Last Weekend Rocked

Last weekend I headed out with my kids minus the husband to my girlfriend and her husband’s version of Lalapalooza called Ozzapalooza.

These two go all out when they throw a party. The only thing missing was an outside bar. Come to think of it, I thought there was going to be one of those this year. Bek?

We get a hold the date thingy in the mail then the real package comes.

Included in the package

A concert looking ticket giving the date, time, location, admission price which of course states FREE (one of my favorite 4 letter words).

An RSVP card that asks you to call so that they can buy enough beer

Directions in case

VIP Card giving us access to all Ozzapalozza events like the VIP gazebo, etc. It says that we should present the card for Free Parking and Unlimited Use of the Bathroom.

A Water Alert Card – This is a child friendly party so the card tells us that the kids get use of her kids kiddie pool, water table, sprinkler so we are told to bring an extra set of clothes just in case.

The 08 Special Attraction List –

• 3 Flags Amusement Park which is her daughters swing set.
• The Cage which is her daughter’s play room complete with totally cleaned the night before toys (because she is THAT kind of hostess.
• The BatCave which is her husband’s pride and joy – A ridiculous, everyone should bow down and scream they are not worthy upon entering the doors. The room features a 8ft screen, with 4 of the most relaxing, reclining chairs you will ever see, surround sound, HD viewing, Xbox 360, PlayStation and a DVD collection to make Best Buy drool.

It was great to sit with Bek’s Aunt and talk for an hour I totally stole her forever. She was awesome.

Her father-in-law Columbus (not his real name) was the best. I loved how he was with my kids.

There were kids from last year that must have grown at least 2 feet in 1 year. Everyone seemed so grown!

To top a wonderfully fun, relaxing day off I won the raffle which was a Godfather Gift basket (colander, pasta, sauce and The Godfather DVD) which totally rocked.

On top of all this Bek loaned me 3 more books. I read Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight and loved it she when I returned that one she dropped the next 2 plus the final book of the series into my arms. It was like she was giving me a whole set of encyclopedias. I thought I was going to need help getting the 3 books to the car but thank God I have been working out and handled it like a champ.

It was a rockin good time. I can’t wait to see what the theme is next year.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures but I did get to help out a lot more than usual. How is this possible? Usually my husband is with me which means 2 sets of eyes on the kids and I can’t but this time I could. Maybe it is just that the kids are getting older. Last year I was worried about my 2 year old falling or something. I guess! Ummm…I’ll have to figure that one out.

First Playdate was a Success

Two weeks ago, someone I know, “Nurse”  asked if I was interested in doing a play-date with our boys.  We live on the same street and talk occasionally. Our boys are about 6 months apart in age with her boy, let’s call him Rush for story sake, being the older one. She also has a 2.5 year boy, let’s call him Linebacker because he is just such a big boy.

Nurse sent Rush to me for an hour on that first play-date because her little one wasn’t feeling well. I really wasn’t sure if the play-date should happen because if Linebacker was sick whats to say that Rush  wasn’t infected and would pass something hideous onto mine? Being able to say “no” has never been one of my strong points.

Anyway back to the story, Rush was like any other kid when they first get to someones house. He played with everything and then focused on one thing. Occasionally the kids all played together but mostly that was when they were racing each other up and down my hall. After that it became a Rush and Goddess play-date. Handsome wasn’t interest about 1/2 way in.

Goddess and Rush had a good time and Nurse was awesome in picking up her son within the hour just like she said. 

I was thrilled that she had suggested it and disappointed that my son wasn’t more eager to participate with Rush.  We thought that perhaps he would have a better play-date at Rush’s house next time and vowed to do it again next week.

I have mentioned that I feel he has a deficiancy in social skills and that the way he plays with his sister is how I would love to see him with his peers.

Last week, I told her we were hibernating when she called to see if we were going to still have the play-date. School was closed because of the ice storm and I didn’t want to go out and really sending my son out without me for the first time was not something I was eager to do.

This morning while he was having a session with his Special Education Instructor there was a loud bang on my door. Then more banging. I looked out the window to see if FedEx or UPS was over zealous or something but saw Nurse and Linebacker running up my drive way.

It was Rush banging on the door and so excited to have his best “what’s your name again” friend come over.

Handsome hadn’t been told about this play-date and had not idea why I was dressing him so quickly.  I put his shoes on him, told him he was going to play at Rush and Linebacker’s house and to stay near Nurse and have fun. He left without a look back, running down the street, holding Nurse’s hand while her two ran ahead. Considering our abandonment issue from a few months ago this is a step in the right direction.

I called her about 15 minutes into the play-date telling her this was my first time sending him out alone and that I would try not to call again but would pick him up in an hour. She mentioned that he was “so good” “a pleasure” “welcomed anytime” and that he was playing with both boys.

Goddess and I walked down there wheeling her little stuffed pig and a bear in her doll carriage. I could hear him laughing from about 15 feet away. They were outside enjoying the day and having a blast. He was being pushed on a swing by Nurse and saw me, “Look, there’s mom.”

He got off the swing and come over. “Mom I’m having fun.”  

