Current Status: Bathing Optional

There was a time in my life when I showered daily. I would wake up from a full 8 hours of sleep feeling refreshed and excited about the day to come. I'd get in the shower enjoying the warm water and fresh smell of soap! I'd then take time to dry my curly head of big hair. I'd apply makeup and look like...well...a girl...a freshly scrubbed, twinkle in my freshly mascara lashed eyed, bright cheeked woman! A fresh smell and a bright smile my signature. (yes..I brushed my teeth a few times a day too!)


Oh, those were the days. I remember it like I was yesterday...but it wasn't yesterday...it wasn't the day before, either. That's my point. I'M NOT BATHING DAILY!

Don't judge me.

When, exactly, do we as women and mothers abdicate our rights, yeah...I said it...RIGHTS to shower daily..and when do we start believing that being clean is a luxury rather than a necessity?

I know women talk about bringing a new baby home and not finding time to shower...it didn't happen quite that way for me. Sure, it was hard to find time when I brought my little guy home, but I took the time to take care of myself and showering afforded me not only cleanliness but a few minutes to myself. No, for me it didn't start right away, the transition was quiet, insidious...a choice. It was when the little lady made her appearance and two kids, full time work (from my home office), playdates, parent participation preschool, doctor appointments, breakfast (every morning), lunch (every afternoon) and dinner (every freakin night) kinda became more important than...umm..well...bathing. It became a feeling of...well...I can either get to the doctors, feed the family, sleep...or I can shower and coif.

It's like a perpetual stinkin camping trip...and I'm really roughing it!!!! (I'm really a concierge level, 5 star hotel kinda gal)

I've made many attempts to reverse this madness. I've made promises. I've taken small steps. I've promised my spouse. This week...I am going to shower. every. single. day. It's bad enough to disappoint myself, but to see the sorrow in his eyes (I need to take a moment)

(deep breath)

I've made promises...and I've broken them. Every vacation I swear that I will jump back on the daily showering wagon only to fall short of my goal and go back to the smelly depths of my despair.

Well, tomorrow, as they say, is another day.


Authors Note: As of the posting of our story, our damsel in smelly distress has managed a shower, she's powdered and coiffed. She's entered a 12 step program and is promising to stay on the bathing wagon. We will check back with her occasionally to check her progress.

Chicken Mystery: Solved!

My four year old son explained the magical mystery behind getting chicken on our table.

Here's some back story to our own family nightly ritual....our own little version of Groundhog Day!

I make dinner....always something I know the kids will enjoy. My son has a lapse in memory and starts convulsing before he gets to the table demanding that he be heard:"I WILL NOT EAT THAT! EVER!" I explain in my calmest Italian American fashion that in fact, he has eaten this particular meal before and he loved it. I insist that he sits down, he insists that he will not be seated at a table that is hosting such a disgusting meal. His manners go from bad to worse and he is asked to vacate the premises and go warm the stool in his room. He cries. We wait. He calms down. He's invited back in the room. He tries the food. And he smiles and says, "Mmmm...this is good. My favorite. Mama, did you make this just for me because you know I like it so much?"

This is the point where I realize that God make children to be so beautiful and charming because if he didn't....they wouldn't make it past the age of 4.

I'm exhausted by the whole exchange and he's ready to open a bottle of Chianti and settle in for the night with a good meal.

So tonight, I decided to cut out the middle man when he approached the table. In an effort at a premptive strike I told him that he's eaten the meal, I know he thinks its vile, but in an effort to move things along...could we please bypass the bad manners and trip to his bedroom and just try the freakin chicken!?!?! He smiled and complied. And he said, "Mmmm...this is good. My favorite. Mama, did you make this just for me because you know I like it so much?"

Not having wasted all that time...we had time for some good conversation along with the Chianti. Here's how it went:

Little Man: Mama do you know how Chicken gets to our
table?

The Me: How, Babe?

Little Man:

Well, the Chicken Rooster spits out chicken.

Then the farmer mixes the chicken and puts it on a train.

Then it goes on a boat.

Then it goes on a truck.

Then it goes on another truck.

Then it goes into a store.

Then we go buy it.

You cook it.

Then we eat it.

