Steven Tyler

I’m reading his book right now. “Does The Noise In My Head Bother You? A Rock N’ Roll Memoir” .

The guy has an unbelievable sense of self and humor and an insane like quality of writing.

Gotta love this guy.  He’s Italian.  Who doesn’t love an Italian?

More later.

Will I be pretty.....che sara sara

jason mraz - what mama say 2.27.2010

Public Service Announcement!

My Father

My father died 25 years ago today. 25 years. He's been gone longer than the time I knew him. I was 14 years old. It was the worst day of my life. I've never felt so afraid and I've never felt so confused at the tilt the world took that day.


He was an amazing man with large brown eyes that when they smiled were brilliant and exciting, when at rest, gave you the most tender feeling of vulnerability and when angry were the scariest large eyes you can imagine. He was a loving man who put family before everything else.


I wonder, often, what it would be like to have him in my life now and how it would have changed so many things for me and my immediate family. I know everything happens for a reason, but 25 years of pondering hasn't given me a tremendous amount of insight. At 14, I was very clear that we are born to die and at the time I thought he was pretty old (he was 54 years old) and it seemed clear it was just the way things happen. As I'm quickly approaching 40 ...I realize daily how very young he was and what a loss this was for my mother.


Here's the tremendous part. This man who was my father, who loved me so well and taught me to value myself in a way only a good father can for his daughter...twenty five years later, I still think of him daily. He's still...alive...in so many ways...in my thoughts, in our stories and in my children. What a gift.

Score One for the Team!

I'm basking in a victory.

Remember when I was freaking out about which Kindergarten to choose for my first child to be handed over to and ...molded. If not....go here.

Well....after much consideration, deliberation and angst we went with a private Catholic school. He started at the end of August with excitement and joy and more than a month in...he still likes it! Every encounter I have with the school underscores the feeling that we made the best decision for our family.

DO YOU KNOW HOW RARE IT IS FOR ME TO FEEL ABSOLUTELY AT PEACE WITH A DECISION OF THIS MAGNITUDE?

Well...pretty rare.

Remind me of this posts when they piss me off for the first time.

Anywho...we are taking Little Mr. Wonderful out of school to take him to San Antonio, TX along with little Miss and the Him. I have a business trip there that we are making into a Alamo and Riverwalk long weekend! Anybody have suggestions for must do activities in San Antonio? No pressure...but we leave tomorrow!

Lucky- Jason Mraz (10 Oct Hollywood Bowl Concert )

An afternoon at Pretend City with the kids was fantastic! An evening at the Hollywood Bowl with The Him and Jason Mraz was magical!

Pretend City - Pretend Blogger

OK. Here's the deal. My Guy has taken my Little Man and Little Girl to Little Man's Golf lesson. So since my "Captors" have left me to my own devices for an hour or so, instead of cleaning my bathroom, I will drop a note. I'm fine. My Captors are treating me well.

Life is good in captivity. However, captivity has not been good to blogging. So I've now realized I'm a PRETEND BLOGGER - I fantasize about what I'm going to write about...and even start posts.....but it's all a fantasy....

That being said.

I'm taking the little ones to Pretend City a brand spanking new Children's Museum in Irvine, CA. I'll let you know how it goes. Well...I'll start a post about it at least.

Hope you are all well!

Sometimes you just have to slow down

We on the goo goo ga ga have been on the road quite a bit in the last 6 months. First was 3 weeks in Italy...then it was 2 weeks in Philadelphia. Then we took alittle trip recently to the land of horses, bowling, basketball and baseball bats...Louisville, Kentucky. I must admit that my first response to my wifes suggestion that we all follow her on this business trip was alittle tepid. After all...this concrete jungle, fast city life boy would be traveling to a part of the country that is second probably only to New Jersey in it's ridicule from around the country. Is it Looville...Loville...Loonieville?? We'll, can you believe, that this city boy was charmed by Louisville, Kentucky. I have a whole new respect for this part of the country. The people were great...except for the exchange on the street of a man singing his lungs out and a lady getting into her car across the street explaining in a most deffening shrill that she did not appreciate his tone ALL THE DAY LONG!! Me walking hand in hand with the little ones was alittle concerned as we walked by :)

I must say though that the slow down of the south did not start in the airport. Coming into Houston for our connecting flight we only had 50 minutes from the time we landed to the time we took off to Louisville. Unfortunately we had to, with little ones in tow, run it seemed like 2 miles inbetween terminals. Let me say...when they say everything is bigger in Texas...they mean....EVERYTHING IS BIGGER IN TEXAS!! AND LONGER!

