Found an apartment!

     I am SO excited!!! I found an apartment in the heart of El Congrejo, Panama. It is tiny, but Elizabeth will have her own room. It has everything we need. It isn’t furnished so we will be able to start from scratch. I want to get Em a loft bed so it will open up her room and give her lots of space to play. I would love to put one in my room too soI can have a craft space to create and keep from going batty. This will be a challenge on a limited budget but we will manage. I am so ready to start 2019 in a new space.
Elizabeth’s room

My room

Master bath

kitchen

Living/dining, with a view of the balcony :)

Custody battle over

      After almost 3 years (2 years and 9 months), my custody battle is over. I will try not to use any expletives when I talk about this. After being literally kicked out of my house with no money, no clothes, no anything, AND not able to see or contact my 2 year old daughter, IN a country where I don’t speak the language, FOR no reason at all by my a$$h@ll of a husband, the judge decided to grant us SHARED custody. Supposedly they don’t do shared custody in Panama 🇵🇦. So now I am paying for an appeal. It has been such a LONG journey that even though the verdict was not exactly what I wanted at ALL, I am happy. The judge DID say that my daughter will live “in the home of her mother”, and my lawyers seem to think that is a good thing. I can survive here in Panama as long as I have her, and my husband 💩 doesn’t attempt to lower the pension I am receiving. My next stop is to get her a US passport so that she may visit her family in Florida. And Minnie Mouse.
     Despite being awarded a court order granting me permission to get my daughter a US passport without the signature of her father, 💩has managed to ONCE again block it in the court system. The sad part is, he is hurting his daughter. It is so obvious to me that he does not give a flying fig about her. He hates me, that is obvious, but by trying to devastate me he is hurting her. When she is old enough to realize what he is doing, I know she will not be thanking him. My anger towards him keeps me up at night, but I never tell my daughter what is going on. She is so joyful and innocent. Such a sweet and loving soul. I love her so much. She is my heart.
     So life goes on...I have decided to move to another area of Panama City with my daughter, partly to get farther away from 💩 who literally lives 2 blocks away from me now. Also, I will be leaving this high rent district. Everything is so expensive in Costa del Este. At the moment I live hand to mouth and literally NEVER have any money left over from my pension. If there is an emergency I am in BIG trouble. It will be so nice not to worry over every penny.I am so excited!!!

Exciting week with EM June 12-19

Em and I had such a wonderful visit last week. I brought a change of clothes when I picked her up at school and we headed straight for McDonald's. She was so excited when her friend Alex showed up.

EM and Alex played in the playground for a while and then we headed home. Amy, Alex's mom and I made plans to take the kids to DreamLand that Wednesday.

They had a ball, bouncing their little hearts out in the 15 minute time frame.

Because they were both under the age of 4 I had to go with them. That is me in the pink t-shirt and pink socks. I had fun until the teenage "referee" told me I couldn't jump. Adults were only allowed to stand and watch. That was OK because one minute into it I was drenched in sweat.

So, what did we do as a follow-up to DreamLand? Why a giant ball pit of course!

Again, I had to go with them. It was VERY hard to walk in those balls, like trying to walk with flippers on in water. EM and Alex loved it and didn't want to leave.

Next we had a little ice cream in the food court,

a little shenanigans ,

and SEVERAL trips round and round.

Finally we got some Legos from the Lego wall.

EM wanted all pink but I talked her into some other colors.

Flowers!

Sticker earrings.

The week ended with my poor baby getting pink eye. A little eye drops fixed her up just fine. I can't wait until my next visit. The week without her seems like a month :-(

Scrap yarn ideas on Pinterest

   I am not sure, but I think I have a problem. Could I be addicted to Pinterest??? I definitely have a love affair going on... Oh well. I'm not going to fight it. He makes me happy.

   I was perusing my boards the other day and I noticed a theme in my Creative Decor board. What to do with scrap yarn. There are SO MANY cool ideas on Pinterest!!!!!

