What would you change???

So I have been thinking lately about some aspects of my body and things that I would change if I could. Some of these things I do have control over, like my weight and the extra 10-15 pounds I am carrying around on me from pregnancies, but some of these things I am unable to change, because well that is just the way I was made. So I have a list of the things that I wish I could change. The number one thing on the list is what I wish I could change most.

5. My weight. I would love to be back into the size I was the day that I got married. I would love to not feel so self conscious about my waist and the extra skin that hangs there and most of all not hear my kids say “mommy your belly is big.” This definitely needs to be worked on. Maybe when the kids are both at school I can get back to the gym.

4. My nose. I feel like when viewed as a side profile my nose is rather large. Once I was walking up stairs during late night hours and I got a glimpse of some sort of shadow that actually scared me. Then I realized it was my nose of all things.

3. I was born with very stubby fingers. I do not have long slender fingers by any means. This proved to be difficult when picking out engagement rings.

2. Hair!!! Not only do I have very thick hair so thick in fact that it is not uncommon for me to be at the hair dresser for three hours for high lights and cuts, but I also have hair in not so feminine places that drives me crazy. Take for example the hair on my upper lip that I have to have waxed off or the hair on my chin. Speaking of my chin right under my chin is a mole and out of this mole grows a thick single hair! I pluck this little sucker at least once every week to week and a half. I have often wondered what will happen when I am old. Will my kids know to come pluck this hair for me? Sometimes I think that I should let it grow and see how long I can get it. If I do that I may be able to use it to wash grime out of pans as opposed to using a bristle pad.

And the number one thing I wish I could change


1. My feet!!! Remember my stubby fingers, well my feel need to come in a category called WIDE LOAD BELOW. This is very hard for a girl that LOVES shoes!!!! Talk about impossible when finding shoes to go with the perfect outfit. Even if you don’t have wide feet sometime when you are out ask if they have that shoe in a wide. Or where the wide shoes are. The limited shoes they show you that do come in wide I promise will be butt ugly. Seriously though this is hard. As I said before I LOVE shoes!!!

So go ahead tell me what you wish you could change about yourself. Oh by the way, you are all welcome in that I did not show you pictures of these not so flattering things about myself.

Bunny

Dear Bunny~
You joined our family in the spring of 2005 and were an Easter gift given to Gabrielle by her Papa John and Dee. Out of all the things Gabby has you have always been her favorite. I know that she loves you dearly. She kisses you, cries to you and for you, takes you to the potty, takes you on vacations and sleepovers, gives you timeouts, sometimes yells at you, plays tea with you, takes you on the swing, takes you for bike rides etc. Basically bunny where Gabby is you are not far from her reach. It has been this way for quite some time. I appreciate your loyalty to her. The problem I am having Bunny, is that I am a busy mom. When Mr. Jeff travels I am even busier. I have my eyes on two kids and adding you to the mix makes it much harder for me. I would really like if you could be like a toy from the movie Toy Story and whenever you are hidden come out to where I can find you easily. Last night I spent a good 20 minutes not only listening to Gabrielle cry and scream for you, but also searching the house from top to bottom looking for you. I was glad that after the 20 minutes was up I did finally find you. You are really good at hiding and at keeping quiet while you hide. Is it okay if I put some sort of alarm on you? I really don’t like playing hide-n-go-seek at bedtime. Oh by the way, the time I found you at bedtime in the refrigerator drawer with the lettuce... that was a good one! Thanks for the chuckle. I hope we can work on the hiding Bunny and thanks again for keeping Gabby secure and safe.
Much Love,
Gabby’s mommy

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In other news: I will be working on all the great questions soon. Thanks to all who left questions. The bathroom is almost done! It has taken a bit longer than expected, but as I eluded to before most projects in my home occur this way. Pictures will be coming soon. Next Wed. is a big day. Gabrielle starts her first day of preschool.

60th post... You ask, I'll answer

I haven’t posted in a while. I still have extra kiddos in my house. With teenage and preteen girls that like computer time, I have not been online much. There is a lot going on in my life right now. Trying to figure out what is going to happen in the next chapters of my life. My youngest will start preschool so I am strongly considering going back to work. This is stressful to me as well as the thoughts of no more babies. I am in a bit of a funk and also facing some depression. My son’s birthday party added extra stress and conflict to my already busy life. As I type this I am currently not speaking to some of my family. And they are also not speaking to me. (dad, sister) This is a post for another time.

I want to get back into the grove of blogging. So I decided to open it up to my readers. This is your chance to ask me any question… Within reason. You ask I’ll answer! I will be back online more often next week and if I have not commented on you blog for a while I apologize. So get busy and ask away.

Happy Birthday Courtney! I love you!!!

If you're alone, I'll be your shadow. If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I'll be your pillow. If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile. But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me.

