The Daily Scoop - Travelin' Cousins

May 15, 2017 - Mother's Day Re-cap

5/15/2017

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 12 DAYS

Don't let your EGO get the best of you..

It was a fairly mellow and I wish that I could say "drama free" Mother's Day - but that would be a lie.

Why oh why does it seem like there always has to be someone carrying a cloud of negative energy around them?

Yesterday it just so happened to be my dear daughter! Ugh she is such a brilliant child and yet like too many of us she just cannot see through her own ego.

And when I mention the ego, I am not talking about that of her sense of self-esteem or self-importance.
I am talking about the ego as our self-image, not our true self. It is characterized by labels, masks, images, and judgements.

The true self is the field of possibilities, creativity, intentions, and power. We can go beyond the ego through self awareness - awareness of our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and speech.

There is always a battle of ego vs. love
Inside every human being, two opposing forces battle against one another: love and ego.
Each has its own agenda, suggestions, and ideas, and they are almost always opposite. It's up to us to choose which we will allow to govern our lives. (soulprogress.com)

I'm not here to go into some over analyzation of the ego - but I just cannot stand to see someone that I love succumb to such a force.

Sometimes it's best to ask...

None of us are perfect, but wouldn't it be lovely if we all strive to be the best possible versions of ourselves.
To choose kindness and refrain from doing harm. That is my wish. And I think that self awareness is a good place to begin.

Well to continue my story, I managed to be as patient as possible with my teenage daughter. Ignoring her terrible attitude and moody behavior.
There was no rewards, yet there was also no punishments....Until I just had ENOUGH!

There is really no excuse that I accept for poor behavior and bad attitudes. Oh and don't even get me started on self pity?!
WHOA - that is the worst!

There is really no reason for this type of behavior and I do not condone it. I gave her time to work things out. But when she chose to carry on this terrible mood, it was time to have a talk with her.

She is my daughter and I'd much rather not have her become an adult who walks around carrying around a nasty attitude - there are already too many of those out there...I bet you even know a few!

I wasn't about to let her moody behavior effect my day - although I did question her timing...
I mean come on now - it was Mother's Day after-all!

Aside from all of that non-sense the day was pretty laid back and easy going.

Our Mother's Day started out as per usual with a lovely Benedict Brunch put on by Dave C.
We made all of our calls to family on the east coast wishing them a Happy Mom's Day and spent the entire day with the OC fam bam.
We all went to old town Tustin, strolled around a gardens, checked out a Kombutcha bar, and then headed off to tasty Thai dinner - where even my brother Michael (who was working all day) had met us.

Here check out the pics in my mini mom's day gallery:

Hydrangeas will always remind me of the Azores (c)travelincousins.com

Gonna try out this Kombutcha bar (c)travelincousins.com

2 out of 3 have drinks and yes Cosette was forced to smile - because ruining my photo is a bad idea (c)travelincousins.com

Chaplin slipped in this picture of my mother and her daughters (c) travelincousins.com

Me and my boy (c)travelincousins.com

Such pretties (c)travelincousins.com

DINNER TIME

Such a silly little thing (c)travelincousins.com

Our end of the table (c)travelincousins.com

Hmm - not everyone is looking (c) travelincousins.com

Houston and Matt spent the day with us (c) travelincousins.com

Overall it was a lovely day. And once we got home most of us sat around and all watched a movie together.

Cosette was feeling better and I was glad. But that doesn't take away from the fact that she is gonna be paying the piper in punishments for a while to make up for her poor behavior. And that is just the way it goes.

Today I'll be off to fill our cabinets and go to choir later on. I've also got a board meeting to put on and get the agenda ready for - so I guess it's time to bid you adieu.

Ciao 4 now,
-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 7 DAYS

We all have bad moods

Hello, hello!

I still cannot believe that we are in year three of our blog! Wow, does time fly by!

Usually, I'm the cousin that blogs her scoop first due to the time difference. But, the past week, my dear cousin Tanya has been the early bird, getting her's completed long before I even had a chance to think about what I'm going to write!

She beat me again today with her re-cap of her lovely Mother's Day. We had a chance to chat briefly last night via text and she did tell me how she was a bit upset about Cosette's moodiness yesterday.

Well, while I would never go against my cousin in matters of mothering and setting limits, I think we've all been there with the moods, and ego filled days. Poor Cosette - this too shall pass.

Lord knows, as the mom of two daughters - one, who will enter teenager-hood tomorrow an the other one, a pre-teen, our home is chock full of moodiness! Sometimes it's knee deep! And I put myself as part of that little grouping.

In any case, it does seem that our entire family - here on the east coast and on the west coast, enjoyed a warm and happy Mother's Day.

Well, this week is clearly got all the makings of lots of moodiness based on the number of commitments and things to do, places to be and the inevitable tiredness that will come with it all.

Today, after school, Gianna had her ongoing physical therapy for her back. I think she's doing better, but honestly, her poster is mostly to blame - she really does have to work on it to strengthen her core. As a nagging mom, she will never be able to forget that fact!

Later on, we have Gianna's band concert, where my girl will be playing her clarinet for the fifth year in the school band.

Tomorrow is Gianna's actual birthday - I am in shock that I will be the mom of a teenager!!

We'll start the day with picking up a large quantity of donuts for her to bring into school. Then, while she's at school, I will be running around picking up a few birthday presents for both my first-born baby as well as my Dad, with whom Gianna shares her birthday!

My mom made arrangements for a "joint" birthday dinner celebration tomorrow night - cannot wait for some great Italian food!

I know exactly what I'm getting my girl, but I will not mention it on here until after the gift giving has taken place. But, I'm pretty sure she's going to be stoked!!

The rest of the week is pretty jam-packed as well. On Wednesday is school Field Day, and Mom will be there to help out.

Then we have a lovely end to the week with the last 7th-8th Grade Dance for the year for Gianna.
Busy, Busy, Busy!!

More about Mother's Day...
I owe you guys some pictures. I didn't have my camera card adapter for my laptop yesterday, so here are a bunch of photos from the weekend, namely, Gianna's Afternoon Tea Party and Mother's Day 2017!!