Mims.

This post should have been done in April. Or on Mother's Day. That would have been great! But I am not great at timing. Dang me. I need to get organized and just sit and write a post when I have a few minutes.  So, this is delayed, but I am combining the two to make one awesome post about my mom.

When I first went to college, eons ago, we'd talk every Sunday night. It was just a good routine to get into. We did that for about three years like clockwork. The cool thing?  I still talk to her pretty regularly and now she even Skypes! Go Mims....welcome to 2013 you savvy techie you! ;) These days she is busier than me! She responded to my April goal, "You didn't call me every week?!?!?" To which I said, "Heck yes I did. You are just never home! Social butterfly..."

A good way to start might have been to say that I call my mom Mims because I think of her more as a friend. This is a good thing. Not everyone can say their parent is their friend. I am fortunate enough to do so. She is still my mom and is not afraid to act like it or tell me things that I don't want to hear....but it's all for the best because moms rock.

Mims is a (my) rock. Rock on Mims!

In my adult life, I have had some setbacks and some rough times. What helped me get through? Many things, but one constant was Mims. Because she's a mom. Because she's Mims! She's always there to love the four of us kids unconditionally. To give advice (wanted or not! he he). To lead by example. To support us. To love us. To teach us. To pick us up. To tell us what we need to hear. To tell us what we don't want to hear. I am pretty sure that moms are superheroes who hide their capes....just sayin'.

Last May, about this time, Mims announced that she tested positive for breast cancer. I remember sitting at Smokey Mountain with Marin and Mims on Mother's Day when Mims told us about the lump she found. I held back tears. Isn't it a normal reaction to cry? She had a doctor's appointment in a few weeks. I also remember telling Will that she tested positive for breast cancer. I was sitting on the kitchen counter criss cross in yoga pants. I didn't fight back tears. I let them flow. Why? I needed a release. Will was there to comfort me. He said, "Our Mimie is strong. She is so strong and will fight this." And that she did. F you cancer! She kicked your booty to the moon! BooooooooM!

The thought of anything happening to Mims, the thought of something larger than life, out of control, taking Mims away is saddening. It hurt. It scared me. I worried about what would happen to the family. Mims is the glue. She is our kinkeeper, as most mothers are. I love my mom. She's absolutely wonderful and awesome and the most fantastic woman ever!

Mothers are superheroes.

We owe them everything...

Glee + Wine = Great medicine

Today sucked.

There's not really another way to explain it. It wasn't just one thing, but rather a compilation of things. I think my mind is full and tired. I think my heart is heavy and hurting for others. I think my body is physically exhausted from this crazy ass semester from hell that I loved and hated at the same time.
Things build. Snowball. Today work was nuts. Things were off.

My super cool and funny co-worker Lexi looked at me today and said, "Today was rough. Today was a hardest day." For no one reason. Nothing too crazy bad, but things weren't normal, didn't feel normal. Something big was weighing on us. We needed to dance. So we did. We turned on some of our faves: Monster Mash and Who Let the Dogs Out and did some of our zumba dance moves. It rocked. We laughed. We sweated. Anyone who saw us  probably would have thought we were nuts. It was great.

Thursdays are supposed to be my "Maja's Mental Health" night. I had to adjust plans a bit and had planned on grading an abundance of papers tonight so I could have the weekend off. After looking at ten that I thought were absolutely crazy ridiculous, I decided I would wait. I de-stressed by going grocery shopping. At Winco nonetheless. It was dead. I shopped and used my reusable bags.....that always makes me feel awesome. Then I watched Glee. And enjoyed some 14 Hands Hot to Trot. Holla! My latest love.

Thursdays also mean Grey's Anatomy (yup, I am still a fan) and Glee (yes, I am STILL a fan....all you haters keep on moving....it's still about the singing, music and high school drama. It's  fabulous). It was the season finale of Glee, so I watched it live rather than wait until the DVR tapes it. Weird! I am not used to watching my shows live.

