this is one of my favorite pictures ever...ally so innocently taking a quick snooze in the comfort of my grandmom, her nonni
a recent pic of my angel and me at my parents
Sunday, May 18, 2008
nonni
this is one of my favorite pictures ever...ally so innocently taking a quick snooze in the comfort of my grandmom, her nonni
a recent pic of my angel and me at my parents
Saturday, May 17, 2008
a note for gram and a new CD from Jen
happy belated birthday gram r.! i hope you got my present yesterday on your official birthday and you enjoyed another year of happiness and joy! we sure do miss you now that you have moved to florida, which made your visit this spring all that more speical. we look forward to seeing you again soon.
jen - thanks so much for yet another GREAT cd mix! it was like christmas in may when i opened my mailbox to find your package! the cd's are perfect for my long drives to work and for just cruising around town. i especially like the song by brad paisley - "i'm still a guy"...so perfect, right??? thank you for including me in your elite cd circle of friends! i miss you and i wish we were going to be around when you visit, hopefully next time for sure!
jen - thanks so much for yet another GREAT cd mix! it was like christmas in may when i opened my mailbox to find your package! the cd's are perfect for my long drives to work and for just cruising around town. i especially like the song by brad paisley - "i'm still a guy"...so perfect, right??? thank you for including me in your elite cd circle of friends! i miss you and i wish we were going to be around when you visit, hopefully next time for sure!
Friday, May 16, 2008
the things we do for love
do you ever feel like you are always giving and not receiving?
i know women don't talk about it much nor do we express this concept to our loved ones half as much as we are feeling it...so i think a better title for this post might be "all about me-just this once".
let's start with the dogs...now that i am home with them for the greater part of the day when i am not running errands or heading off to the gym they both know how to work me. koda is the master of attention getting. he'll come over when i am doing laundry, cleaning or even typing and will nose-nudge my arm, butt, or whatever he can come in contact with just to let me know he is there and at that very second he needs me to pet him. sounds cute, right? actually, it is quite the opposite after about 10x a day. i will be bent over doing something in the house and he never fails to give me a good goose in the butt just to let me know he needs some attention. most dog trainers would not allow this behavior, and sometimes i wonder what happened to the diciplinarian in me, b/c inevitably each time i turn to him to scold him and those big blue eyes melt my heart. as annoying as it is, i allow it. like i said, the things we will do for love.
as for logan, he just backs right up next to you for a good butt massage. he is like a 85lb cat rubbing on you just to get a little butt scratching action. you can't help but scratch him, b/c he'll lick you silly until you do. gotta love those pets esp b/c they are so darn cute!
as for ally that goes without saying...she gets 95% of my attention and love. i allow her to mess with my make-up, my hair, my grape lipsmackers (in which, she has decided to bite into lately) my cell phone and my beloved IPOD. nothing is really that important to me anymore so she has access to all the good stuff. keeping this in mind, every once in a while i will ask her for a kiss (she gives the best kisses when she wants to) and lately she has been telling me no! then i have to pretend cry before she gives me a kiss. i tell ya, the girls has primtime access to all my property, she asks for something, she usually receives it and i ask for one kiss, one kiss and i get a big fat NO! the girls is almost 2 and she has me wrapped. i am currently reading a good book right now, "the happiest todller on the block" and let me tell you, as much attention as she gets she might as well be the happiest toddler on any block for that matter!
and of course, hubby. he gets the other 5% ally doesn't get. i do not post much on here about hubby, for privacy reasons and what not, but i figured i would share some of my thoughts only to make my original point about us women. now, as some know, hubby is quite the man...he cleans, cooks, fixes things, does laundry and even changes diapers. i truly can't complain, however, lately i have noticed that b/c everyone else is sucking the love and energy out of him between the dogs and ally - he has none left for mwaaah! he has even admitted to it when i have politely asked him if we would massage my feet. he sometimes sighs in disgust or he will do it all of 2 minutes (1 min for each foot!) before quitting. this type of apathy just gets me going. i start back-tracking to the days when we were so in LOOOOVE and he would massage my feet without me asking for an hour, yada, yada, yada! evenutally he will give me a big hug and a quick peck - not b/c he really wants to, but more to shut me up! i see what people mean when they talk about the "honeymoon phase". it happens much too early in the relationship as far as i am concerned! i could go on and on about how much both keith and i take for granted our relationship, neglecting each other from time to time and doing less out of love and more out of obligation.