Just like that.

The Me: Chicken Rooster, Babe?

Little Man: Yep, a Chicken Rooster spits it out. Mmmm..this is good.

Musical Monday: At Long Last Love

OK, Kids! Here's an early Valentine for you on this Musical Monday!



I was born in 1969...I'll wait while you do the math...and grew up loving all kinds of music from classical to WHAM! to U2, but my parents are the ones who tutored me with the classics...Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima and all the other greats. (do you see a nationality trend with these guys?) What feelings the strains of these songs evoke...usually happiness...sometimes longing for days spent with family as a child and always, always, joy.

My song to share today is Frank Sinatra's "At Long Last Love"! This is a song that my children ask us to turn up in the car and causes them to jump with joy at the bursts of the horn section during this classic. For me and My Guy...this is a song we dance to whenever possible, sing to each other and remember how lucky we are to have found each other...with JOY! Thank God it was AT LONG LAST LOVE!

Now...turn up the volume on your PC....sit back...and enjoy....listen to the whole song...it gets better and better!

Ahhhh..that's what moves me! Now go check out Jori-o's and Diane's pick on this beautiful Musical Monday! What moves you?

The Best Kind of 30 Minute Meals

This post it for all the people that struggle with Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals (that includes The Wife).

I was thinking of this the other day while I was playing with play dough with my daughter. You see play dough is one of her favorite pastimes of late. I being the ever available sous chef to my daughter's expert cooking prowess managed to put together what I have determined is the ultimate 30 minute meal. THE PEPPERONI PIZZA!

You start with blue play dough...my daughters favorite after pink. You roll it out thinly and then proceed to carve out a large circle (10 minutes). Then you need toppings for your pizza, namely pepperoni colored. You then smooth out a thin layer of red play dough and then shape out the appropriate sized pepperoni (10 minutes). Your final process involves naming off family members as you apply each pepperoni....ie..."this one is for nonna...this one is for momma.." etc (10 minutes). Nonna will be glad to find out that she received the most pieces of pepperoni in this process.

Being my daughters sous chef was the thrill of the day for me. How could Rachel Ray beat this experience and our record breaking time? :) I'll bet she would have never thought of the Mickey Mouse pepperoni!

Kindergarten: High road or low road

We are in the process of choosing a kindergarten for Little Man, my 4 year old. Without putting undue pressure on us...this is the single most important decision we will every make for him barring any other. We could, by choosing incorrectly alter the course of his life and put him on the path to mediocrity - or by choosing correctly encourage and nurture the man who will cure cancer, or become a train conductor. (he's already promised to let us sit in the front car with him...at least once.)


Is that undue pressure?

(insert scream here)

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE? Private? Public? Catholic? Homeschooling?

My husband was a "public" as they were dubbed by us "privates" (being called a private doesn't sound very inviting now that I see it in print). He claims to have had an "OK" experience in school and doesn't feel it hurt him in any way. He's not quite sure it helped him, but it certainly didn't hurt him. I, on the other hand, was given the "greatest gift a parent can give " (this is a direct quote from my mother) by receiving 12 years of Catholic schooling. I can honestly say, all joking aside, that I do appreciate that my parents made the supreme financial sacrifice of putting me and my siblings through private school. To this day, my handwriting is better than any "public" I know. Beyond that, at the time I was in Catholic schools, Catholic schools in my area were head and shoulders above a public school education. But not only that, it was important for my parents that we were getting religious education every day of the school week.

Flash forward 20 years after I left the halls of my last Catholic school and new we have all sorts of options as far as schooling our children.

