Here's What's Shakin.....

I am going to North Carolina for Easter Weekend !!!!!

Yippee !!!!!!!

I will get to be apart of M's Confirmation ceremony and finally see where they live.

Frankly I cannot wait.

I spoke with M2 and have learned that M's Mother, Sister and Brother in law as well as their two boys will also be there to visit and support M during this important time in her life. It will be good to have some time to get to know them better.

There was talk of taking me out to see the Ocean.. but being that it is two hours away from their home.. I would much rather stay close by and see the sights near them.. and talk.. I am sure there will be lots to talk about...heck just what their day to day life is like work, life family etc.... From what I hear it is absolutely beautiful there.. Trees are blossoming and temps are already in the mid 70's !!!

Now that would be a welcome break from the never ending Michigan thaw...

All of this new activity has forced me to bite the bullet and buy a new camera... I wanted something easy to use, yet quality, at a reasonable price that would take great idiot proof pictures... Hmmm not asking for much am I...

You know what this means don't you... You might actually get some pictures of !!! Mamma !!!

Whoo Hoo !!!!

that and perhaps I will take seriously the challenge of doing a "Whatcha cooking" series .. and have pictures of the step by step meals I prepare... Wow... talk about grasping for straws to keep this blog going..ha..

In any case I think having a camera in my hands which could be a very good thing... or .... go very very wrong.. time will tell.

I have a very busy couple of weeks ahead of me here.. it seems to go in spurts.. but either way it will be full of quite fun and interesting things to do...

Monthly dinner out with the girls

Earlier then usual RENEW meeting

Coffee with an old friend

Book Club

Packing for North Carolina

Getting all my Easter eggs in a row (so to speak) before I leave.

Playing with the new camera...

It should all be fun... I must admit the thought of not having Mr R with me.... kinda bums me out but alas it was not to be.... I will be travel alone, staying at the hotel alone, it really will be odd not to have him there...and I Will miss him...but I know he is in good hands here with Mamma... oh my gosh I can only imagine how much he will be spoiled by her... She LOVES to dote on him..

It IS a sight to be hold.

I have a feeling he may not miss me.... as much as I miss him.....

H.W.M * D

My Wonderful nephew D

Of all the nieces and nephews... D.. is probably the most emotional H.W.M. I have experienced...

You see..... He came into this world exactly 5 days after my father left.

He is in many ways just like Pa... and I think has a very special bond with his "Nono" even though they have never met.

The reality of not having Pa with us anymore was still hard to imagine.. and everything was in flux.. we had not yet moved in or purchased my parents home,( in fact we had yet to even make that decision) my sister and I were taking turns spending the night with Mamma and we knew that this could not go on indefinitely. ( She too was expecting a little one in August)

All the happy events that were going to take place, were hard to imagine... and yet it was going to take place...

Mamma and I got the call, and we headed to the hospital, she with a bag full of sewing and I with my books. My Brother,Nancy's Mom, and her dear friend were already there.

We needn't have bothered bringing our stuff...because things got moving preeettty fast...

Now mind you .. I Have not been in a lot of rooms where women were in the throws of giving birth, other then my own.. and let me tell you... MY WAY and Nancy's way are FAR FAR different

Nancy would let out a small groan of discomfort ... perhaps shutting her eyes tight for a brief few minutes and that would be the sign that she had experienced a contraction.

People...

I have made more loud, agonizing laments in my daily bathroom routine.. ( if you know what I mean... sorry didn't mean to gross)

I stood there in utter awe of what I was seeing..never before in person or on a T.V.show had I seen such composer.

I assure you ... at both my births people knew what was going down... or coming out so to speak.. but.....

*In my own defense .. I must add the fact that my children did come out at almost toddler weights of.. 9.10 1/2 and 9.1 lbs.. so come on... It's my birthing and I'll cry if I want to!

Yes the scene before us was unreal for many reasons..

Not only did Nancy allow us to be there for the birth...

We all witnessed it first hand... a absolute miracle.

Poor Mamma had the only chair in the house... unfortunately it was literally at the end of Nancy's bed, allowing my rather modest mother a bird's eye view, of a side of her daughter in law she had never seen.. she was too embarrassed to leave and didn't know where to look as she stayed...

