Don't Blink, Life Goes Faster Than You Think.

The writing was truly on the wall. I just didn't think it would be my husband's nephew. My husband & I have always predicted that it would be one of his niece's that would become pregnant at sixteen. Well, just last week on Mother's Day of all days, we found out that my nephew & his seventeen year old girlfriend are pregnant. I will take this as a teaching moment with my own children & explain to them there are consequences for your actions.

So Hell must have just froze over this past weekend. If you know me & my family you know how dysfunctional we are. This picture was taken this weekend at my house. My sister came in from out of town with her daughter & we managed to get everyone together. It was not any easy task, but it happened. Just a few were missing from this picture, like my husband. He was the only one that was able to take the picture. Also missing was my brother-in-law & nephew. Oh yeah, my other sister, but that is another story for another time. Yes Virginia, their is a Santa Claus. Happy Holidays!

The energy you give off is the energy you receive. I am a firm believer in this. My son's football team lost to their rival over the weekend 46-6. The negative energy that has come off of the coach is unreal. He made the boys run extra laps at practice the past 2 days because of the loss. The coach yelled & screamed at the boys last night & droppe d the F bomb on them. This is not the pros coach, these are 11 year old boys. As a result of the coaches negative energy, my son has no desire to attend practice anymore. He doesn't start, he is second string. He took him & a few other kids off of special teams. The only time he plays is when they are kicking the crap out of the other team or when their is 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter & they are losing by double digits & no chance of catching up. Should we finish out the season if they make the playoffs or just end the year on Saturday for the last game? Or do we quit now? And another th...

Please keep my daughter's friend & her family in your thoughts & prayers. They lost their home & all of their belongings in a fire over the weekend.

I wish people would stop thinking that I am their CTRL ALT DEL button for all of their problems.

Since when does it matter what the structure of your place of worship looks like? My mother in law watched the kids for the first time in about a year so my hubby & I can go out. She literally walked through the door & said there is mass at 5 pm up at the church, I am taking the kids, put some nice clothes on kids. Not asking if we minded taking them Saturday night because maybe we like to go as a family on Sunday morning. So as fast as the dust cloud rolled in, I got the kids ready & the dust cloud rolled out. So out everyone went, the grandparents & kids to church & the festival & mom & dad to the casino. We returned to our house by 9 pm or so (no it wasn't a long evening for us. We always feel rushed when the in laws actually watch the kids. That is a story for another time). We all sat & talked about our evening when my husband asked his devoted Catholic mother about our new church. Her response was "It reminds me of a Protestant chu...

Yes, it is groundhog day at my house once again. If you follow my blog, you know about the ordeal that I went through last summer with my mom. Well last Friday at about 2:45 am my mom took a dive down our stairs causing her to break her wrist & arm. She is having surgery today & will go to rehab for some time. After that, I am not sure what will happen. I'm not sure I can put myself through the chances of her falling again. I have been in contact with some folks about assisted living. The madness just never ends!

How do you know when you are making the right decisions? I am looking for any input from those who have been through the process of caring for an elderly parent. I am a 40 something woman caring for my 84 year old mother, in addition to my two beautiful children ages 11 & 9. This confirms I am the sandwiched generation. Over the past year, my husband & I have been faced with many decisions regarding my mother's care. Last fall, I made the decision to place her in assisted living. It was not an easy decision, however it was the decision that I made. During her stay, all mom did was cry & say she couldn't stay there. We came to a compromise that we would build a bigger house & she would live with us. That is when the search for a lot began & through the grace of God, we found the perfect place to meet our wants & needs. In the interim, we moved my mother from assisted living to save on expenses. The living arrangements have been very tight in a tiny...

It has been a roller coaster of emotions the past few days. We will be completing our move this weekend & saying good bye to our old home. The old house was the house that I saved for & bought as a young single chick. Not long after that I married & started a family in it. Our family as experienced many ups & downs here. It is now time to move on to bigger & better things.