• We can homeschool, if we are so inclined. There are so many resources out there for the homeschooling Mama that it doesn't even really seem like homeschooling...but a kinder, gentler, organic and exciting way to learn. Pros/Cons - Sounds wonderful, but the reality is that he would basically continue to have me as a teacher and quite frankly...he deserve more.
• We can choose a non catholic private school, which with a hefty price tag will tailor the learning experience to your children's likes and dislikes and encourage their passions. That sounds really good. Isn't that what I've been doing thus far at home? Pros/Cons - we get to spend what we were planning on spending for their entire college education on his first year of Kindergarten.
• We can go totally public and send our child down the street to the corner school, which has it's benefits and which has a GATE program which promotes and supposedly teaches to your child's level. (Isn't it obvious that any child of mine would be in a Gifted program???? :) ) Pros/Cons - Most people we know are going this route...but I have no faith in the public school system.
• Or we can go Catholic, which is where my comfort and safety level lead me. (12 years of Catholic school also lead me here) But will he get good academic training along with religious training? I don't necessarily want a man who has FAITH that his future is secure but can't read past grade level 3. For my parents, it was important that prayer be a part of our day and that faith be taught. The schools I attended did their job, as did my parents, because a foundation of faith is important to me, too. Pros/Cons - If we send him to Catholic school, my mom will stop giving me dirty looks every time we discuss sending him to public school but I will have to start a daily novena that we have made the right decision.

I'm so confused. We want to give our son the best academic experience available. We want his opportunities to be abundant. WE DON'T WANT TO SCREW IT UP.

We've already signed the little man up at our parish Kindergarten. I've also put his name on lists at public schools in the area. September is looming. (OK, yes, I know that it's only February...but it feels like it's LOOMING!)

***UPDATE****CLICK HERE****

Writing Exercises - 28 Day Program

Once again I am taking the NABLOPOMO challenge. 28 days - 28 posts.

It's all about discipline.
(I can't even type that without smiling and laughing at myself.)

Let's see how it goes. OK. Good luck, everyone.

Musical Monday: What If I Loved You?

Not exactly the question you want to be asking on your wedding day...but you know...the song was swinging so we went with it!





When I married My Guy, it was a bit of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" meets every heart wrenching farewell scene in every cheesy movie you have ever seen. We married on one coast with my big fat Italian family and I moved to another coast. ALONE. Err. With My Guy. But ALONE! In my family, if there aren't 10 random cousins in your house. YOU ARE ALONE. Anywho, as far as wedding songs went, the last thing I needed were a series of wedding songs that would tear my heart out. Soo.....we went with an upbeat song that was sweet enough to melt our hearts everytime we watched "Return to Me" ONE OF MY TOP 10 FABU ITALIAN AMERICAN MOVIES OF ALL TIME! But the melting was not a cry...it was a smile. So we moved around the dance floor with the three steps we learned at our one dance lesson and WOWED the crowd...err..or at least ourselves.

The following is the only clip I could find....

So, ladies and gents, I give you our wedding song "What if I Loved You" by Joey Gian from the movies "Return to Me".

I still get teary eyed every time I hear it and remember that sweet day!

Now go check out Jori-o's picks at Jeff & Me + Three and show us what moves you!

You Prolific Bastids! I love you!

OK. I'm not telling you anything you haven't already figured out....we are not daily bloggers. The best I can do is feed and water my children and family daily. In fact, if you could see the way my scale keeps inching up...you'd be sooooo proud - I'm excelling in this department...but that's another story.

Anywho, we went away. We had good intentions about posting daily from La Bella Italia, but you know how that went. Then we came home. We HAVE SO MUCH MATERIAL. But do you see it? No. We have TONS of great pictures. Do you see them? No. We have two children who give us more daily material than you could possibly believe. Do you hear about it? Ummm..no. We should be posting every other minute...but we don't even post every other day. I'm on my knees confessing over here!

(deep breath)

OK...so we are basically blogging deadbeats. However, you prolific fabulous bloggers, aka Prolific Bastids, who give me so much daily pleasure in reading about your lives and viewpoints have gifted us with two awards. I should be thanking you and you guys gift us with awards!?!? Talk about rewarding bad behaviour! I LOVE IT!

Noah's Mommy, who does not have one, but TWO, fabulicious blogs gifted us with The Fabulous Blog Award!

If you haven't been over to Noah's Mommy's blog...make a bee line over there right now! She is one of the people that you wish lived next door so you could drop in regularly for a cup of tea and her funny take on life. Via blog...we can...so do! Thank you Noah's Mommy...you are a sweetie!

With this award comes responsibilities...I must pass it along to 5 other FABULOUS blogs, but I must list 5 addictions....and to that I say...ONLY 5????