I... on the other hand had parked myself adjacent to the opening gate of the races, so to speak.. I was too busy popping blood vessels and vocal cords at my children's birth experience to really be able to see all the action.. that and not being able to see anything with out my glasses which probably had to extricated surgically from some poor nurse's arm.

I was NOT going to miss this for anything.

As things quickly progressed... Nancy did become a little bit more vocal.. I may have heard a small " Ooh" here or there.. but mainly she just went somewhere else mentally.. AMAZING

Soon the Dr gave us the thumbs up.. this was going to happen .. and happen now!.. it's a good thing she gave us the heads up (so to speak) because the only thing I heard Nancy say, just as she was giving her final last HARD push was

" Pa this one is for you".....

I could not swallow... I could barely see...

What happened next was a miraculous wonderment... there he was ....one minute

No Where to suddenly

Now here..

He was absolutely beautiful ( and still is)... we all knew that Pa WAS in that room that moment.

We had just witnessed the most unbelievable event ...

The parallel to what had just taken place 5 days prior,could not be more clear...

We were privileged enough to have seen the face s of both LIFE and DEATH.. all in less then a week.

Both are beautiful in their own ways...both are hard.

How is it that we all loved this new little being already?...How could this be ? feeling the familiar feeling I have described ... of Happiness and Sadness at precisely the same moment.

Yet we were... all of us felt it

I like to think that D and Pa have met... somewhere in that immense cosmic hallway between life and death... I am sure they know each other pretty well, in fact I would not be surprise if Pa didn't' give D instructions on how to come into our lives and help us with the hurt we were all feeling...
D has done a great job.

This kid bears more than my father's name as his middle name... he has so many of his little mannerisms.. and sometimes I see a physical glimmer of my dad's smirk on his face...

They never really leave us do they...

I cannot tell you how much joy this child has brought to us all... and today after church, when we go to his 6th birthday party(His actual birthday is Tuesday)... a birthday that will always reminds us of how many years we have missed someone we loved so much...... it will also remind us of the Happiness we have now... of having D in our lives.. he came to help us when we needed him most.

I love ya more then the Red Power Ranger D...

Love

Zia

OLD School Italian......

I have mentioned here and there on the blog about being a F.I.C. ( Female, Italian, Catholic)

and while I am proud to be all of the above.. today I am going to showcase some fun pics I found which I will call "Old School Italian".. basically these are people of southern Italy....

MY people.

Not that anyone from northern Italy isn't top notch.. I however have a soft spot for these rugged down to earth people of the south.

My dad used to LOVE joking with our neighbors who hailed from Tennessee that they were kindred spirits.. He would say.. " You are a hillabilly froma Tennessee.. and I am a Hillabilly froma Italy ! " Ahhh yes talk about politically incorrect...

Our neighbor however absolutely loved Pa.. and not surprisingly their lives were very similar in regard to how hard they had to work while on the farm.

Yes..

MY people come from the mountains....

One of the most beautiful spots God ever created..From their home at the top... The east brought you a beautiful sunrise overlooking a spectacular valley of homes and vineyards... the West an equally beautiful sunset with the spectacle that is the ocean.

They had to work the land in order to feed their large family... days were long and backbreaking... but my gosh... No king on earth was ever surrounded with such beauty as this.

Yeah am pretty darn proud of my heritage and my culture.

I was born there Long Long Long .... Long ago.. and only have memories of it from two visits.. but in my mind it is as if I lived there my entire life..

My family has done a incredible job of not only keeping the memories of the past alive.. but for many years after moving here kept many of the traditions going..

I am now an American citizen. I did so around 20 years ago...

I know I know.. what took you so long!!!... call it youth.. call it laziness.. who knows.... as I got older and had children, I too wanted to take part in this important right of voting.. and to show I did truly recognize what a gift it is to be called American..In some ways I am more American then Italian..

I did not speak English very well when I went to Kindergarten.. (simply because Italian was the primary language spoken) often I would be chatting away with the other kids... and suddenly mid sentence break out into full out Italian. Needless to say.....I got some pretty confused looks

I still speak Italian at home ... but only with Mamma...

I know.. shame on me for not teaching my kids... Don't Judge me !!! ha.. they are lucky I potty trained them.. !!!

I do wish I had been more diligent with that ... but alas I still feel in spite of not speaking it ... both of my children do feel the connection of their roots..