Just off the top of my head some things that I have been up to. 1. Fifth grade recycling project. 2. Borough Days Project (grade 3 project)-entails making a poster to be elected for mayor & writing a speech to be elected as mayor. 3. Junior Achievement. 4. Job Interview-waiting to hear when my second interview will be. 5. Preparing for the closing on our house-this will occur May 10, 2010. 6. The daily adventures in babysitting my aging mother. Every day seems to be the same thing but different. I can't even begin to explain. 7. The everyday mundane house wife responsibilities. 8. Preparing the current house for sale. 9. Third grade field trip tomorrow.

Up at 5 am. Got shower. Had a cup of joe. Watched the news. Got dressed. Woke up the kids. Got breakfast ready. Pack lunches. Helped kids get dressed. Final check of back packs & out the door. Dropped kids off at school (we don't have busing). Came home & kissed hubby good-bye. Got mom her morning meds. Loaded dishwasher. Did some laundry. Got mom's clothes ready & helped her get ready for the shower. Cleaned up the kitchen. Got mom breakfast. Get ready for what ever bizarre behavior my mother throws my way. Need I go on. This is a typical day in my house. I am so ready for a change. It is time to do some soul searching. Help!

I have a permanent scar on my heart. Just as it was healing the scab has been violently ripped open once again & it is bleeding profusely. My question is, "Why?" Why is God doing this? Over the weekend my son's best friend lost his mother due to a year long illness. She was only forty years old. She was a wife & mother of three beautiful children. Why? Why was she taken so young? I am angry! Angry with God right now. Why would you take her away? There is an eleven year old boy who's mom won't be there to see him go to the prom & graduate from high school. A young woman who's mother won't be there when she graduates in three years from college & help her pick out a wedding dress. What about the young man who's mother won't be there when he comes home from the service in two years. Maybe I'm selfish. I just don't think that it is fair. There are drug addicts & crack whores that walk the face of the earth. Why? She was a de...

Today, my son turns 11. Where does the time go? This is a picture I will cherish forever. He has never expressed disbelief about Santa. I think he may be humoring me knowing, it would break my heart. Happy Birthday son & God bless you! Love, Mom & Dad

Because you will get lost in the snow!

Living on a dead end street SUCKS! We are always the last for everything. Since we are currently snowed in, I had to tell the hospital that we will not be having mom's surgery tomorrow. Not only are we snowed in, but they wanted us to be there at 5 am. Yeah right! Not with these cold teperatures & the risk of the roads being a complete sheet of ice. I don't think so.

Have you heard about the new club? It’s called Sandwich Club. At this point you are probably thinking along the lines of Subway or Panera. Well not really, so I will tell you about my membership & my upgraded status on December 15, 2009. The Sandwich Generation is those caring for their children as well as their own aging parents. Your children & aging parents are the slices of bread & you are the piece of meat in the center (my choice of meat would be turkey). There are three different levels: Traditional: those sandwiched between aging parents who need care and/or help and their own children. Club Sandwich: those in their 50s or 60s sandwiched between aging parents, adult children and grandchildren or those in their 30s and 40s, with young children, aging parents and grandparents.(Term coined by Carol Abaya) Open Faced: anyone else involved in elder care. (Term coined by Carol Abaya) My current status is the Club Sandwich; it is an upgrade from the Traditional as of Decem...

Wow it's October, and I realized that I haven't blogged since August. Well I have been very busy. My mom has been in & out of the hospital. Therefore, I have been very busy trying to figure things out about what to do with her & lifestyle. I finally made the decision to place her in assisted living as of Friday. She thinks she is capable of living alone in her home. But when you have fallen 4 times since June I think it is time for the child to become the parent & the parent is now the child.

A few weeks ago the boys went out of town. My daughter & I had a girls night out. We started our evening with make your own mini pizza. We then we took the dog to Pet Smart for a new leash. Make your own pizza: Ingredients: 1. Pocketless pitas 2. Pizza sauce of choice 3. Mozzarella & Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 4. Topping of your choice 5. Italian herbs Prepare: In a frying pan, brown pocketless pita on both sides. Spread sauce to pita. Sprinkle the cheese on tops of sauce. Add toppings. Cook in pan until cheese melts. You may want to use a lid to cover pan to quicken the melting process.