   I am going to try a bunch of theses ideas, and I have a lot of yarn. I am starting with the wrap-a-stick project. I also have a lot of sticks for some reason. I seem to collect them every time my daughter and I go for a walk in the park directly behind our apartment.

I used construction string in a bright neon pink. You would be surprised with all of the cool materials you can find at the hardware store.

This is us in the park with our sticks.

When finished I will lean them in a naked corner like this... :)

I love funky jewellery and this is such a great idea!

Give the birds nesting materials!

Learn to knit or crochet...

Protect your wooden floors from scratches.

I might try this next. I need to find a chair...

or maybe this...

Interactive art! This could be arranged in so many ways.

Non-slip hangers...

a tiny wall masterpiece.

So many ideas. I don't know where to start... Check out Pinterest for these ideas and more!!!

Crayola Sidewalk Chalk

   Elizabeth and I had a great time in the park behind our apartment. It was very hot in the intense sun so we mostly stayed in the shade. We played with some Crayola Sidewalk Chalk I bought the other day. She only used the color pink (surprise), and luckily there are 2 pink ones in the box! She immediately laid down and we outlined her. We drew rainbows and hearts and crowns. Next time I will introduce her to hopscotch.

My sweet princess.

Pink!!!

Which color next? Pink!

Crayola Sidewalk Chalk

My crown...

H is for Happy!

   Ok, so I have fallen a little behind on the Heart-a-Day challenge so I decided to change it to the Happy-a-Day challenge. It is my challenge so I can do what I want... :) I did create something yesterday but it wasn't in the shape of a heart. It is all about becoming happy anyway... I also decided that Today I would make it a little more difficult and be happy for something that you would think was a very Unhappy situation.

   If you have read the about me page you know what my situation is. I was in a mentally abusive relationship. My then-husband filed false charges against me and locked me out of my home when I went to visit my family for my Dad's 75th birthday. The catch here is that I am in the country of Panama, where my daughter was born 3 years ago. I am fighting for custody in a foreign country where I don't even speak the language. Neither does he. We are BOTH American citizens. It is a dire situation.

   So what could be happy about it? Over this past year I have seen several Psychologists and Psychiatrists etc. for help and support. One of them said something to me that I will always remember. I carry it with me, and think about it whenever I get down too low. She said that it was a good thing that my husband did this to me, otherwise I would still be in that abusive relationship. That is true. I was committed and I was not giving up. Luckily for me, and my Daughter, Alyn had other plans. He literally pushed me out of my plane without a parachute. A plane that I had no intention of exiting. He pushed me and I fell. Far. No parachute. No warning.

   I am so happy he did this to me. He tried to ruin my life, but instead he did me a favor. As I fell towards earth lamenting the absence of a parachute and waiting to, well basically die, I realized I didn't need a parachute. I had WINGS! Had he not tried to kill my spirit I never would have discovered this strength that was in me all along. I now have faith that I can save myself, and my daughter. So, thank you Alyn for being such a ___________.

   So now I will continue with my Happy-a-Day challenge, and I urge you to challenge yourself too. There is always something to be happy about.

   On a side note, the photo is of my daughter at Chuck E Cheese. The look on her face of sheer excitement as she shows me her tickets she won. That is how I would like to be. She is my inspiration. Just happy to be.

Free Pancakes!!!?

   I just found out that today is National Pancake Day!!!!! Elizabeth and I have gone to IHOP a few times and she loves it!!! I think I will give it a try today after I pick her up from school. They are giving away free pancakes in the States, but I am not sure about Panama. I will find out!!!

Chocolate "hamburger" pancakes!

Rainbow!!!!!!!!!

Bacon 'n eggs

Ryan Gosling

Such a clever idea!!!!

Growing up my Mom always added food colouring to rice and mashed potatoes to make us eat them. I will have to try this with EM!!!

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