Fortunately for my wife and I this (below) is what happened to both of the kids on our puddle jumper flight to Louisville.

The same pose could be said for our son on this flight. To say that I was exhausted after just manageing to make this flight would be an understatement. We both needed a rest after that sprint through the Houston airport.

On this trip we did managed to do some of the touristy things in Louisville...Louisville Slugger facility...horsefarms in Lexington and yes...we did go bowling.

Churchill Downs had to be the favorite thing that we did though! Site of the most famous horserace in the world. We took a behind the scenes tour of the facilities and who do we stumble upon in the jockey lockeroom?? Calvin Borel....two time winner of that "most famous horserace in the world". Our tour guide told us that that just doesn't happen because these tours don't run when it's this close to race time. Just that day because it was the second time in history that they had night racing at the track. He was super nice. He picked up my daughter and we all posed for a family shot. The also gave the kids a pair of their riding goggles! Had to be the highlight of our trip. Even though horseracing is not something that my wife and I are a big fan of. We loooved it.

We ended our trip to the track by attending the first few night races. And yes...we did put a dollar or two on our new friend...ya know..the jockey who won "the most famous horserace in the world" Unfortunately he did not Win Place or Show in any of the races :(. In fact in one I think his horse is still running :)

I would just like to sum quickly because I'm posting more about the feel of our trip rather than what we did on it. Ya see this city boy got a taste of Louisville. As you can see in the title of this blog I mentioned slowing down. You might have thought that we traveled somewhere where it is slower than our fast paced life. And you would be right. But I came away thinking that maybe this is the speed life should be and not the speed that I'm use to. I came away from Louisville with a whole new respect for the region. They take their basketball and horseracing very serious but they do not let you know it....much :) You see it in how clean they keep their city and their farmlands. I have to say that I will probably never return to Louisville but I am so glad to have visited. It was a pure pleasure. One that I will never forget.

P.S. - The mint julips...if you ever make it to the south and have one...it is BOURBON!!! Don't let em tell you it has sugar and mint in it....IT IS BOURBON!!....lol...holy smokes...a few drinks of one and you can say bye bye. I managed to have just a couple of sips before I declined the rest...knowing that if I were to drink it all I would not be able to drive back to the hotel :) lol.

Another little P.S for all that follow our blog. We are here...we are healthy...we are raising our kids and having a blast doing it. We are though, unfortunately, spending probably way too much time on Facebook. :) Hope this finds you all well.

Where in the World Is the Goo Goo Ga Ga?

The Life on The Goo Goo Ga Ga Management Team has decided to go whole hog and totally bankrupt oursevles by going on vacation again for two weeks....we left on Friday....can you guess where we are?

Need more?

Know where we are?

My Wife has tagged me!

This is my first go around on the tag wagon ...so here ya go...

1.What’s your current obsession?

Banking my sleep….I know..I know you can’t bank sleep but I sure try. One of the reason I had such a wonderful holiday weekend this past is because I woke up at 8 every morning and not 5. Then came the day to go back to work….I’m banking on my backup sleep to take me through the week….hmmm…not a bad day back at work….not too tired. Let see if it carry’s through to today….ummmm….NOPE…..DRAT! Needless to say I’m tired again…can’t wait for our vacation on Friday!

2. What’s your weirdest obsession?

Getting worked up about our jackass politicians that are sending our great state of California down the toilet….OH….that really isn’t weird isn’t it?