Today is my best friend’s (Courtney) birthday!! Recently I had a post about her. In July her daddy passed away. Today is going to be a hard day for her without her dad. This will be her first birthday she celebrates without him. I wish I had the words to give her comfort.
She and I have been through many things together. Of course we have sayings or old memories that make us laugh. We can look at old hair styles and clothes we used to wear and roll our eyes with smiles on our faces and say “what were we thinking”? We have traveled together. We have been to Boston, New York City, Arizona, Florida, Carolinas, and even Niagara Falls.
Not only is she my best friend she is part of my family. She understands me, she can fill my husband in on things because she knew me before he ever did, she and I can pick up a conversation after not talking for a few weeks or days.
A few favorite memories:
· Riding our bikes/ big wheels down Berkshire Road
· Trading school clothes in the middle of the road
· Stickers (we loved the smelly ones)
· We tried Morse code with our bedroom lights
· Photography class
· Chet Feldman/ Kevin Kovach
· The Shoney’s pie
· Being the Shoney’s bear
· McDonald’s
· Going to Wendy’s, Little Caesars after school
· First time drinking in my parent’s home… We were sick
· “You go over the bridge”
· Trying to go to a party… baked potatoes
· The space shuttle in 6th grade
· Grateful Dead concert
· Sleeping out for Whitney Houston tickets
· NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (Will we do the reunion concert?)

· Learning about sex together (YUCK)
· First cars
· Leaving Sean’s house and the almost accident on Route 8
· Football games, basket ball games, high school memories
· Passing notes
I know there are many. Many. Many more, she could add to this.

I hope everyone has a best friend and that today you pick up the phone and call her/him.
I am not the best writer so I have a few quotes/poems in this post to best describe our friendship. I also have tons of photos. I hope they make you smile.





You're...My Friend,my companion,through good times and badmy friend, my buddy,through happy and sad,beside me you stand,beside me you walk,you're there to listen,you're there to talk,with happiness, with smiles,with pain and tears,I know you'll be there,throughout the years!

Happy 5th Birthday, Joey

As I type these words I am in disbelief that 5 years have passed. My little boy is 5 years old today! Wow those years flew by. I wish that some of those times I could relive the fun, smiles, smells, sights, sounds, and touches. Joey being our first born in many ways was also our guinea pig. We have learned so much about ourselves and about what being a parent truly means and entails.
At birth Joey was always a very happy baby. Never too fussy and always content to be held and loved. I loved the smell of him after a bath with fresh clothes on and remember the hours I would hold him and stare at him and think how adorable he was (is) and how I am responsible for this little human being. In many ways I laugh now at myself about how scared and unsure I was to have a son. If I could have five more boys just like Joey I would in a heartbeat.
Joey is kind, loving, funny, athletic, caring, sensitive, and as he says “my best friend”.
Some memories of Joey~
· Joey weighed 6 pounds at birth
· The first diaper my husband ever changed was Joey’s
· He was a climber and always has had more energy than 5 people put together
· When he started preschool at age 3 he did not really speak more than 10 words. He did not speak in sentences
· His first love was cars, trucks, and trains. I was sad because I know nothing about cars and really wanted him to have an interest in sports. (He does now).
· He is missing one of his four bottom teeth. It is there in x-ray, but has never popped up
· He has cried before when Gabby called him a “peanut head” (I don’t know what a peanut head is or why this hurt his feelings so bad?)
· He loves to snuggle with me
· He comes up to me and says “I need a hug” at random times. Usually when my hands are full. (Washing hands or dishes etc)
· He likes to wear the same clothes as me… Boston Red Sox t-shirts. He likes it when we match
· He gets many comments on his beautiful large eyes and long eyelashes. He has longer eyelashes than most girls
· He loves knock knock jokes
· He loves soccer, baseball, and gymnastics
· He has many friends at school and makes friends easily
· If you ask him his favorite color he will reply “all of them”
· He loves the Cavs, Indians, and Red Sox. Now I am working on getting him to be a Dodgers fan too
· He is easy going and laid back
· He prefers vanilla over chocolate
· He is curious
· He enjoys being outside and riding his bike
· He likes to play tic- tac- toe with me
· He does not enjoy bed time
· He likes spending time with his dad playing X-Box
· He is a great big brother



