Eff the Recession

THE THIRD AND FINAL THIRD BIRTHDAY PARTY



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Three Whole Years

Four months and seven days after the anniversary of my mother's death, which goes down as the worst day of my life, we celebrate Leah's birth, which goes down as the best day of my life.

In my 34 years of living on this planet, I have a few accomplishments.  But NOTHING makes me prouder than when I look at what Greg and I brought into this world on March 26, 2008.

Happy Birthday, Leah.  I've said it before, and I'll say it forever, you truly saved my life.

Now, go pick up your shoes and fortheloveofgod stop throwing your crayons.

I Was Wrong...34 is Awesome!

I had a wonderful birthday.  Turning 34 was not that bad.  I've been told that NEXT year is the year that I should be afraid of. 

On Saturday afternoon, I got my hair cut and colored which, since I've had a child, is a real treat.

I only did three loads of laundry on that day, which is rare for a Saturday.

I drank many glasses of wine, which, er, is actually very normal for a Saturday. 

My girlfriends took me out to dinner.

I wasn't hungover the next day, which is a birthday miracle.

I had a great day and I no longer feel bad about turning 34. 

However, now I'm dreading next year.

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White Wedding

Speaking of Big Fat Italian Affairs, on Saturday my cousin Raymond married Erica. 

Actually, if I'm keeping it real, his name is really Little Ray.

Not to be confused with Little Bobby or Little Tommy, two other cousins of mine.

And definitely not to be confused with Uncle Ray, Uncle Bob, or Uncle Tom, all uncles of mine. 

Do other families do that?  Call the Jr. "Little"?  I think it might just be us.  Well, in Little Ray's case, he's really Ray the Third.  Because my grandfather was Ray...but we didn't call my Uncle Ray, Little Ray--oh no.  You know, this is one of those conversations that I'm going to go ahead and save for when I'm with my cousins because something tells me that this might only be interesting to them.  In fact, this may not even be interesting to them.  This may only be interesting to me.  So, I'm stopping.  Back to the wedding!

Raymond's father, my Uncle Ray, died a few years ago.  Although they lost their dad when they were much younger than I was when I lost my mom, I feel like I have a special bond with Raymond and his siblings because of what we have in common and have been through.

Here is a picture of my Aunt Abbe and my cousins Stacey and Evan, Raymond's siblings.

I am the oldest of 11 grand kids on my mom's side.  Here are three of the four female cousins.  My cousin Ronelle is missing from this picture, probably because she was busy taking 298 pictures that night. 

TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY EIGHT.  And she wasn't the hired photographer for the event or anything.  I have horrible forgot-to-suck-it-in-dancing pictures to look forward to being tagged in on Facebook thanks to Ronnie's 298 pictures of the blessed event.

We are not this bronze. 

It's just that "Auto Correct" is a horrible feature on Microsoft Picture Manager.

Also, I think my hairdresser went a little too short with the bangs, no?

I had an awesome time at this wedding, and loved seeing my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I wish we could get together more often, and I treasure the times that we do. 

Thanks for a great night, Ray and Erica.  Have an awesome time in Bermuda!

OK, I DEFINITELY think she went too short with the bangs.

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Finally Sweat Is Not Dripping Down My Back As I Type This

I'm not even going to address the heat issues we had this week, because I'm just so grateful that my butt crack remains dry today.

A PICTURE:

One day this kid is going to look back at this website and say, "Gee, my mom took a lot of pictures of me in the car...hope she wasn't driving at the same time."  And I'm going to say, "Mostly no."

Ok, quick post today.  This is what we've got going on.  Tomorrow is my brother in law's 30th birthday party.  I plan on getting a lot of really good pictures.

And what I'll end up with is probably a lot of pictures of Leah in a pool.  That seems to be my Summer 2010 theme these days.

And on Sunday the plan is to visit the Bronx Zoo.  I am already getting a lot of grief from people who will be tired/hungover/hot/tell-it-to-the-judge, because once I get something in my head, it's hard for me not to focus on anything other than that.

So, I leave you with well wishes for the weekend, for I must go back to the zoo website to find a site map so that I can plan every single step of my trip there.

I wonder why people sometimes don't like doing activities with me.  It can't possibly be due to my desire to make sure every tiny action is perfectly planned and followed to my specifications no matter what, right?  There must be something else. 
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SUCCESS!

At first, he was a little scary...

But then he started singing this song about tapping my knees, which I love to do very much.

And, I got to do the limbo with him, which was also very fun.

So, I decided to touch him, and he was sort of soft...

 And then Aunt Christie hugged him, and she was ok!

So, I thought, Aw, heck, I can do it too!

And I was fine!

My other favorite part was CAKE!

I hate waiting for candle placement.

Nice!

I had a great time and love my friends and got lots of presents and ate icing for lunch and drank about 8 capri suns and jumped into the pool despite the fact that I can't swim and had to be pulled out and threw rocks and ran around and refused to go to bed and had the best time of my entire life! 

Can't wait for next year!!!!

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Practically A Sparty

On Sunday, 90 of our closest friends and family will be arriving at 2 p.m. for Leah's 2nd Birthday Party.  It's more than two months after her real birthday, but I had to wait until it was nice enough for us to party outdoors.  My house does not have the capacity to hold 90 people.  Two people can fit into my kitchen.  And that's if we remove the stove first.

I've ordered a tent, tables, chairs, and Barney.

A cake has been commissioned from my good friend Gina, who has never had to feed this many people with a cake.