3. What are you wearing today?

Jeans, hooded high school sweatshirt over a teeshirt, tennis shoes …. It’ casual everyday here at work :)

4. Why is today special?

Every day is special…I’m in love. This is my wife’s but I am plagiarizing it for me :) I’m am madly in love with my wife and my 2 beautiful children.

5. What would you like to learn to do?

Play the piano…. I have a secret passion to do this but fear it too late …I know I know…It’s never too late….but I for now will just have to play air piano on the center arm rest of the car :).

6. What’s the last thing you bought?

A number 10 breakfast at Mickey D’s …. You asked :)

7. What are you listening to right now?

The buzzing of the lights above me

8. What’s your favorite season?

Summer …. I love the long summer days.

9. What’s your most challenging goal right now?

Most immediate challenged is trying to not spill this Mickey D’s coffee on me :) But seriously folks….It has to be…and my wife might concur….Getting our son to LISTEN!! He lost his Wii priveledge last night because ….He didn’t listen once…twice….three times. We felt so bad when the tears came…but our challenge is to stick with the parameters we set….we are not so fearful of the everyday 4 year old not listening…it’s the IF WE SEE A PERIL in front of him and try to warn him that he will just continue to walk….arghhh.

10. What do you think about the person who tagged you?

Ummmm….I love the person who tagged me:) That tagger would have to be the girl of my dreams….the girl that changed my life…the one person that opened up a 40 year old’s eyes. I see a whole new world since I met my wife.

11. What's your favorite guilty pleasure?

Paying a babysitter so my wife and I can go to a movie … It even becomes more guity when our kids the next morning wake and instead of saying “Good Morning Mommy or Daddy” it’s….”Ummm….where is (insert babysitter’s name).

12. Favorite vacation spot?

Anywhere with my wife …This last Italy trip was by far the best vacation I have ever been on…and I would do it over and over again. I will carry with me forever the feeling I had walking at night from the Colossium…by the Roman Forum…all the way to the Trevi Fountain…with my sleepy daughter on my shoulder the whole way…I wanted to call someone I felt so good that night.

13. What would you like to have in your hands right now?

The Deed to a certain Cape Cod home overlooking a certain peninsula

14. What would you like to get rid of?

My Allergys … what I would give to be able to garden our home without fear of the insueing headache that always rears it’s head.

15. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

I’d go to lunch at a little restaurant in a little town called Roggiano Gravina in Calabria, Italy with all of my cousins. (I’m copying this one of my wife’s…that lunch was spectacular…I will always remember that day in Rogginao Gravina)

16. What bad habit do you have that you would like to terminate?

PROCASTINATION! Don’t we all suffer from that? :)

17.What super power would you like to possess?

Would have to be….”leaps tall buildings with a single bound”

18. What is the one thing that you have done in your life that you are the most proud of and if you had the chance to do it again you wouldn't change a thing?

Asking my wife to marry me on the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey…on a cold moonlit night…my wife shivering with her hooded sweatshirt covering her head….ferris wheel spinning in the background…and me on one knee :)

19. What’s your favorite piece of clothing in your own closet?

Ok ok…I’m a guy…but I am wearing my favorite piece of clothing…my high school golf tournament sweatshirt.

20. What’s your dream job?

Doesn’t seem as dreamy anymore, with the advent of Expedia, but I always wanted to be a travel agent…traveling the world…telling people where to go.

21. If you had $150 now what would you spend it on?

Dinner and a movie with my wife!

22. Do you admire anyone’s style?

Yes, I admire quite a few people for different reasons, fashions sense, composure, kindness etc.

23. Describe your personal style:

I am a quiet and unassuming guy….that is my style

24. Who’s fashion show would you want tickets to?

My wifes :)

25. If you could slap one person with no repercussions, who would it be and why?

The Terminator up in Sacramento....(see weird obsessions above)

26. What are you most proud of?

The life I’ve helped to create with my wife.

27. If you could choose one person who has passed to have lunch with who would it be and why?

John Adams…would love to know what he thought of the country today that he helped to create 240 years ago..