Although Joey is turning five today as parents Jeff and I had to make a tough decision this year. We chose to keep Joey in preschool for an extra year. He is a smart boy, but he continues to have difficulty with his speech. Joey did go to a speech therapist. We stopped going when the therapist stated that she successfully got more visits approved for us with the insurance company. This turned out to be false and we owed a great deal of money for his speech classes. We then entered him into preschool and from then on being around the other kids he has begun to speak words and now sentences. I would say that he has made leaps and bounds from where we were two years ago. Joey is bright and also has perfect hearing. I honestly feel that when he hears us the message gets sent to his brain and then the words can sometimes come out with different sounds.
For example, if I said Joey go get your socks. He may look at me and say “where are my crocs”. Or when he speaks if he wants to say Taylor it comes out Tawer.
At this point I think we made the right choice for him although I did struggle with it. His main interest was my concern. I would rather him be behind in preschool/kindergarten than in first /second grade. I am also happy that he now calls me “mommy” or “mama” instead of “da”. Once upon a time ago Jeff, me, my parents, and adult figures were called “da”.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE BOY! I LOVE YOU TO PIECES AND AM SO PROUD OF YOU!! VISIT THIS SITE WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE. This is my husband’s blog... http://runningonfaithwithjzapp.blogspot.com/

Patillo. My angel my gooser.

This past Friday I had a very scary experience as I was driving to Toledo to pick up my three cousins. The girls were mentioned in a previous post. They were here a few weeks ago and had such a good time while they were here that they wanted to come back down and stay with us again.

My morning started off a bit rough. I was running late per normal. I was in the shower when the kids let the puppy inside and got him all riled up. He ended up having an accident all over the floor. Then as we were literally walking out the door Gabrielle announces that she just pees her pants. I got the kids into the car and we started on our way. We headed to Panera for a cinnamon crunch bagel before jumping on the Ohio Turnpike. Right after I got on the turnpike it dawned on me that I forgot to get cash out of the ATM for tolls. So I knew I would have to stop at a rest stop somewhere to get some money making me even later.
The speed limit on the turnpike is 65 mph. I set the cruise control for 72mph and we were doing great. We were about an hour and fifteen minutes into the trip when I heard some loud noise. I was getting ready to pass two semi trucks so I figured that they were the cause of the noise. Right after passing the trucks my steering wheel started shaking.
Joey says “mama the van is shaking”. I safely get us over to the side of the road and put on the hazard lights. I got out of the van and looked at the front tire. It was fine. Walked to the back tire, it looked great. I walked around the car to find the back passenger side tire looking like this.

I then was wondering what I do now. I am the wrong person for car problems. I know very little about engines, tires, exhaust… etc. I called my mom, she is like “why are you calling me”? “I can’t do anything to help you”. So she suggests that I call 911. I ended up calling them. I also called my cousin to inform her of what was transpiring. The 911 operator was very nice and could tell that I was frazzled. My concern was not being late at this point. My concern now was the fact that I have two young kids in the car and the cars are passing me so fast that I feel like I am at the side of the road watching Nascars flying by me.
Side story. When I was in high school I was in my Honda accord driving on a road that was 40 mph. It was raining and I went through a puddle. After going through the said puddle my car just stopped. As in quit working stalled out and would not start back up. I got out and ran across the street to a pay phone. While I was inside on the phone I returned to the car. In my absence someone had run into the car. The back bumper was now in the front of the car by the steering wheel. That image is forever in my mind.
Since then I do not like to be in a car pulled over where someone who is not paying attention may run into the back of it.
I am now on the side of the road waiting and waiting for a police man and tow truck. We must have been waiting for a good 15 minutes. My phone rang and it was my mom. I made the comment to her that this was strange to me that not one good Samaritan has stopped to ask if I needed help. Her reply was that is probably a good thing. Another 5 minutes passes and I am now off the phone. Another 5 minutes goes by and I noticed a truck was pulling over.
A man reversed and was coming to my rescue. Thank you God was what I was thinking. God sent me an angel. I named this angel sent to me Patillo. Patillo took over. He knew where to look for the spare tire (under the van), where to look for the tools to get the spare off, where to look to get the tools to take the flat tire off. He was maybe a few minutes into attempting to help when the police cruiser pulled over. This was also a relief to me in that the police could get help faster if we needed anything.
Patillo was amazing. He was sweating as I was but I was doing nothing but standing and watching and trying my best to keep my kids calm and in their car seats.
As Patillo worked I was thinking I need to repay him. What can I do? I felt so helpless. I have no money give him. No gift certificate. Nothing. I found out that he was just on his way home from work when he saw me stranded and was nice enough to get sweaty, greasy, and dirty for me. I am forever grateful for him.
When we wrapped things up I walked up to him and gave him a hug. In that brief encounter of giving him a hug my angel my savior Patillo, pats my butt and goosed me. Yes, you read that right! He gave me a good old squeeze on my behind. My new angel just lost all my gratitude in that hug. I was thinking are you kidding me? You never know about the kindness of the good Samaritan!
We are now home. I have the girls. The spare is off. We are safe. I am thankful.

Photos of the spare once we were home. Bottom photo of the girls sticking their fingers in the hole of the bad tire.