Costco and Restaurant Depot have been visited.

Water guns-as-party-favors have been secured.

Food, utensils, paper products, chips, soda, water, beer and wine have been purchased.

Thank god for wine. 

Yesterday when my dad asked Greg how many people were coming and Greg told him 90, my dad asked "Who's the groom?"

We have a lot of friends and family that we wanted to share this day with, and, although our original plan was to have a Very Big First Birthday party for Leah, followed by smaller, intimate affairs each subsequent year, it appears that this won't be the case.  Every year there are more people that we want to have attend, and so, yes, maybe the guest list is a tad long, and slightly resembling that of a wedding.

But, we are Italian.  And from New Jersey.  Our motto is "Go Big or Go Home."  Emphasis on "big."

I may sound like I've got it all under control, but I am freaking out.  90 people is a lot of freakin' people!

Greg is already in need of a Xanax.  Seriously, he's lost it.

One person who seems calm about the whole thing is Leah.  Of course.  What does she have to stress about? 

It was like "The Tell Tale Heart" trying to get this picture. 

 I had to do the reach-around the door with my phone and then stood in the doorway afterwards for about 10 minutes for fear that she would hear the hard wood creak if I moved. 

Have a great weekend!  Let's hope that with all this party rigaramole I remember to take a picture or two.

*The title of this post is explained as #2 here.

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Weekend Wrap Up

Busy weekend, and aside from my rant in which I got dramatic and quoted a Les Mis song, (thank you, GLEE, now get out of my head) we had a really good time.


We attended two BBQs and one parade. We got the gazebo up around the pool and I actually took a swim!  In May! I think that’s a first. It was chilly, but I am proud to announce that I did not lose any toes to frostbite.

We have a big, big weekend coming up, with a huge celebration for a very special girl. Everyone is running around like a lunatic and I feel like my house is a scene out of Steel Magnolias when they are preparing for the wedding in the beginning.

There is old furniture being moved; there is new furniture being brought in. There are toilets to clean; there are tents, tables, and chairs to set up. There are high expectations for a large purple dinosaur who has been invited to attend the extravaganza. We are finally having a proper 2 year old birthday party for Leah, and I am she is very excited!


More to come...

One of these people is very excited for the parade to start.

The other...is not.
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Giggles

Over the weekend, we headed to a birthday party for one of Leah's friends.  It was at a place called Giggles Play Station.  According to their website, "Giggles Play Station offers a clean, safe environment for children of all ages to have fun on different levels. We have the Toddler Area and kiddie rides for ages 3 and under, the jungle gym, bouncer and animated games geared for children 3-8, plus slot cars and the hottest video and skill games for the older children (and their parents, too!). There is something here for everyone!"


According to me, the experience was likened to spending two hours with 100 kids on crack. 
 
Leah liked some of the activities...
 
 

 
Was indifferent to some of the activities...
 

 
And did not enjoy some activities...

 

 
The list of activities that she downright despised is longer, but since I try to be a good mom, I did not take pictures of those times.  But, let me just tell you:  it was funny.  Not in a cruel way, but what kid cries on a kiddie train?  Or refuses to get into a ball pit?  Toughen up, lady!
 
Anyway, it was an interesting experience, and, as she gets older, more of her friends will be having these kid parties at these clean, safe environment(s) for children of all ages to have fun on different levels, so I guess I better get used to popping 3 Aleeve before we walk in the front door. 
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Easter 2010

Happy Easter!

We had an egg hunt,

Ate some snacks,

Took some pics with the fam,

And had an all-around good time.

But this picture is for my mom, who would have gotten as much a kick out of it as my sister and I did.  I won't bore you with the actual story, because I suspect it's only funny to those of us that were there, but suffice to say that it's tradition in my family for one egg each year to have a particular word on it.

Here you go.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  I'm fresh with new photo albums from the 70's, so I'll be dusting off the scanner, and we'll return to our regularly scheduled reminiscing and pondering tomorrow.

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Dear Mom...

Leah turned two last week, and we had a small family party for her over the weekend.  You were definately missed, but I have to admit it's getting easier to handle parties and holidays.  Soon after you died, get-togethers were difficult.  We found ourselves just standing there staring at each other physically missing the void you left. 

When it would come time to clear the table, we'd still wait for your direction on who should do what.  When it came time to make the coffee, we'd forget that you were no longer there and someone had to pick up the slack. 

And pick up the slack is what we've done.

Daddy is now the only parent we have, and he must do the job of mom and dad.  He is the only grandparent of Leah's that lives in NJ, so he must fill those shoes, too.

Adriana and I now take care of making sure the table is set, the food is served, the dishes are washed, and the coffee is served.  Gone are the days of being waited on; we now automatically make sure it happens.

And Marco?  You'll be happy to know that he is still the impatient, lazy PITA that he was when you were here.  How proud you must be!

So, I hope this doesn't upset you, Ma, but we are doing a lot better when we are all together.  It's no longer a pity party, where we all feel bad for ourselves and are reminded at every turn that you are no longer here. 

We've picked up the pieces, and, although we drop a few occasionally, we are managing.  And we are doing well.  Very well. 



SO WELL, THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE A GRANDMOTHER AGAIN! MARCO IS HAVING A BABY!

So, there, internet.  That is my news.  You can re-direct your "Congratulations on the new baby" cards from me to Marco.  Unless the card states, "Congratulations on the new baby, AUNT DANA."






















Mom and Dad-2007.

Haha, totally kidding. It was the 70's, as if you couldn't tell.
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