To Grandmother's House We Go

Just last weekend my mom, stepfather, my five month old daughter, Francesca and I traveled to Arizona to visit my 92 year-old Grandma. Things I love about traveling to Arizona the most are seeing my family...and climbing Squaw Peak, which I don't get to do now that my brother and family have uprooted to Maryland.

Yet, my grandmother's house remains the same. One of the most constant things in my life since I was 10 years old. Walking in her home is like being home. A real feeling of home. Like a childhood walk back in time. I picked oranges of her trees, my Italian Papa make us homemade bread, fresh squeezed orange juice, and tons of other culinary goodies.

I have so many memories of my her house, like being 16 and forced to go there when a boy I fell so hard for was back at home waiting for me, playing mini golf at the arcade, the diving board at the pool, driving fast in the golfcart with my brother, and of course, when Papa passed away. I will always feel his presence when I walk through the house or when I relax on Grandma's patio.

The one thing I love most is the love that flows through the house. My Grandma is polite, educated, and well-spoken. She reads the paper every day and you will never ever catch her watching anything but baseball, the news, or Wheel of Fortune. She is also fiesty and opinionated at the same time. "babies should not be wrapped so tight, "She looks like she's in jail!" she tells me when I swaddle Francesca. Not to mention the sock in the arm she gave me when she saw Francesca's pierced ears,

"those are hurting her!"

"She's my baby I'll do what I want," I smile politely. There is more of me in her than just our matching blue eyes.

I'm still here

Here, I am once again. Ready to take of the bloggin scene again. Even if no one reads, I have big plans...for myself and for my family. Plans which involve the world of writing, something I really love and something I am fairly good at. I have plans for my writing and they begin here. Its been a rough, exciting, challenging, special year. A year full of growth and amazing changes. I will begin to document the insanity and the uniqueness that is MY life everyday. I hope you enjoy.

Let's Pray Together Cubs Fan

Eddie Vedder played THIS LIVE after composing it at the request of Ernie Banks who I've had the pleasure of knowing when I worked at Illinois Center Athletic Club once upon a time. I asked him for an autograph for my grandma after sneaking faxes in for him in the office on numerous occasions. He didn't just sign his name - he wrote by Grandma (life long die hard 91 year old Grandma) a sweet, long letter.

Go Cubs!!

Friday Evening & Weary

Sometimes I'm blinded
by exactly what's right in front of me

Other times I'm broken in pieces
but a little bit more put together than the day before

I'm always wishing for things I can't have
I'm always crying for things that I've lost

My heart is a framed picture of bliss, and peace, colored brightly and sweetly
With cracked and fragmented colored lines of gray and black of sadness and regret

Realizing that I just "am"
Helps me sleep better at night.

Lessons in Mommyhood #06

At some point during your child's life, usually between 18 and 24 months - DINNER TIME WILL SUCK. Accept it as it is, move on, dodge the food before it hits you in the face, and laugh. Remember why you became a mom and what a joyful experience it has been so far. And if you get the sudden impulse to just smack your husband in the face or hit him over the head with a large object during dinner, because nothing he says or does actually alleviates the situation, but only makes it worse.....resist the temptation. Save the energy for something else later..wink..wink....that might only result in another mess maker though.

Lessons in Mommyhood #79

What do you do when your toddler insists on going outside and you instruct him to put on his shoes (they're CROCS - he's not like tying gym shoes or anything) and he reappears with one shoe on (ready to go, of course)...while the other shoe is completely lost...for days....and he has not yet acquired the verbal skills to explain or remember what he did with the other one? Try this - CHECK THE FRIDGE - preferably the bottom two shelves.

Lessons in Mommyhood #44

When your toddler wanders in to the bathroom with an EMPTY cup and emerges mere seconds later with that SAME cup, but its FULL of water and your child is happily drinking it, don't immediately ASSUME that the little bugger actually reached up turned on the faucet and filled it up in that short amount of time. GO BUY TOILET LOCKS and then try your best to teach him to say..."I'M THIRSTY!"

(I swear I thought I was going to BARF - well, hey, the dog is still alive after all these years, it must not be THAT bad)