Nurse filled me in on the rest of the play-date which was him running back and forth, telling her “I’m going to check on Rush or I’m going to check on Linebacker. Bye” She also told me that he tries to keep the boys out of trouble. If he noticed them doing something they shouldn’t do, he’d say,”Oh, Rush, that’s dangerous, be care.”

Honestly I had figured Nurse would call and I would have some other reason not to send him out. I am so glad she just showed up because he had an awesome time and we made plans to try to get them together every week which will be good for all of them and eventually me.  

HTML Is Confusing and Annoying

Grrrr….

I am trying to add the Self Portrait button for a half hour now and I can’t figure it out. I give up. Calling Bek tomorrow morning.

Update: It is now 12:20 and I finally got it linked. Hooray. Thanks to the Teach, Bek’s wisdom from yesterday and MySpace HTML codes which I snagged. 

Extended Family Christmas Get Together

I love this time of year. Mostly I love it because my girlfriends and I get our pack of kids together to exchange gifts, eat, drink, take pictures and make a ton of noise.

Mostly what I love about this little group is that there is a comfort level equal to being with your closest family. There is laughter, fun, joking, smiles, joy, chaos, stories, clucking (typical speak for too many girls talking at the same time).

In the past we used to head to Manhattan by ferry and spend the evening eating, walking, taking pictures, eating dessert, and more walking.  That was then…

Now, we get together on a Sunday at Houlihans without kids for lunch and then we do the next weekend with all our kids. 

Yesterday was our kid day. It was fun. The kids all have that cousin mentality and mostly get along very well. There are 7 kids between the 4 of us and the ages are from 2-15.  The oldest was my ring bearer and the youngest is my Goddess. I love seeing how well they all get along and how nicely they play together.

There is a comfort level with the lot of us that is hard to find these days.

It all started with Teresa who I met on my first day of work back in 1988.  We eventually became the inseparable dual at work. Like salt and pepper we were rarely seen alone. Through her I met Diane (who later became my roommate along with Teresa when the 3 of us rented an apartment together for a couple of years) and then Barbara. Teresa, Diane and Barbara all lived in the same city and all went to the same school so occasionally they go into some rant about people they knew back in the day but like I said, I can easily tell shout out “boring, bored” or some other obnoxious rant they tell me to “shut up” and we move on. Love it! Just like family no? Without the biff upside the head.

I sent each one of them all the pictures from yesterday along with a thank you note to each one of them that went something like this.

 It was so nice to see you all yesterday. I wish we weren’t spread all over the place because we certainly don’t get together often enough.Teresa, thank you for hosting, for the book, parting gift, food and for all that you do. If you didn’t organize these little shindigs they probably wouldn’t happen. You rock and my kids had a blast and can’t wait to go to your house again.Barbara, thanks for the gifts, taking care of my daughter when she hurt herself, helping me out to my car, those awesome cookies, and for all that you do. We shouldn’t just wait for Teresa to hold a get together to see each other.

Diane, thank you for babysitting with me, making lunch for the kids, the kids gifts, my 5 dollar scratch off win and for all that you do. What I said to Barbara applies to you too.

BigC, thank you so much for your extreme patience with all the kids when Aunt T and Aunt Barbara abandoned us to visit Liz. Handsome and Goddess were talking about you all night. You are welcomed to my house anytime you want. We have to work something out with your parents.

MyJ, thanks for loving Handsome and Goddess as much as you do. Sorry I didn’t get to talk to you much. I saw you but still ended up leaving there missing you. Buttercup is very cute and I hope you like your books. Anytime you want to come, you are more than welcome too.

I love all of you and Wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Love, Maria

It is the best and I love every minute of being with them and wish we could all get together more often but we none of us even live in the same damn county let alone same city.

There is nothing I couldn’t ask for these three or their children who all call me Aunt.  I always end up in a love fest after seeing them. They are truly good people and anyone would be lucky to have any of them in their lives.

Handsome and Goddess,

Just a reminder that your Aunt Teresa, Barbara and Diane love you very much. They will all always be there for you and please know that you can count on them, tell them anything and they will always love you.  Aunt Barbara is always there for a hug, Aunt Diane is always there for a joke and Aunt Teresa is always there for some good advice.

Outstanding moments of yesterday:

Handsome and Barbara’s Baby Girl running with each other and calling for each other. I have not seen them play in the past.

Handsome getting a piggy back ride from my ring bearer BigC. How friggin cute. Who could have seen that 10 years ago?

My Goddess petting a hamster that MyJ was holding.

BigC letting all the kids lay all over him and having the most patience of any 15 year old in the world.

Goddess showing everyone her new doll from her Aunt Teresa like the proud little mama she is.

Babysitting with Diane and letting the kids run amok for the hour that we were abandoned by Barbara and Teresa.

Winning $5.00 on a Christmas scratch off from Diane.

Goddess telling Barbara she “loves it” when asked about a particular gift from Aunt Diane. “Do you like it?” “I love it!” she replied. Followed by all the awwws 4 women could muster.

My handsome saying “Happy Holidays” as we headed out the door.

