The Rosa Chronicles: The Ups, the Downs, and the Wardrobe Changes

Vacation is over. Conference is done with. Now back to reality. Y ahí es donde la puerca entorchó el rabo (this is difficult to translate, but it means "this is where things get difficult.') It was time to get back into routines. I generally handle routines well; in fact, I welcome routines as they keeps me focused. I like knowing what is happening, when and where. Little did I know that our home routines had been seriously altered and that we had to adjust to a new reality! Amanda's and Ileana's new school schedules are crazy! It keeps them away from home during evenings, sometimes as late as 9:30 p.m. Needless to say, this threw our routines out of the window. We come home and there's nobody here. And because it is weird cooking for one or two people only, (then again, I don't like cooking much!) we have resorted to ordering out quite a bit. Yeah...unhealthy stuff, big portions...and no leftovers for next day. Right now, I am in the middle of that tangl...

After that wonderful Hawaiian vacation, we came back to reality and the daily routines. We all had some adjustments to make, particularly with the jet lag, but me, with my insomnia, it took me a bit longer to get back on track. And to top it off, I only had about a week and a half to get adjusted, as I had to pack again to attend the United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) 2013, which was taking place in New Orleans, LA. I was very excited to go to USCA. It was going to be a great opportunity to network with colleagues in the HIV/AIDS field, many of whom I had met in 2012 at the  XIX International AIDS Conference , which took place in Washington, DC. Last year, I was selected by the National Latino AIDS Action Network (NLAAN) to be an Embajadora  at the conference. As an Embajadora (Ambassador), I covered various of the conference sessions and shared this information through a blog and other social media outlets, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Some other peop...

I have not written in a while. In fact, it has been more than a month since the last time I wrote! But it has been a very busy month, with many activities, a lot of achievements, changes, and new plans for the upcoming months. A month without writing is a long time, so this is going to be a multi-part blog, with the first installment being posted today. Here's Part I: Hawaii - Wonderful vacation! Andrew, the girls and I went on vacation to Hawaii, and what a great experience it was! We stayed in Oahu, and spent 9 wonderful days there. We had a couple of activities scheduled, like visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center   where we took part of the Ali'i Luau, which included visits to villages of the Islands Nations of Polynesia (Tonga, Tahiti, Marquesas, Hawaii, Fiji, Aotearoa, and Samoa), Hula lessons, a canoe pageant , and of course, a delicious dinner, followed by a fantastic show, Ha - Breath of Life .  My Bear and I at the Ali'i Luau We also went snorkeling, wh...

This week, on Monday, I started my leave from CALOR, the organization I founded, after 21 years of uninterrupted services. After consulting with my husband, who has always been supportive, and my doctor, we determined that I needed a break to focus on my health and my family, and to decide what to do in the future. I have been feeling burned out. Overwhelmed with shifts in funding and other changes that I could not control, but that nevertheless affected me. I have been feeling torn between being able to provide direct services and being buried in paperwork, that, while important, it can be cumbersome. At the end of the day, I was feeling drained, but not the kind of drain you feel when you accomplish something good. It was a feeling of having been doing a lot and still not having done much. I have always taken pride of having an organized desk, and suddenly my desk was covered with papers and files and reports...I felt defeated. I was losing patience with simple things like emails; ...

And Day 30 got here! It was actually yesterday, and to be totally honest, I do have to make up for some missed days due to life in general and also for being on vacation. But all in all, I was pretty disciplined throughout my 30 for 30 challenge. Once I make up for the lost days, I will be working on a schedule to continue working out consistently at least 4 days a week. Ideally, I would like to continue with the minimum 30 minutes per day, but being realistic, I know that this may not be possible. Whenever I can, I will try to fit it in because, from my point of view, there is something wrong with not being able to dedicate at least 30 minutes per day to myself. But things happen and sometimes it is just impossible, and instead of getting frustrated when I am not able to do so, I would rather work on getting as much time in as possible. I am sure that the discipline I have acquired during the past 30 days will keep me focused. What I have learned One of the most important things...

I wish this was so easy, but for me, even trying to focus on the simple things is sometimes a major task.  I was able to do that last week, for example.  But today? Well, today is another story altogether.  I knew the hideous week was coming, that week in which I have to struggle with my internal demons, battle insomnia, fight the constant exhaustion, all the while by trying to keep reminding myself that it will pass, that come the weekend I will wake up and the sun will be shining, even if it is cloudy and dark outside. Call it PMS, call it depression, call it whatever you want; it does not matter. It is a darned hard week and I dislike it very much.  So I am going to try hard right now and focus on the simple things. Those little things that make you happy without much effort.  Let me start with Lil Baby Mateo, whom I met on January 3. Mateo is my friend's Martha newborn baby, and oh, he is one sweet lil baby! We met for brunch at Nelly's Restaurant...