LAYER ONE:
– Name: Maria
– Birth date: August 1966
– Birthplace: Queens, NY
– Current Location: Upstate, NY
– Eye Color: Hazel/Brown
– Hair Color: Brown
– Height: 5′11 & 1/4″ Yup, I need to include that damn 1/4 inch
– Righty or Lefty: righty, but ambidextrous on some things
– Zodiac Sign: Leo

LAYER TWO:
– Your heritage: Italian American
– The shoes you wore today: None today
– Your weakness: Now why would I devulge that?
– Your fears: The thing in the closet, under the bed, in the shower, spiders, It would be easier to say what I am not afraid of
– Your perfect pizza: It is all in the sauce. Any topping with excellent sauce
– Goal you’d like to achieve: Getting through the day

LAYER THREE:
– Your most overused phrase on AIM: What the hell is AIM?
– Your first waking thoughts: Damn, it’s morning already?
– Your best physical feature: I don’t think I have one these days. I usually got comments on my eyes or my hair
– Your most cherised memory: The days I meet my babies for the first time

LAYER FOUR:
– Pepsi or Coke: Neither. If I was going to drink soda it would be Dr. Pepper
– McDonald’s or Burger King: I like Burger King for burgers and McDonald’s for fries
– Single or group dates: Now that I am married I would love a date with my husband.
– Adidas or Nike: Whatever.
– Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Neither, but I do love a cup of tea before bed.
– Chocolate or vanilla: Either
– Cappuccino or coffee: (Java of any kind is fine in my book)

LAYER FIVE:
– Smoke: Cough! Choke..gross man. I would never smoke.
– Cuss: With total abandon .
– Sing: Yes and sometimes I even sing in key
– Take a shower everyday: Yes! Do you think I would say no to this even if it was true?
– Do you think you’ve been in love: Absolutely
– Want to go to college: Perhaps!
– Liked high school: Ummm. It was ok
– Want to get married: Been there done that. It has it’s moments.
– Believe in yourself: I better, no one else is going to right?!
– Get motion sickness: Nope
– Think you’re attractive: Not anymore but there was a time when I was pretty OK. I didn’t think it then but when I look back now I see it.
– Think you’re a health freak: Oh God no. I would like to be but not enough to do anything about it.

– Get along with your parent(s): Dad is alive. He’s ok!.
– Like thunderstorms: Love em!.
– Play an instrument: I used to play the clarinet, trumpet and bass guitar (oh so many years ago)

LAYER SIX: In the past month…
– Drank alcohol: No
– Smoked: NOPE!
– Done a drug: I got some good ones during my stay at the hospital after giving birth to my daughter.
– Made Out: LOL…HA HA HA!!
– Gone on a date: LOL HA HA HA
– Gone to the mall?: NOPE.
– Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: No but I did in the past eat a whole box of Entemann’s Chocolate Chip Cookies.
– Eaten sushi: No but I have been craving it.
– Been on stage: Not since I was 10.
– Been dumped: Not in the past 18 years.
– Gone skating: Ice or Roller? Not in the past 12 years
– Made homemade cookies:
– Gone skinny dipping: Not in the past 11 years
– Dyed your hair:
– Stolen Anything: When I was a little kid, I stole an Archie comic, felt guilty and brought it back.

LAYER SEVEN: Ever…
– Played a game that required removal of clothing: If I did I don’t recall - doubt it
– If so, was it mixed company: refer to above.
– Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: YES. Once and never again
– Been caught “doing something”: if you mean “having sex”– yes.
– Been called a tease: Yeah by some drunk when I was bartending.

– Gotten beaten up: No but some chicks wanted to beat me up as a kid and my sister took care of it.
– Shoplifted: Nope, Wait..nope!
– Changed who you were to fit in: I don’t think I ever did this intentionally (perhaps as a child).

LAYER EIGHT:
– Age you hope to be married: I was 31.
– Numbers and Names of Children: 5 year old (son) 3 year old (girl)
– Describe your Dream Wedding: It was a back yard barbecue, at my grandparents house, at the church where my mom is buried. I didn’t get it though I gave my mother-in-law the wedding she wanted
– How do you want to die: Well seeing as though I don’t have a choice I just hope it is peaceful
– Where you want to go to college: I went to Staten Island Community College and Bloomfied College.
– What do you want to be when you grow up: When I was a child I wanted to be a jockey, a vet, a doctor, a nurse now I just want to be a good, decent person
– What country would you most like to visit: I would like to travel the good ole USA. Thank you very much! I am keeping my dollars here!

LAYER NINE:
– Number of drugs taken illegally: A Big fat Zero.
– Number of people I could trust with my life: Perhaps 3.
– Number of CDs that I own: I used to know this. I would guess about 1,200
– Number of piercings: 2 that I use now
– Number of tattoos: None.
– Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: I don’t think it has. Oh wait…two times..when I was …6 our dog had 12 puppies the paper came over. When I was 12 and my mom passed, the obit had our name.
– Number of scars on my body: Too many to count. The one I am most proud of. The entry to the world for my babies
– Number of things in my past that I regret: I try to never regret anything but I could probably count 3 things that I would like to forget

The word at Mo’s Manic Monday is Pride.