These were just a few of the awesome moments that made out little get-together one of the best so far.

November Update

Life has gotten hectic. I enjoy when it’s busy but hate when I feel like I don’t get a chance to live in the moment and reflect on pivotal events that are soaring by.

Thankfully I take enough pictures that I actually have a sort of photo journal in case I forget something that I didn’t get the chance to submerge myself in. I can look through my photos and see my entire month as you would a calendar.

This month the photos show that my son dressed up as Stephanie from Lazy Town complete with pink wig and pink dress. We visited a friend with a dog and my daughter was able to spend some time petting the animal who was caged at the time without it jumping all over her which she absolutely hates.  There was a trip to the mall with the same friend and her son where the kids had lunch and then were able to ride on some typical mall rides. Put in your hard earned 50 cents and the kid can bounch up and down for 2 minutes. I don’t understand why they like it but they do.

We also took a trip to the Staten Island Children’s Museum with my sister, cousin and their respective children. It was a rainy, grey, gloomy day but the museum was fun and the cousins enjoyed spending a few hours together and my two can’t wait to go back. They mention it at least two times a day with a wishful shout out, “we’re going to the museum tomorrow!” To which I reply “not today sorry. but soon”. I hope to get them back there before February. I would love it to be earlier but I prefer to be realistic.

There was a trip to the park where the kids and I had the entire place to ourselves for about 45 minutes and we were in our glory. Mostly we just went up and down the enclosed tubular slide. Unfortunately there are no pictures of this day, I didn’t know we were going to end up there but as I passed it, I realized that beautiful days will be few and far between in the next few months so might as well take advantage of the warm sun while we can.

There were many hours of freelance typing this month also which obviously there are no pictures but who the hell wants to remember being chained to a table for hours typing monotonous bullshit? Not I, my friend!

November 22nd brought us a beautiful surprise when we awoke to a winter wonderland. Our first actual accumulation of snow. The kids were so excited and wanted to go sledding. There really wasn’t enough for that but it did make for a picturesque morn.

November 23rd gave us a Thanksgiving party at Pre-K where I got to see Handsome behaving and participating nicely in class. He sat with his little girlfriend and wore a pilgrim hat. He was allowed to chose between and Indian or a pilgrim but he chose the pilgrim. I wonder what that means if anything. 

Thanksgiving day, had me cooking for 8 which was fun and unexpected. The food was good, the company ok, the dishes too friggin many. There was a brief kitchen fire when Teach decided it would be a good idea to pop the turkey bag before removing it from the oven which obviously sent turkey juice, champagne and apples (which I use everytime I roast a turkey) to spill into the hot oven resulting in a small, albeit scary fire.  At least I have a Thanksgiving story to tell in the coming years. This was the first time I have done Thanksgiving, usually I head to the in-laws so at least it was eventful.

After that, there was a bridal shower for a cousin who I believe is too young to marry but I guess when you know it’s love you know it’s love. Who am I to say what’s right for someone? I know it wouldn’t have ever been right for me but maybe this is exactly what she is supposed to do.  Good for them for finding each other with so many years to enjoy life together. I wish them luck.

On another note my love of the written word as allowed me to finish two more good books as this month comes to a close.

First, Middlesex which took me about 169 pages to finally get into and then it moved so quickly. I enjoyed it and would recommend everyone skipping the first 167 pages, putting your feet up and reading a really decent book.

Along with that I read Heroin Diaries a Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx which I recommend to everyone who likes rock, everyone who liked Crue, everyone who has an addictive personality and everyone who wants to read a brutally honest book and anyone who likes to read!!!

Womenhood

Time passes. 
Life happens. 
Distance separates. 
Children grow up. 
Jobs come and go. 
Love waxes and wanes. 
Men don’t do what they’re supposed to do. 
Hearts break. 
Parents die. 
 
Colleagues forget favors. 
Careers end. 

BUT……… 
Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. 
 
A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach. 
 
When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley’s rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the  valley’s end. 

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you…Or come in and carry you out. 
 
Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters , daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and   extended family, all bless our life! 
 
The world wouldn’t be the same without women, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood , we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. 
 
Nor did we know how much we would need each other. 
 
Every day, we need each other still.

Self Portrait Challenge – Week 1 – Food

I joined the Self Portrait Challenge because of Faith’s Mommy, Holli. She asked that some of her Readers join and here I am.

This being said I really don’t know what to say about me and food. I eat because…

I like it

I need it

I want it

I had an eating disorder for about 8 years and I try not to think too much about my relationship with food.

This picture taken with a timer shows me trying to enjoy a treat, Sushi. I loove sushi. I love the texture. I love eating with chopsticks. I love the whole laying of the right amount of Wasabi and Ginger to my taste.  Most of all I love that you can’t just mindlessly shovel food into your mouth. It takes time to make each bite the perfect one. 

As a mom of two 23 months apart I sometimes really need to do mindless eating so that I CAN actually eat. This picture shows what would happen if I were to mindlessly try to sit down and eat some sushi without thinking about it.

Crap, that’s not sushi, it’s friggin wasabi……