Ok...here we go:

1. The Him/ The Husband/ The Dad's Kisses! Killer good!
   
2. The Him/The Husband/ The Dad's Hugs! He's tall. He has long arms. Do I have to say anything else. Talk about enveloping hugs! LOVE IT! Addicted!!!
   
3. My daughters penchant for calling her big brother " My big Sister" Let me use it in a sentence for you: "Mama, don't talk to My big sister like that!" picture the hands on hips!
   
4. Jane Austen MOVIES whenever possible add in a comfy chair, blanket and QUIET...ahhh...I need a 12 step program.
   
5. A great romance novel or 5000! Ala Julie Garwood, Ala Julia Quinn.

Ok...did I make you sick!? LOL...good!

I now pass on The Fabulous Blog Award to the following FABU blogs and Prolific Bastids!

1. Adlibby on the Loose! - smart and hilarious, deep and fabulous
   
2. Jeff & Me + Three - sweet and funny, bubbly and heartfelt
   
3. Pearls of Wisdom - Pearl's endearing humor will keep you coming back for more.
   
4. Cucinario di Nonna Ivana - OK...it's in Italian. The pictures alone will keep you coming back for more but the recipes, are. to. die. for. She is an absolutely lovely lady and understands and writes English as well. Go over. It's killer.
   
5. Decisionally Challenged - Georgie is DA BOMB (can you even believe I used that phrase) Her confessional alone is worth the price of admission...err..it's free!

Now go forth and frequent these blogs!

Ok...the second award comes from Rhaingel at Penpusher, a blogger who I suspect will become a great writer, screen writer and director. We will be seeing her life on film some day. She is poetic, lyrical, deep and very wise for one so young. I believe she is a wonderful find and a great read. Somehow, this young prolific bastid returns the lovely compliment of frequenting this fuddy duddy (can you believe I used that term on myself?) blog and gave us the Lemonade Award! How sweet is that?

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

But I say do whatever you want :)

Here are 6 blogs that make Lemonade Beautifully!

1. Two Redheads and a boy-le
2. Sarah's Blogtastic Adventures
3. The Wind in Your Vagina
4. Food, Glorious, Food and life in general
5. Blok Thoughts
6. Blog Stalkers Unite

Thank you, thank you, thank you....and I hope these awards bring you the smile that they brought the whole crew on The Goo Goo Ga Ga!

Musical Monday: Sleeping Beauty - Once Upon A Dream

Jori over at Jeff & Me +Three has been having Music Memory Monday for quite a while....but now, with a bloggy friend, has made it official! Musical Monday!

Wow...what a production! Congratulations to Jori and Diane!

So...musically speaking...here is what is currently moving me on many levels! ;)

This is a song that was not on my radar as a child. I don't remember it at all. It is a song that has become a beautiful part of my children's lives. Until LG (little girl) came along LM (little man) ruled the roost along with the movie and music selections. We all enjoyed the CARS soundtrack, I promise. Little girl cheered him on with every song played. We went through the MULAN soundtrack, most recently the WALL-E soundtrack and with that...HELLO DOLLY. As soon as Little Girl saw Sleeping Beauty she became mesmerized by "Once Upon A Dream" and was immediately transformed into a Princess! She sings the song from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed and in recent days has even suggested that I sing the Prince part of the song because she's the Princess part. She IS the Princess part. I love it!

The lyrics of the song are very simple and seem to, every day, become more fitting for what I feel for my two little little ones. Carrying them each around in my belly, knowing them so well...loving them so well....before we met.

I know you
I walked with you once upon a dream.
I know you
The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
Yes, I know it's true
that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
the way you did once upon a dream

Go check out Jori and Diane and experience your own Musical Monday!

Why do 30 Minute Meals take me 1 hour and a 1/2?

Dear Rachael Ray,

I really like you. In all honestly, I kinda liked you better before you had your own talk show and I didn't have to listen to you.... ummm...well....talk so much...but all in all...I really enjoy your goofy little stories about your family and walking with your dog Boo. I enjoy your quirky, sentimental good-naturedness...and I adore the way you are making cooking for your family seems like a joyous adventure and symbol of familial adoration rather than a tedious, looming everyday annoyance. In addition, the meals that I have made from your book, TV show or Food Network program (all the 30 minute meal brand) are usually very delicious. However, they do NOT and I repeat, DO NOT take 30 minutes to make.

