V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.

Hello all!

It's been a crazy, crazy week. Sorry for the moaning earlier, I was just in a funk. Things are a bit better. I'm finally feeling like myself again, except for the straggling tickle in the throat. My father was rushed back into the hospital on Friday because of very low blood pressure and an extremely low blood count. They were not taking very good care of him at the Rehab. They just didn't get it. They had him lifting weights in his bed. He's 80 and just had MAJOR surgery. He had an infection in his wound. He was dehydrated and in pretty serious condition. I was a wreck. Fast Forward to today, he is still in the hospital gaining strength and his next stop will be home to my mother with a visiting nurse coming in. Probably the best place he can be. He was disheartened for awhile, but Mom says he is coming around. He asked his male nurse who was doing a very good job of taking care of him if he would marry him.. which is more like my Dad to be making jokes.

Anyway, we had a great Christmas. Bill's family was at my house on Christmas eve Day and we did our traditional Yankee swap. . Bill ended up with the gift I put it, (chocolate fondue pot) which I am thrilled about! Went to the 8 p.m. vigil with Billy and came home and watched another old Scrooge movie. This time was 1951 (?) with Alistair Sym (sp?). I have to get the one with Albert Finney which is amusical and I know the guys in my family will not like.

Christmas day we went to my brother Mike's and had PRIME RIB which was out of this world. The whole family was together (except Jess :( and my father) but we really did have a great time and had lots of laughs. We didn't leave til 8 p.m. The kids absolutely love being with their cousins. Matthew got his electric guitar and lessons will start next week. Billy loved his IPOD and has already downloaded music. Bill and I exchanged small gifts and he did a great job surprising me with some beautiful perfume, chocolates, candles and a spa gift certificate so I can get a massage or facial :) He was very happy with his new clothes, flannel pj pants and deer whistles for his car (and mine).

We spent Tuesday lounging and then went to see Casino Royale. I'm a total fan of this new Bond. I think he's the best since Moore/Connery. The movie was great and I can't wait to see the next one.

We decided to come up to NH for the rest of the week and Bill and I broke in our Ski Legs at Loon this morning. He got me up super early, had the car packed and bacon/egg sandwiches made and coffee brewing. Kids were still sleeping. We took Matt's friend Tommy with us. We skiied nonstop for an hour and half and then our old legs were shaking and the crowds were coming so we came home and had some more coffee in front of the fireplace. It was snowing and it's so pretty up here. I'm really glad we came. Bill's sister Karen is heading up tonight and will ski with us in the morning. The kids don't really want to ski yet, not enough trails open for them. I'm hoping to meet one of my friends who lives up here for lunch either today or tomorrow and we will come home and have New Year's and chinese food with Bill's parents on Saturday night. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Just want to say a big heartfelt thank you to you all for listening and commenting.. your words of kindness mean alot and I'm really really looking forward to 2007 and all the good times to come... :)

Aches and pains...

I thought I was done with this sickness. Maybe I pushed myself too much yesterday because I had too many things to do, but I FEEL TERRIBLE! I went into work this morning, thinking that a hot shower and putting on some nice clothes would make me feel better. I was wrong. We were supposed to have a chinese food Christmas party with the front desk, but I told my friend to cancel my order and came home to finish my day's work. We are so behind at work, and my being out a couple days didn't help things. I cancelled Matt's dentist appointment and plan on sitting in my favorite chair and dozing off (when I lay down, my chest hurts) after the kids get home. This must be the flu since my z-pack didn't help one little bit. Chief complaints, really sore burning throat, aches, especially my back and chest and inside my ears (weird) and an overwhelming feeling of tiredness. Also, I found out yesterday that my Godfather's wife died. She has had cancer which spread to her brain and she has been in hospice care at home for a while. It's so sad. She just had her first grandchild born a few month's back. My cousin George has to be the nicest man ever, and his wife, Mary, is the one who fostered my love of reading as a little girl. They used to give me the best books for gifts.. Little Men, Little Women, Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farms.. All still favorites of mine. I so hope I feel better within the next couple of days, because I really need to pay my respects and share in the sadness of losing such a nice, kind lady. I really am looking forward to this year being over. I'm just done....

Going to Hawaii and she's gonna get married....

Well, I've been DYING to share this news, but have been waiting for her to do it first. Since I found out her computer is broken, I will just have to do it for her!!!

Jessica (aka Anonymous Blogging woman and my very first neice) has eloped in Hawaii with long-time fiance Kenny!!! AND..............I'm going to be a great Auntie! She is feeling great except for some nausea and a small bout with the flu since coming to visit us all in Boston and she couldn't be happier!!!! Her wedding pictures are like something out of a fairy tale and the love and happiness shines on both their faces. They are so in love and so looking forward to becoming parents. Please join me in wishing them both love and happiness for the rest of their days.. And I can't wait to have another little one in my life to love!

Congratulations, Jess and Kenny! We love you!

Wed-nes-day....