Manny... I will follow you anywhere

Thursday was starting off to be a good day. I had taken Joey to school and Gabby and I were home. I got all the bills paid and then had errands to run in an attempt to get ready for Joey’s birthday parties this weekend. As we were out running errands we ran into my dad. It was around 2:00p.m. He says to me “are you going to be a Marlins fan now”? “NO” I reply. “Why”? My dad knows that I am the biggest fan Manny Ramirez has. My dad knows all about the love affair that began with Manny in 1995. He knows that no matter what people say to me about Manny and his boneheaded plays, jogging to first base, or even when Manny admires hits that come off of his bat I will stick up for him and defend him to no end. So the conversation continues and my dad is trying to convince me that Manny is going to be traded to the Marlins. First of all the Marlins are not a team that this girl would EVER root for. One word or year is all I will say. 1997. Period end of story. 1997. The year that the Indians (another Cleveland team) blew it and lost the biggest game of their lives and another title for the city. I told my dad it isn’t happening and I know this because I was checking my computer about a possible Manny trade before leaving my home. Nothing thus far had happened. I said to him today is the last day that a trade could occur. He says I know they have until midnight. Midnight… Hmm I believed him on the hour that they had to do a trade. I get Gabby back in the car and we leave to go see my mom. I get on her computer and it says “Manny deal to the Marlins, dead for now”. Relief. I took a big sigh of relief. I went home and put on sports center. I saw the clock counter on the television and learned that a possible deal could only happen until 4:00 p.m. I call my dad and tell him this. It is now almost 3:20. 40 minutes. We can do this, 40 minutes. I waited until 4:45 p.m. to leave my home to get Joey from summer camp. I was so happy. Nothing happened. Manny was staying in Boston. Again relief.
I got Joey from school and had on the local Cleveland station on the a.m. radio for sports talk. Soon I realized that no one but me in Cleveland cares about the possible Manny trade. They were talking Browns football. I was rolling my eyes. I can already predict the Browns year for you. They will lose against the Steelers, they will win maybe 3 games, and the season will come to an end. They broke for a news report and then I heard it. “Manny was traded to the Dodgers today”. WHAT? It can’t be true. They had until 4:00 pm. I left my house at 4:45 there was nothing about that being said.
I got home and went straight to the television rewinding (thanks TiVo) everything I missed about the trade. It was true. I was sick. I had tears in my eyes.
My love affair with Manny started in the late 90’s. I was watching Manny before he was making the big bucks, before he was a household name, and before everyone in the country knew about this amazing hitter. I was at the World Series in 95 and 97. I was at many games before Manny went to the Red Sox. I was on the Jumbotron (scoreboard) in Cleveland holding a sign once that read “Always believe in Super Manny”. (Silly, I know). I was in love. I proudly wore my Ramirez jersey and I always stuck up for him even if I was defending a bonehead play or something silly Manny had done. To me it was watching this amazing player go up to the plate and hit a ball out of the park or a hard solid hit to get on base. Watching him swing and knowing that when the bat hit the ball that the ball would soon be landing over the heads of many fans. I watched him hit many homeruns and was always proud of how talented he is. I admired him. When Manny went to the Red Sox I was happy for him. I was happy that he would be making more money. In my eyes he deserved it. He is in my opinion the best hitter in the game. He knows how to look at each pitch and find one that he likes. I have seen him at the ball park look for the pitch he wants and foul the others off. He has such patience as he waits for the one that he wants to hit out of the park. I was devastated that he left Cleveland, but I also have always had a soft spot in my heart for Boston. This began when I was into the New Kids on the Block as a young teenager. (Different post for a different day)
When Manny went to Boston whenever the team traveled to Cleveland we went to at least one game in the series. I say this because it is true… every time I go to a Red Sox vs. Cleveland game Manny hits a home run. This has happened every game but maybe one. I felt like his good luck charm. Two years ago Jeff and I went to Fenway for the first time and saw a game against the Tribe. To be in Fenway and see the green monster, experience fans that are so different than in Cleveland and be at a ball park that the best of the best players have played at was truly something I will never forget.
Jeff got me one year the MLB ticket which allowed me to watch all the Red Sox game in the comfort of my home. It was great to be able to watch the team and root for them and feel a part of the city although I was miles away cheering them on. When Manny was in Boston he was given a saying “Manny being Manny”. We have a saying in our home that is “Gabby being Gabby”. This was after her colic and her temper.
I have had a great time following my favorite baseball player. I wish him the best of luck as a Dodger and after reading everything it looks like this was not only a good move for Manny but one that was good for Boston.
Soon I will be getting me one of these:

I know this is dreaming, but I would love to see Manny back playing here on a daily basis. The Tribe generals have other plans for our farm.... So unitl you come back to play here Manny, I will try to watch you on the tube.