This whole 30 minutes meal fabrication has got to stop! The myth that you are perpetuating is making me feel...well...inadequate. I know that your show is filmed in 30 minutes, but either you are bringing in a team of helpers during the commercials or you are lying. Now I'm not saying that ALL of your recipes aren't standing up to YOUR test of time, but most of the recipes I've tried are at least double the time.

So, just to prove the point, I challenge you to come to my home and prepare one of your recipes...I'll choose. Then I will blend into the background and watch you preform. Here's the catch...you must prepare this meal with the same joy and challenges the rest of face when preparing one of your so called 30 minute meals from home. You have to juggle at least one child around the age of 5 and hmmm..let's say, another child around the age of 2. You'll need to be fielding phone calls from your land line as well as your cell phone. A nice added touch would be having your 2 year old have a breakdown of some kind (maybe low blood sugar) and have your 5 year old keep asking when the meal will be ready. They should probably be playing a game in the room and of course, occasionally squabbling.

Keep in mind you will need to continually reference the recipe to keep the experiment and challenge authentic.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

So, c'mon...just between us...you know these recipes require a bit more than 30 minutes. Truth in advertising would dictate that you title your show and books "30 minute Test Kitchen Meals /90 Minute Real Home Meals", but I'd settle for you coming over once a month and cooking the meal. :)

Your Friend and Fan,
The Me

Pompeii...the circus clowns would be proud :)

I titled it this way because it felt like a circus when we left Pompeii. You see we had a non US sized minivan that we were about to fit 7 people, 3 large suitcases, 3 small suitcases and 8 pieces of various sized carryon items (ie...audio visual bag...diaper backpack...etc...). Circus clowns could not do a better job of packing than my new found Italian cousin. I'm including pics along the way with this story so pay attention ;)

It was after we met my wife's cousins that the fear started to set in. My wife, I could tell, was wondering how in the world we could fit one more body and luggage into our car. We didn't have the heart to tell the cousin with the small travel bag that we didn't have room. After all, she was hosting us at a hotel on the Amalfi coast for 2 days. We couldn't....You just don't do that to family!! What were we to do?

Well...this feeling persisted the rest of the afternoon. It was after lunch (check out that antipasto dish!) that we had the bright idea of trying to find an auto parts store that sold luggage racks for the tops of cars. We did find such a place but to no avail....they didn't have one. One of my wifes cousins..the one helping us with directions around on our walking tour of the ruins....told my wife not to worry.... that she was an expert in packing cars....it would get done!! On the rest of our tour of Pompeii , we had to be safe in the words of my wifes cousin. Ya see she is very happy that Obama is the new US president and she took every opportunity to recite the Obama slogan of...."YES WE CAN!!"

Well it was getting alittle late in the afternoon. The sun was down. It was my job to tend to the job of packing that 7th person's luggage into the car while still making room for her :) My partner in crime on this mission was non other than my new YES WE CAN cousin. Let's just state beforehand that I know very little Italian and she knows not much more than "YES WE CAN" I say this all with loving terms because by the end of this trip I learned to love these new cousins of mine as my wife has for many years. They are beautiful people! That being said....we proceeded to after taking all the luggage out....piece it all back together. Hand signals were a must...pointing was imparitive....smiles and gestures included. I had my doubts. We barely got 6 people and all our luggage in the minivan...how were we to stuff a 7th. Here we are in a dimly lit parking lot next to the ruins...all the luggage out...and amazingly we were able...with a very strong shoulder press on the hatch....to close the car up. It was at this moment the high fives of "YES WE CAN" rang out and we had mission accomplished.

The workers on the side of the parking lot were probably getting a big chuckle out of our circus. But in the end, this tall blond American man and that short gray haired, bigger than life, Italian woman were able to do the unthinkable. Next would come the piecing all the bodies into the car..it was like a car version of Twister but in the end...all were belted in and all were secure. It was now on to the Amalfi coastline for us all!! Ciao Pompeii!!