Yes I love these pictures not because they are nice to look at per say... it is because they remind me of where I came from.. A tough, hard working, breed..

I need to remember that... more often

It's all in how you look at it....

Ground Hog Day.... Crash..



Two movies That I just absolutely LOVE !!!!!
What could these two movies have in common ???.... I will tell you...



PHYSICS... That's right..
Einstein said it best
"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute -- then it's longer than any hour. That's relativity!" Einstein, Albert

It is all perception...


In the movie Ground Hog day... Bill Murray's character is forced to live the same day over and over again.
(Perhaps this is hell... or if you are Catholic?...... purgatory

Where is Sr MaryBreakyourkuckles when you need answers?)

Each day ... over and over again seeing the same people playing out the same scenarios...
Never growing..never learning...
(Yes.. I think this defiantly is hell..)

He can not take one more day of his mundane existence... and even after trying to kill himself in a number of very interesting ways...
He awakes again, again at precisely 6:00 A.M. to the sound of Sonny and Cher's
" I got You Babe"...
Having nothing more to live for, he embarks on a convoluted effort to bed the woman he is in love with....
He finds out all her like and dislikes,pretending to have all the same preferences.
He thinks he is impressing her, and this strategy is an easy ticket into the bedroom ... instead she finds him ,increasingly creepy.
Frustrated, he finally decides there is nothing better to do,so why not try to better himself... and help those around him.

It is precisely in helping those around him that he ultimately helps himself.. and his metamorphosis begins .....
Inevitably the new and improved Man becomes very likable... not only to himself,his gal pal,but to everyone around him.

When he learns to be happy within, and not have any hidden agendas... the spell is broken and he awakens in the arms of his love... literally and figuratively to a new life, and as a much improved person.
When I first saw this movie.. I watched it with surface eyes only... Now having watched many times.
I get it even more.
We are here for the betterment of our selves ... but also of others..

A touching scene in the movie plays out with an old homeless man.. First the beggar goes virtually unnoticed day after day.. unseen..
Then money is half heartily tossed at him, followed by actually seeing him as a person and trying to help.
Having reached that point.....
Only to find him dead in an Alley.. Bill Murray's character now having had a bond with this man.... trys again and again with each new day that he receives to alter this man's destiny by feeding him.. giving him warm clothes and even a desperate attempt at trying to save his life... with mouth to mouth.. only to have the ER nurse say...
" Sometimes People just Die".

As sad and as real as that statement is...
The saddest thing is to not have done SOMETHING to help... even knowing ultimately what the end would be.
Do what you can, While you still can, and let life's play continue....

Having NO REGRETS... (At least in the important areas!)
This my own personal goal.

Bill Murray's One PERFECT day... learning, helping and genuinely loving ....was comparable to an entire lifetime..
Was it a day?.. Was it a entire lifetime?.. it's all relative.

Crash:
Not exactly the lighthearted comedy of Ground Hog Day... However.....
This movie by far one of my ALL ALL TIME FAVORITES !!!
I love this movie so much I feel that it should and could be used in classes all over the country...

(of course this would have to be geared to older students.)

Granted...it IS very raw, and explicit.. but then sometimes life is too..

In this movie... we are privy to the complicated web that the combination of our lives make up... One simple act can and does alter everything...

A simple car accident in the beginning of the movie, weaves together the lives of the people involved... the course it takes, and it's lingering effects...
Everyone is connected... every one's actions have an impact... some incredibly wonderful and redeeming and some awful and life changing.

The plot is simply too complicated to go into.. but I suggest NOT only renting this movie.. but watching it only with truly open eyes... seeing all the intricate details ...
This movie isn't just about race, sex,violence or preconceived notions we all have... it is ultimately about how we are all connected in this fabric we call life.
It will at the very least ..... Make You Think.
Now that can't be all bad right???

*See Sometimes I an actually capable of having serious and thought provoking ideas but........
Not to worry!!!... like the hiccups.. this doesn't happen too often...
We will now return you to your regularly scheduled program of fun and frolic.

There is a season.....

Six Years ago.Today...

On a day just like this one... My Father passed away.

The weather, the smell in the air,the wind, almost everything is the same... and yet.....

Nothing is the same.