This is going to be a piece of cake. I have been brimming with pride ever since Friday, June 20th when my son graduated Pre-K.

Walking into his class room with his father who has only been to school once I thought for sure he would bolt from his seat and give his teacher a hard time when she asked him to sit.

He was one of the 85% who were able to contain themselves. They sat looking at us (the families) while we stared at them for about 15 minutes before the festivities began. There was a time when he stood up to walk over 10 minutes in but his teacher asked him to sit and he did.

Last year he would not sit and I was unable to get any pictures of him and his class. This year, he stood with the class and posed for 100 pictures as all the families snapped away.

I was so proud that he went up for his diploma with a big smile on his face(last year his teacher had to ssssstretch and hand it to him). Proud that he posed with his therapist and his teacher for pictures and proud that he sang all the songs, the national anthem and counted in Spanish 1-10 and then backwards. Love it!

So cute to see all their little faces as they leave the school and high five each other.

My Goddess cracks me up every day. She is funny, witty, lovable and just plain cute but when she apologizes I just want to cry. She always comes back and apologizes AFTER she has had time to think about it.

The other day, her father,

Such a grown up thing to do.. wait…, a lot of grown ups can’t even do this.

Oh where was I? Oh yeah, I digress, cute apologies.

The other day her father, asked her to stop pulling on the Wii remote. She didn’t. He asked her three times and then he took the remote from her.

The Goddess, Miss Dramatic, took off down the hall for the confides of her bedroom. She was in there about 10 minutes when I walked in and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk.

She said yes and we left for a casual 30 minute stroll around the block.

We got back to the house 40 minutes after the fiasco with Daddy and he opened the door when he saw us coming. The moment she saw him, she said, “I sowwy I was mad at you before.”

He said, “oh you are sorry.” He was probably unsure of what she was referring to since it really had been a while and it was not a big thing. There had been no yelling or tears.

They hugged and I tried not to laugh. It was so funny. Was she brooding about it the whole time? I have no idea because she was totally Miss Talkative the whole walk.

Today, at 5:30 she started a “I’m so tired tantrum” fight with her brother. He was sitting playing when she started crying and kicking him in the back. I went over and removed her. She went back and kicked at him. He came over and said, “Daddy, Goddess is pulling on the wire.” The husband who was eating, said, “mommy will be right there.” This was right after he told me to stop running over every time they fight.

Walking in, I removed her again. She ran into my room and closed the door.

5 minutes later, she knocked and said, “Mommy?”

Opening the door for her, she smiled at me. I said, “why did you shut the door?”

She put her arms up and I picked her up. “I sowwy I hurt your feelings mommy.” Then she hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Hugging her and walking down the hall, Daddy calls out, “I want an apology too.”

I brought her over and she said, “I sowwy, Daddy.” They hugged and kissed and then she giggled and asked for crayons and paper.

Another moment etched on my heart.

I hope tomorrow morning my little man is feeling better.

Today was the first time since he was 21 months old that he complained about his stomach. We have been fortunate with illness, or ailments in this house for the last 3 years.

He started complaining at about 1:30 right after lunch. He basically said, “mommy, my stomach hurts.” He said it again about 5 more times within the hour. When he finally went to the bathroom I figured everything would be ok. He again, told me that his stomach hurt. He went to the bathroom again (odd). No diarrhea, no vomiting (thank God), just complaints about his stomach.

We were on a play date so I finally took him home at 3:00 figuring that he just needed to lie down.

When we got home I thought for sure he would perk up, ask for Wii and turn back into my rambunctious, spirited, 5 year old. This did not happen!

He asked me to lie down with him so I did. I got up after 10 minutes to assist the Goddess with some potty stuff.

When I got back to my bed, he had moved to his bed and was under the covers. I left him and started cleaning. I came back about 20 minutes later to see him still lying down. Strange.

He didn’t want pizza (his favorite) and asked me to rock him.

I held him on my lap as he just made faces and closed his eyes. Sensing that the Goddess and her daddy wanted to play I took him with me into my room because really, who wants to have someone bouncing around when your stomach is sick?

We got into bed and he was out in less than 8 minutes. That was at 7:10 p.m. He is still sleeping soundly. I hope that whatever it is, settles and that basically he just has a sour stomach.

I hope that when he wakes in the morning, he once again asks, “can I play Wii” the moment he opens his eyes. I will say, “no, it’s too early” and we will get on with our day.

I hope!

Look at that face! It looks like the heavens are shining down and he knows he was just baptized.

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1. Birthdays are once a year.

2. Autumn is my favorite season because of the colors and the crisp air.

3. I feel my best when I am home with my kids and husband.

4. Food is my favorite food!

5. First impressions are sometimes unfair.

6. The best piece of advice I ever received was discipline with love in your heart.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching a movie with my husband tomorrow my plans include relaxing with the kids and husband and Sunday, I want to do some blogging.

This is a very prestigious home in my state. It is right on a lake and is all rock. It was a former castle complete tower.

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