which leads me to this...i wondered if any of my friends who read this post, have experience this. if so, how do you take time out for yourself, iginite the old romance flame with hubby and literally keep your sanity daily between all you have to do and all you are expected to do. i know some of you are quite the pro at this balancing act even with 2+ children. even without children involved, it's always tough to balance life and renew our love for each other. i do realize i could get this from some book about romance, etc, but i wondered what really works - from my friends point of view.
so if you care to share, what are the things you do for love in your family?
i know women don't talk about it much nor do we express this concept to our loved ones half as much as we are feeling it...so i think a better title for this post might be "all about me-just this once".
let's start with the dogs...now that i am home with them for the greater part of the day when i am not running errands or heading off to the gym they both know how to work me. koda is the master of attention getting. he'll come over when i am doing laundry, cleaning or even typing and will nose-nudge my arm, butt, or whatever he can come in contact with just to let me know he is there and at that very second he needs me to pet him. sounds cute, right? actually, it is quite the opposite after about 10x a day. i will be bent over doing something in the house and he never fails to give me a good goose in the butt just to let me know he needs some attention. most dog trainers would not allow this behavior, and sometimes i wonder what happened to the diciplinarian in me, b/c inevitably each time i turn to him to scold him and those big blue eyes melt my heart. as annoying as it is, i allow it. like i said, the things we will do for love.
as for logan, he just backs right up next to you for a good butt massage. he is like a 85lb cat rubbing on you just to get a little butt scratching action. you can't help but scratch him, b/c he'll lick you silly until you do. gotta love those pets esp b/c they are so darn cute!
as for ally that goes without saying...she gets 95% of my attention and love. i allow her to mess with my make-up, my hair, my grape lipsmackers (in which, she has decided to bite into lately) my cell phone and my beloved IPOD. nothing is really that important to me anymore so she has access to all the good stuff. keeping this in mind, every once in a while i will ask her for a kiss (she gives the best kisses when she wants to) and lately she has been telling me no! then i have to pretend cry before she gives me a kiss. i tell ya, the girls has primtime access to all my property, she asks for something, she usually receives it and i ask for one kiss, one kiss and i get a big fat NO! the girls is almost 2 and she has me wrapped. i am currently reading a good book right now, "the happiest todller on the block" and let me tell you, as much attention as she gets she might as well be the happiest toddler on any block for that matter!
and of course, hubby. he gets the other 5% ally doesn't get. i do not post much on here about hubby, for privacy reasons and what not, but i figured i would share some of my thoughts only to make my original point about us women. now, as some know, hubby is quite the man...he cleans, cooks, fixes things, does laundry and even changes diapers. i truly can't complain, however, lately i have noticed that b/c everyone else is sucking the love and energy out of him between the dogs and ally - he has none left for mwaaah! he has even admitted to it when i have politely asked him if we would massage my feet. he sometimes sighs in disgust or he will do it all of 2 minutes (1 min for each foot!) before quitting. this type of apathy just gets me going. i start back-tracking to the days when we were so in LOOOOVE and he would massage my feet without me asking for an hour, yada, yada, yada! evenutally he will give me a big hug and a quick peck - not b/c he really wants to, but more to shut me up! i see what people mean when they talk about the "honeymoon phase". it happens much too early in the relationship as far as i am concerned! i could go on and on about how much both keith and i take for granted our relationship, neglecting each other from time to time and doing less out of love and more out of obligation.
which leads me to this...i wondered if any of my friends who read this post, have experience this. if so, how do you take time out for yourself, iginite the old romance flame with hubby and literally keep your sanity daily between all you have to do and all you are expected to do. i know some of you are quite the pro at this balancing act even with 2+ children. even without children involved, it's always tough to balance life and renew our love for each other. i do realize i could get this from some book about romance, etc, but i wondered what really works - from my friends point of view.
so if you care to share, what are the things you do for love in your family?