Six Years .... It is hard to believe, it has been six years that he has been gone. So much has happened in those years, so much that he missed. ( Some I am glad he was not here to have to go through)


But for the most part I wish he could see that his eldest grandson, although far away, has graduated from collage, found employment ( THIS was very important to him...HARD WORK !!!) and has found someone wonderful, who cares for him deeply and helps him on his path. He would have liked M.


That Maria... his first granddaughter too will graduate from collage, and is embarking on her new life with someone kind,caring and respectful of her and her entire family..
That on this very day, the anniversary of his death she will order her wedding gown. Though he did not live to see her married..I know he will be there with us. I know he would have gotten a kick out of teasing with her M.


He would have seen that all his children and their spouses, have rallied around his wife and have tried to make her hurt.. some how less.

He would have loved to have had a longer time with his next set of grandchildren...who in my opinion were robbed of his warm and crazy humor..

We will continue to talk to them about him...and do as we always have ,visit his resting place. We will keep his memory alive as long as we are alive.

Today at the cemetery our hurt was pronounced... as Now Nancy's father is buried in the same mausoleum under my dad... the sadness in the air was palpable, as she, her mother, Mamma , my siblings and the grandchildren sat in front of our fallen loved ones..The hurt for them is still so raw.


After the little ones lead us all in The Lord's Prayer.. (* Now THAT will melt your heart) they soon ran off to feed the ducks and swans on the small lake near the chapel... the four of them lined up on the bank , in an unintentional row of youngest to oldest..trowing bread crumbs.

I could feel the catch in my throat, and the sting in my eyes...

How is it that one can feel such hurt and such happiness all at the same time?
Pa....
I really miss ya...

Magic at the Market....

*Note
Written with Maria's permission



If you live in Michigan...
hopefully you have, at one time or another visited the wonderful Eastern Mkt !!!
I just love love love this place.. For a while there a group of us gals would make pretty regular trips down there from the burbs.


We would get up BEFORE the sun, in a carpool chain, stopping at each home, adding each person .......most half asleep.


* On a side note..
One time our last stop was at K's house... K is a smoker and she had finished up in the bathroom, and was ready to head out when suddenly, we smelled something odd.. like burning.. sure enough her butt ( cigarette that is)was still burning and would have set the basket on fire. had we left a minute sooner ...... who knows what could have happened....far too much excitement for 5:30 a.m !

Anyway that is just one of many stories that have come from our excursions to Eastern Mkt.which just happens to be the largest historic public market district in the United States.



The sun comes up just as we get there... A glorious sight..... the sound of the vendors unloading and hawking their wares.. the smells of local restaurants as well as the fresh produce... coffee, donuts, fresh bread ,bagels. and as the morning wears on...... Often a small jazz band comprised of no more then 3 or 4 African American men.. One playing bass( yes a full size bass) one a guitar, maybe a sax and drums... seemingly appear out of no where.. and end up in front of the local spice shop....they get the morning started.. thier music filling the air.... It really is kind of magical..



In another part of the Market...Under one of the covered area's we would always looked for one lone blind man who armed with only his guitar, and a plastic bucket to sit on....would spin his music web around us all....
On one the these trips .. Years and Years ago when Maria was very young.. 6 or 7 years old.. she stood mesmerized listening to his deep, sad, bluesy voice...
He sang original and often improvised songs right there, on the spot...



As she watched person after person drop coins and bills into his cup.. She asked if she too could drop some change into his cup. She loved it.


A little further down the isle up against the concession wall was another gentleman squatting.
He too had dark sunglasses on.. and held a large cup in his hands... he wasn't singing.. talking.. wasn't doing anything but perhaps waiting for someone.

Maria in all her charitable furor ran up to the man... and with out a single word... plopped the last of her change into his cup...

Only instead of the usual clink of coins hitting coin... a geyser of coffee flipped up into the air !!!

I don't know who was more shocked... He.... or Maria..



Even as I write this.. I am laughing... The look on their faces.... was priceless...yet it was such a touching thing to see... She meant well... and was truly trying to be kind....
I can only hope she left him enough .... to get a fresh cup of coffee.


Sorry Eastern Market dude... the kid meant well.....

A little SPRING.. in my step

A Gloomy kind of day......but I am going to TRY to keep things positive..