Anyhoo. I cried. Ahhhhh. Glee has a way of making me cry. It was a sad episode in parts. I needed to cry.  It felt good. Yes, it's a mix of all my emotions rolled into one (see first paragraph). So much on my mind. On my heart. Took its toll. Crying is a release. It makes me think how I am going to walk down the aisle without crying (or try to look semi cute while crying and walking) if I cannot even make it through an episode of Glee without crying.

Ugh. Stupid girl ;)

Needless to say, this Mental Health night was not a waste.

Maja's Mental Health

It's that time again of the month...no, not THAT time, but the time where I say what my focus is. This month, the fifth month of the year (my birthday month-WHAT WHAT!), is where we start over with our focuses. We are back at "Health and Wellness." Perfect timing since WAM Wedding is JUST around the corner. Holy crap. Seriously. The corner is less than two months wide. Yikes! Good yikes :)

Back to health. Back to wellness. I am happy to say I am officially done with my first year of grad school! w00t w00t....doing my happy dance. It consists of my hips shaking and my arms going crazy above my head to no particular beat. Yup, I am that cool. FOCUS! So, with it being the end of my school year and an absolutely hair graying, break down encouraging, make-me-wanna-run-to-relieve-stress kind of semester, I thought a mental health goal would be good. Not good, NEEDED. Much so. Very much sooooooooo.....Will will vouch for me.

My first goal for May is to have a mental health night. It works out marvelously because Willis is once again in a golf league and they play on Thursday nights. Perfection. I have decided to make Thursday evenings (after work of course) my "Maja's Mental Health Night." Aka, I will be doing whatever I want, but I will remain at home. I will relax. I will do something for me. I will take time to enjoy life, myself, the quiet of the apartment, the quiet in my head, the evening. All by myself.

I used to have "Maja Nights" when I lived alone. Every Monday night I would crack open some wine, paint my nails, watch a girl show, read a book or craft. It was bliss. I can escape. From life. From my to do lists. From everything and just be. It's nice. Everyone needs an escape.

This goal is good for me for many reasons, but the biggest  baddest reason of all is I cannot relax. I cannot NOT do something. Am I ADD? Possibly. Do I have OCD? Most definitely. Do I love nothing more than accomplishing things and multi-tasking? Abso-freaking-lutely! It's not a bad thing if you have balance. I don't have balance. I have busted my butt this semester and have not had the time to just not do anything. This is going to change. And I am going to enjoy every moment of my Maja nights! I can't wait!

Knowing me, I will make a "Maja's Mental Health Night" to do list....oy-vey....help me!

WAM...

I realized that once again, I have failed to keep up my regular posts. Epic fail Maj, epic fail. Well, I thought I would go crazy bonkers and load up on posts for the next week weeks or the next monthly challenges....that makes up for it, right? I think so ;) Plus school will be done and I will (hopefully, cross your fingers) have more free time. What is free time anyway??

So. My April focus was relationships. The first relationship that  I focused on was WAM. We have an awesome relationship, we think! I kind of don't want to get all mushy and sensitive about WAM (that's Will's job...he's the emotional one! he he) and we will be all mushy with our vows in two months, but here is a little about us.

We had a few nights, almost worked out to be a night a week, that we either went out to dinner or stayed in and spent time together. Just WAM. No phones. No Facebook. No games (dang you Candy Crush! You're officially "the other woman" to me!) Our favorite things to do: hit up the Alehouse, watch Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or Duck Dynasty, workout, read our individual books in the same room or just sit and talk. This last one is one of my favorite things. I love our talks! When we first started dating we sat and talked for hours and about everything. Lately it's been happening late at night after I am done with homework and Will is home from some fun event. Many mornings I have been tired because we stayed up way late.

And I love it.

The time I could have spent writing blog entries for this month's focus was spent hanging out with  Willis.

And I don't regret it.

We're best friends. Seriously, I can actually just hang out with him and watch TV and have an awesome time. I can tell him anything and he doesn't tell me just "what I want to hear" he is honest, he is raw and he is true to me.  Together we just have a freaking awesome and amazing time no matter what we are doing. We laugh. We dance. We act silly. We act serious. We talk and we listen. We focus on each other. We focus on continuously on strengthening WAM. We love each other.

I love WAM.