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
dentist, house chores, potty training and furniture shopping...
all of which i am not fond of anymore for the obvious reasons...here are a few.
the dentist...why do dentists insist on talking to you when they know you can't respond b/c you have all kinds of foreign objects in your mouth, is beyond me. today i sounded similiar to someone who was playing "fuzzy bunny" with a bunch of marshmellows stuffed in my mouth while i answered questions about my job, my family and what i like to do. all along i couldn't stop thinking to myself SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP-PLEASE! of course a good dentist appointment is not complete without finding out that yet, another tooth needs filled. ok, 5- but who's counting?
house chores were much more fun when i had hired ALL CLEAN in jacksonville. i miss them more than i miss smithfields. i can't believe i just said that out loud, but i am desperate. i hate cleaning bathrooms that much! i am not the one peeing on the seat, why do i have to clean it- for real?
as for potty training i am starting to wonder who is training who here. we have definitely made absolutely no progress in over a week. we get on the toilet with all good intentions but NOTHING...absolutely nothing. before when i didn't care about potty training (or at least pretended not to care) ally pee-pee'd and even poopied in there, now that i feel the wrath of potty training breathing down my neck - NO CAN DO. i am not giving up that easily - do you hear me??? i don't really know who i am talking to - maybe the wretched potty gods who are playing this funny little game with me. joke's over - can we just get a pee or a poop already? holla!
and last but certainly not least, furniture shopping. i have spent countless minutes, hours and days trying to figure out when to transition ally from crib to bed. not only when, but how as well. i have come to the conclusion that we will need to buy those security attachments, so that ally doesn't fall out of bed, or feel the need to get up in the middle of night and bug me (oops, my mind ran away from me there). anyways, we have been looking around and i am perplexed. do i buy ally children's furniture (small to scale) or just go right to the regular adult furniture that she will evenutally be growing into? i know, i know...there are people in third world countries starving and such, but this is quite the decision for me latley. i spent at least 1-2 hours today searching and comparing prices...this is how i know that i need to have a full time job at ALL times, or i will find the most meaningless crap to think about, and ponder over!
i guess i could take out a want ad for help and this is what it might read: Desperately seeking someone to clean my house, potty train my daughter and do all my meaningless thinking for a week while i blog away.
any takers?
the dentist...why do dentists insist on talking to you when they know you can't respond b/c you have all kinds of foreign objects in your mouth, is beyond me. today i sounded similiar to someone who was playing "fuzzy bunny" with a bunch of marshmellows stuffed in my mouth while i answered questions about my job, my family and what i like to do. all along i couldn't stop thinking to myself SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP-PLEASE! of course a good dentist appointment is not complete without finding out that yet, another tooth needs filled. ok, 5- but who's counting?
house chores were much more fun when i had hired ALL CLEAN in jacksonville. i miss them more than i miss smithfields. i can't believe i just said that out loud, but i am desperate. i hate cleaning bathrooms that much! i am not the one peeing on the seat, why do i have to clean it- for real?
as for potty training i am starting to wonder who is training who here. we have definitely made absolutely no progress in over a week. we get on the toilet with all good intentions but NOTHING...absolutely nothing. before when i didn't care about potty training (or at least pretended not to care) ally pee-pee'd and even poopied in there, now that i feel the wrath of potty training breathing down my neck - NO CAN DO. i am not giving up that easily - do you hear me??? i don't really know who i am talking to - maybe the wretched potty gods who are playing this funny little game with me. joke's over - can we just get a pee or a poop already? holla!
and last but certainly not least, furniture shopping. i have spent countless minutes, hours and days trying to figure out when to transition ally from crib to bed. not only when, but how as well. i have come to the conclusion that we will need to buy those security attachments, so that ally doesn't fall out of bed, or feel the need to get up in the middle of night and bug me (oops, my mind ran away from me there). anyways, we have been looking around and i am perplexed. do i buy ally children's furniture (small to scale) or just go right to the regular adult furniture that she will evenutally be growing into? i know, i know...there are people in third world countries starving and such, but this is quite the decision for me latley. i spent at least 1-2 hours today searching and comparing prices...this is how i know that i need to have a full time job at ALL times, or i will find the most meaningless crap to think about, and ponder over!
i guess i could take out a want ad for help and this is what it might read: Desperately seeking someone to clean my house, potty train my daughter and do all my meaningless thinking for a week while i blog away.
any takers?