After all.......I don't want this blog to turn into a Piss and Moan Blog..( Although I may have to see if that title is taken..... Hmmmm )

OK.. anyway..

Taking Mamma for a follow up on her pacemaker... they will take out the stitches and make sure everything is in sync.

Took Mamma to the Dr yesterday as well.....For her hearing aids..Every six months or so she has to have them checked out.. and cleaned..

THIS.... is a MUST.... That way... the word Hydrangea... does not sound like Hi Stranga, to her.Speaking of Hydrangea's ... with all this wet weather, I have noticed that my daffodils are already up and quite tall. A wonderful sign that Spring is in the air !!!

With Spring comes thoughts of flowers

OR

If there is ALOT of rain

But like I said... I am TRYING to keep this light and fluffy.

Spring brings Happy thoughts and gardening

The thing is....gardening really IS hard work.. I mean, it's good for you ... and the benefits pay off... but for today because it is so yucky out. AND I want to avoid stepping all over these

I think I will gear up... and just enjoy Mamma's Company

Sooo... Whatcha makin???

A couple of people have commented via email that what I was having for dinner was of actual interest...

Why?..... I do not know..

So in an attempt to fill today's space... I will tell you what we had for dinner... (specifically how I made the chicken) because lord knows we wimmins are always looking for different ways to give the bird.

OK..

I have one very large breast ( Chicken that is )

So large in fact that it almost looked like it was from some mutant chicken factory...

After having taken it from the freezer, and being still semi frozen I sliced it in three thin layers.

( Man I wish my camera was working.. I would have liked to post some of this stuff) anyway... lengthwise..

Doing this while the meat is still semi frozen allows you not only easier cutting but results in even layers..each piece was pounded thin, I used a zip bag and a mallet....( great way to get your aggressions out!)

Next ... a piece of provolone cheese, then a piece of prosciutto or ham, placed on the slice.

Roll tightly,secure with a thick toothpick and brown in a very hot pan... ( oil or butter will do)

* Note.. I have learned don't touch the meat for at least 2-3 min... trying to do so too early only tears the meat...after rotating the sides just enough to brown...Place in oven

* I use our table top toaster oven.. it's perfect for small amounts like this and does not heat up the entire house.

Bake 350 for 15 min or when no longer pink

Veggies:

I tried something out of the norm ... while at the local Fruit Mkt ... a nice Indian lady and I were standing side by side next to the eggplants.. she was buying the very small purple eggplants... I was buying the large black variety ( Used for eggplant parmigiana)..

I asked her how she fixed hers and she told me... I tried it and it was a hit.

*Note.. These are only MY guesstamits..

6-8 Small Baby Eggplants ( depending on how many people you have )

6 ave size Potatoes

1 Large onion

1 Large Portobello Mushroom

LOTS of garlic

In two separate *Cast Iron Skillets ( I just LOVE Cast Iron it is virtually the only kind of skillet I use.)

One I fried the Potatoes in very very little oil.. only enough to coat them... browning them dark and crispy....while in the other skillet.. I browned the onions.

* I did rings ... then the eggplants * also done in rounds, and then threw in the large portobello mushroom cap, just because I had it.

Finally the garlic * using my garlic press, salt and pepper viola !

When both pans were browned enough.. I joined them together.. I personally think they brown better separately then together..just my quirk.

A Tossed Salad..No explanation needed... and coffee and biscotti for dessert... and there you have it folks ... one very long entry into my culinary world ... OK... so I'm no Rachel Ray.

I know pictures would really help.. but hey.. if nothing else.. It gave me something to blog about..

Enjoy..and Bon Appetit !!

Come on.... Are you pulling my leg???

Grasping at straws here... In search of something to Blog about... I GOT NOTHING...

OK... well I did go to the Chiropractor ...

Photo Skeptisuem

I know people are either on one side of the Chiropractic fence or the other...

Now I am not a fanatic about it..... But...I happen to think that it works ( at least most of the time ) ....

( This machine kinda gives me the willies ..... Just Saying... )

So the answer to the question...... "Have You had your Chiropractic adjustment today?"

The answer is YES...

Now all I need is an attitude adjustment...Does anyone know a good Attitude Adjustment Doctor??? cause I am about ready to sign up !!!

In other riveting news.....

I think we are having chicken for dinner....

Sorry folks... That's the best I got...

Over and Out....