having a birthday!

Wishing Brynn and Tess the Happiest 6th Birthday! And happy giving birth day Sandi! 

Wisdom for the New Year

Found on a NYC storefront window by Tara