Well, its' Wednesday already. Have I mentioned that I'm not ready for Christmas? I'm ready emotionally, and spiritually, just not phsically. I haven't wrapped a blessed thing, and still have the teacher/busdriver/miscellaneous gifts to buy.. which will all be one stop shopping at bath and body works, so that's easy.

I've been sick for the past two days.. It started with a sore throat over the weekend, which was extremely busy, more on that later! By Tuesday night, I had the biggest headache and a burning hot sore throat. Matt went to the nurse Tuesday (which he never, ever does) and came home with the same symptoms. Luckily, my doc gave me a z-pack (azithromycin) even if it isn't bacterial because she knows the amount of running around I've been doing, and said it couldn't hurt. So I feel better today. I have a long standing coffee date at my house with two of my football mom friends who haven't seen the house, then a quick trip to the mall to finish up the straggling gifts.

Dad was moved to a rehabilitation center yesterday. It's a Jewish rehab, but of course they take Catholics too! He is making so much progress and really wants to come home. It is really touching the way he misses us all. My stoic, strong, Italian father is not one for mush, but he has been saying "I love you" at every phone conversation, which melts me. I keep telling him how proud we all are of him. He really does have a great big loving family, which I know is helping him get through this. So, if he is not home for Christmas, I'm sure we will all be marching down to the Jewish Rehabilitation Center singing Christmas songs! Happy day everyone.. thanks for always listening, even when its boring! :)

Update on Dad...

It's been a tough week. He is in a ton of pain and hasn't eaten any solid food since Saturday night.. I can't even imagine it. Because of the kids and work, I haven't seen him since Monday. We are heading up there tomorrow to visit him in the hospital. He called my Mom from his room today, saying he terribly misses her.. She has spent practically every waking moment in his room with him. The plan at this point is to send him to a rehab until he is strong enough to come home. I'm sure he isn't happy about this, but my Mom can't do it all alone. Thanks for continued prayers. The best thing is he made it! Now its the road to recovery! He'll see those Mountains yet!!!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

December 13, 1926 - December 13, 2006!

80 YEARS OLD!!!

Rest up in that hospital so you can enjoy more good times with your bride!

Operation Success...

It was a long day for everyone. I left my house at 8 a.m. and got to my parents at 9, greeted by a little bit of sunshine as my brother Mike and niece Maria had come by to see Dad before we left. Got to the hospital by 10:15 and waited around until 11 when they called us upstairs. My parents were so great.. they held hands from the garage to the hospital (not bad for 47 years of marriage :)

We met with the surgeon who pretty much gave us all scenarios which we probably didn't need to hear right before he went into surgery, but they need to cover their bases. After the anesthesiologists came in, we both kissed him goodbye and left teary-eyed to go up to the 6th floor waiting room for the long day ahead of us.

My sister Janice and brother in law Jimmy met us in the hospital and we all went across the street for a Dunkin Donuts coffee and bagel. Then back to the waiting room it was.... wait....wait.....wait...... Jan and Jim had to leave so Mom and I sat on the uncomfortable chair/benches and tried to stretch out best we could. We talked and laughed alot, but I could see worry on her face. We knew it was a long operation but by 5 we were both antsy. Around 6:30 p.m., the surgeon found us in the waiting room and told us that they had completed surgery. He gave us the details and told us what to expect. My father will be in there for about a week and will be on an epidural for the first few days since this is such a huge incision and the pain will be great. We are so grateful for this chance to have him for awhile longer. I honestly can't believe all the things he has had to go through medically in his life and he is so strong and never complains about the pain or the procedures. Anyway, I left there at 7:30 and made it home by 9:00. I'm completely exhausted today and can only imagine how my Mom feels. She never even got to see him because he was so medicated. Hopefully today he'll be in a room and she can sit with him. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.. they work!

Surgery Day...

Please keep my Dad in your prayers. The long awaited and semi-dreaded surgery day is tomorrow (Monday). As soon as I get the kids off to school I am driving to my parents and going into Boston with them. He is scheduled for early afternoon. My sister and brother in law will be meeting us in there for the wait. It's a helpless feeling and he is really nervous about this operation. Healing thoughts and peace to my father....

Bah, Humbug UPDATE :)

What a wonderful show! The production of A Christmas Carol was just great! The young boy (7th grader) who played Scrooge was such a character, and his facial expressions were perfect! Billy's part as Jacob Marley was fantastic! He sang a song called "Chains" and had these little goblins (I called them Scroogettes sing along as backup.. he had to do a maniacal laugh and sing a great solo.. He was loud and very theatrical. The songs were so well done and different. It only lasted a bit more than an hour and he came out beaming! My sister Janice came tonight and loved it.. My brother Eddie is coming tomorrow afternoon with his four children and we are all excited to see it again. I love the message... It never gets old... and he was the coolest looking ghost wearing silver eyeshadow that I have ever seen.

Bah, Humbug!

Not really! That's the name of the play that Billy is in this evening. It's a rendition of A Christmas Carol which is one of my very favorites!! I am collecting every movie ever made, so far I think I have about five of them. I never, ever get sick of this movie or its message.