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
rubbing elbows with #7
so the other day i went to sign us up for a membership at the new YMCA in our town. a very nice facility with two pools, a gym, a fitness center, senior center, fields, and tons of youth and fitness classes. being the gym rat that i have always been, i couldn't wait to take advantage of all it had to offer both personally and on a family basis. where was i going with this...oh yeah, back to the rubbing elbows thingy.
so, i was getting my paperwork filled out and i asked for a guided tour (after a 10 conversation with karyn and kids as they were leaving) in which i was taken around the place by one of the staff members. first stop: gym. it was about noon by now and there were some men playing pick-up (that is basketball to all non-athletes reading). and what to my wondering eyes should appear??? but none other than BIG BEN! YES, Ben Roethelisberger was playing pick up at my YMCA! of course, i pretended to not be in AWE of him...that would be uncool, so I asked if this was an open gym pick up game and anyone could play? that was a big YES from the staff, so i got to thinking - that i need to lace up my shoes and shoot some hoops with BIG BEN. possibly give him a couple good assists, pointers and screens to get him open or i could give him a taste of some tenacious defense ruiz style! of course i would go easier on him than most, can't take any chance of injuring his precious multi-million dollar joints, ligaments and bones for the season :)
after i have returned from la-la land, i decided it was time to begin my workout session with a one hour spin session - all i have to say is that my legs and buttocks are cursing me up one side and down the other!!!!!
calgon take me away...
so, i was getting my paperwork filled out and i asked for a guided tour (after a 10 conversation with karyn and kids as they were leaving) in which i was taken around the place by one of the staff members. first stop: gym. it was about noon by now and there were some men playing pick-up (that is basketball to all non-athletes reading). and what to my wondering eyes should appear??? but none other than BIG BEN! YES, Ben Roethelisberger was playing pick up at my YMCA! of course, i pretended to not be in AWE of him...that would be uncool, so I asked if this was an open gym pick up game and anyone could play? that was a big YES from the staff, so i got to thinking - that i need to lace up my shoes and shoot some hoops with BIG BEN. possibly give him a couple good assists, pointers and screens to get him open or i could give him a taste of some tenacious defense ruiz style! of course i would go easier on him than most, can't take any chance of injuring his precious multi-million dollar joints, ligaments and bones for the season :)
after i have returned from la-la land, i decided it was time to begin my workout session with a one hour spin session - all i have to say is that my legs and buttocks are cursing me up one side and down the other!!!!!
calgon take me away...
Monday, May 12, 2008
my new wheels
we caved and bought ally her first official bike a little early this summer. as you can see, keith and i need to work on SELF-CONTROL! haha! actually, i am surprised we stuck it out this long. lately, she has been wanting to ride all the neighborhood bikes. lucky for us they are just too big for her or she would have most definitely saddled up!
the peddling is a bit challenging, but once she gets some momentum going, she can keep up. i definitley think one of those parent guiding attachments would have been nice to save all the lower back aching - yikes! note to self...you are getting old, spare yourself when you can!
next up...a motorized navigator - a ride with style and a parents back saver!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
a special gift
today i received pancakes for breakfast, two really sweet cards, a new watch and a sterling silver heart necklace from keith and ally. my watch is both casual and stylish and my necklace is perfect for me as it is not too dainty and matches everything from dress to casual. i can't wait to show them both off soon. i recently found this very cool boutique around the corner from my house that sells brighton jewelry which is the line my watch and necklace are both from, i think this may be my new occasional splurge...uh-oh!
i was able to meet my mom, my sister, my grandma and my aunt for brunch at a midway point between our houses. we enjoyed a nice brunch on the olive garden. ally enjoyed buttered noodles and parmesan cheese with us as well. it was the first mother's day in over 6 years i was able to spend with my mom! so, for me it was a special day in more ways than just one! bringing the 3 generations of mom's together is always special in itself.
unfortunately, it has been raining all day so i have spent the rest of the afternoon under a blanket with my laptop and my family close by, as the perfect ending to a more than perfect mother's day comes to a close - i hope for happy mother's day to all.
i was able to meet my mom, my sister, my grandma and my aunt for brunch at a midway point between our houses. we enjoyed a nice brunch on the olive garden. ally enjoyed buttered noodles and parmesan cheese with us as well. it was the first mother's day in over 6 years i was able to spend with my mom! so, for me it was a special day in more ways than just one! bringing the 3 generations of mom's together is always special in itself.
unfortunately, it has been raining all day so i have spent the rest of the afternoon under a blanket with my laptop and my family close by, as the perfect ending to a more than perfect mother's day comes to a close - i hope for happy mother's day to all.
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