Wine Fest and Pink Eye

Last weekend was my mom's birthday, Memorial Day Weekend, and the Southern New Mexico Wine Festival.  Friday night, my sister arrived.  We made tacos and played wii!  My mom and dad arrived on Saturday.  After Mom opened her presents we headed to the wine fest! 

Below is my mom reading a card from Ashley.

Here we are at the wine festival:

In the picture below my dad just received a wine sample.

After the wine festival we headed to dinner.  In the picture below you can see my parents and their "beer flight".  They're trying out the beers of a New Mexico brewery.

After dinner we headed back to the house and enjoyed a game of Apples to Apples!  The next day after breakfast and a little bit of shopping my parents and sister headed home.

Unfortunately, on Sunday (after a week of having what I thought was just a cold), I realized my eye was not quite itself.  Therefore, my three day weekend turned into a four day weekend due to pink eye.  Oh well, it was still a wonderful weekend!

NAMI Walk

NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) provides awareness and free support and education about mental illness.  You can read more about NAMI on their national website.

Carlos and I have decided to participate in one of their major fundraising events, a 5k walk on May 14.

We have a goal of raising at least $100 each, and can receive donations online at our individual websites, or via check/cash.  Should any of you wish to donate:  Please contact me if you wish to donate via check or cash.  If you are comfortable and able to make an online donation you can do so at the following locations:

My Website
Carlos' Website

My husband, mother-in-law, and I have been attending a free 12 week course for family caregivers of individuals with severe mental illness.  The course is taught by people who have also been caregivers of a person with mental illness.  The course covers topics such as: information on the illness, medications, communication, workshops, strategies for handling conflicts, locating support and services within the community, gaining empathy, current research relating to the biology of mental illness, etc.  We have also found a local NAMI support group to be quite helpful.

Mental illness is still something that tends to be quite misunderstood and contains a stigma that it should not.  Should your life ever be affected by mental illness, please seek support.  Don't be afraid of what people may think.  The right support can make all the difference in the challenges that mental illness can create.

Some Time to Myself

This past week my husband was out of town from Wednesday until 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning (he was in Phoenix for a high school robotics competition with the team that he mentored).  I enjoyed the time to myself and got to do a lot for myself that I have been wanting to do.  I got the usual chores done (cleaning, grocery shopping, etc), but was able to have a lot of relaxing "me time".  I rented a couple of chick flicks, took a bubble bath, did my nails, finished my book, took a nap, ate a frozen dinner (I can't remember the last time I've had one of those)...  You know, things of that nature.

And yet... the best part of the weekend:  When my husband got home! :)

A Realization

So I am realizing that I really need more time to myself. I very rarely have any alone time. I don't feel like my time is my own. When I am at work it is my employer's time. When I am home, it's time to be with the husband.

The other day Carlos and I were sitting on the couch together trying to decide what we wanted to do in that moment. I decided that I wanted to play a game on my computer. He stated, "Well, since we're here together I was really hoping that we could do something together." What was my response? "Umm... we're always here together."

I'm rarely home when he's not home. He spends all day in the house while I am at work, and likes spending time with me when I get home. I appreciate that, but at the same time...It would be nice if I felt more free to do whatever I want to do. I feel pressured to either cook dinner, clean, go grocery shopping, etc., or to be spending time with Carlos.

My alone time is my recovery time, my time to process and de-stress. So... what am I going to do about it? Well I am not going to do nothing about it. I think I'll start out by discussing with Carlos some sort of plan to allow me to have more self time.

I know a lot of people never have time to themselves, particularly parents, but this is something I need right now. It's not that I need to be alone in the house, it's that I need to feel free take part in activities that involve only me (other than housework, etc).