Billy plays Jacob Marley. He has a solo song and a great costume. We are all looking forward to it.!!!

God bless us, everyone!!!!!

Survivor Shock...

If you watched Survivor last night, I hope you are as mad as I am. I liked Jonathan. He was interesting. He saw through people and said it like it was. So what if he ate a pepperoni pizza.. so what if he had a hot dog and got to gargle.. those other idiots were all just jealous that he bid and won. Adam and Pavarti (what kind of a name is that anyway) have swayed the rest of them and they voted off a sure thing. Stupid move. Next week will be chaos on Cook Island. Yul, I'm disappointed.. Go Ozzy.

Bragging Rights, part 2.

I had Matthew's parent teacher conference yesterday. He did very well on his report card... all As and Bs. When I sat down, his teacher (young and enthusiastic) said "What can I say about Matt, I've been thinking of this all morning". I'm like "uh oh"... She said "If I have a son, a would want him to be just like Matt".. Heart melted.. Joyous feeling!! She said he is polite, always says thank you, always turns in homework and is respectful. That was probably my favorite part. You try to teach manners, but when someone else notices, it makes you feel so good. So I came home and told Matt to stand up. Then I gave him a GREAT BIG HUG! :)

Traditions..

After whining about WII and the not so great moments of shopping, I then read our friend Stephanie's post, where she talked about the simpler things, like Christmas lights and Christmas music and telling us not to worry about the hustle and bustle but to happy and thankful. I got to thinking about some of things that mean Christmas to us in my house. Besides the tradional baking of the Christmas cookies (that's another post!) we have a wonderful tradition that we have been doing since the kids were little.

I buy a piece of green posterboard and cut it into the shape of a Christmas tree. Then we take it outside and put glue and glitter on it for garland. After that I get all of last year's Christmas cards that we received (I save them for this purpose) and the kids go through them and cut out different pictures that they like. Then we lay them all out on the table and start with 1 and go to 25.. If Billy picks first he writes 1B on the back, then 2M (for Matthew) and so on. The 25th is always a picture of the baby Jesus in the manger. We then lie each piece on the tree and I do the numbering underneath so they all fit. We keep the little pieces in a plastic baggie and each morning Billy or Matt will glue a piece on to our Christmas Countdown Calendar. It's a nice craft for the kids and they are 10 and 13 and still love doing this. This year, our neighbors wanted to do it to so we made 2 trees and cut out extras for them.

The other wonderful tradition we have is setting up the manger. The larger one was my Great Grandmother's creche and it has a light in the top. We have added crazy pieces through the years such as Eyore, and Fisher Price lambs. One year even piglet was in our manger. Also I still have the clay "ashtray" that I made my mother one year and she decided to use it as a trough. Billy made one too, in Kindergarten; now we have two troughs. I have been getting Billy a piece of a manger for two years and pretty soon he will have his own. We always hide the baby Jesus and take him out on Christmas morning.

Where's the WII????

OK, so I am really not one of those parents whose children have to have the lastest "whatever". In fact, I am just the opposite. My kids don't have gameboys and we have had the same Nintendo 64 system forever. I believe in the computer being in a central place in the home. They aren't allowed to IM. But, I was going to surprise them with a WII system from Santa for Christmas because I was told its a system the whole family can enjoy!!!! Where the heck have all the WIIs gone??? I'll tell you.. Those greedy e-bayers are buying them up left and right and selling a $250 system for over $600!!! Maddening!!!!!!!! So, I'm disappointed. I called all the local stores and was answered with a terse "NO WIIs!". I was told by a friendly clerk at the local Superwalmart that they will be getting a limited shipment this morning at 8 a.m. I refuse to stand out in the cold with a million other idiots and trample each other to death to get this item. So anyway, I don't think we will be getting a WII system. Just wanted to vent.

Gimme an A!!!!

Alex's team made it to the finals.. My brother and sister-in-law leave tomorrow for a jam packed weekend full of cheering and Disney! Go Alex.. Go Team! We are very proud of you!!!

Happy, Happy Day.....

Today we celebrated my father's 80th birthday. Because of his upcoming surgery, we had to cancel the restaurant hall that we booked for later this month and you know what? It was so much nicer having the party at my parents house. Everyone was relaxed.. my mother ordered all the food from the place we were supposed to have it so no one had to do any cooking. All his grandkids were there except our Jessica (aka anonymous blogging woman) who lives in CA, but she was there in our hearts. So many people came to celebrate today. My father was so, so funny today which I was ever so grateful for. He was making so many jokes and wisecracks and we were all laughing with tears coming out of our eyes. When my Aunt Rita asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told her he'd like some hair..so she found a comb-over wig and he wore it the entire time he opened presents. My Uncle Leo make a beautiful toast which put tears in my eyes of wanting to take another trip to Italy together, which was my father's dream trip. I made some great banners to hang up and all the grandkids read off fun facts from the year 1926. I couldn't have asked for a better day for my father. I wish we could have him for 80 more years.