Tomorrow

How do you prepare for the the most difficult day of your life?  I'm just not sure.
I don't want to go to sleep tonight, because I don't want to wake up tomorrow and face the day.

I'm trying to mentally prepare and physically prepare and emotionally prepare, but I just don't think any of it is going to work.  I am thinking that you have to look at the day, square in the face and spit at it....tell it to Fuck off, and get mad at it. 

But then, that's just not me.  I don't get mad.  I wish I could do that. 

So instead, I'll face it head on and smile and talk and cry and act like it's the most natural thing in the world to do.  And all the while, part of me has died.   

My dad

He is one of the greatest men who ever lived on this earth. 

He is having a huge party up in heaven right now with all of his relatives and friends (who have been with us in the house this past week) who were waiting to take him HOME to be with Jesus.  The party table in heaven is filled with wine and food and card games and lots of Italian speaking folks and music and dancing....

He was one of the best cooks in this town. 

He was EXTREMELY proud of his kids and grandkids.

He was just an ordinary man, living in an ordinary town, working an ordinary job, yet he was unequivocally loved and admired by hundreds and hundreds of people.

We will miss you daddy.....there aren't enough tears....

But you are finally at peace and comfortable and enjoying all the people you missed when they left this earth. 

Plant a big garden, daddy.  Raise those hens, enjoy your little farm in heaven....

And don't forget the basil for me! 

 RIP Dick Carloni  7-20-39  ~  5/28/11

Memorial Day Weekend

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Memorial Day and hopefully, the weather will cooperate for everyone and their plans!

I will take some time off from blogging this weekend to spend with family and friends.

Talk to you next Tuesday!

Enjoy!!!!!!

Television

I don't watch much television.   I have a handful of favorite shows that I watch regularly.

Dancing with the Stars....what can I say!  Hines Ward - a Steeler!  He was our favorite from the beginning and we were so excited that he won!  (Sorry Marty!)

American Idol is another one of my favorites and last nights finale was a star studded event!

Tom Jones
Tim McGraw
Gladys Knight
Judas Priest (I never saw them in my life, but I had to admit that they were pretty good! I'm sure Uncly was very excited)
Tony Bennett
Carrie Underwood
Beyonce
Bono
Marc Anthony
Steven Tyler.....wow!  (He doesn't do it for me, but I know some of my friends were drooling!)

We taped it and watched it later, so we were able to fast forward through the weird parts.....

The best line of the night was "They both still have Similac on their breath!"

Scotty wasn't my favorite from the beginning (Jacob was!), but he was excellent from day one and I wanted him to win last night!

Since Amazing Race has also ended, I won't be watching any TV except for my taped The Walton's reruns!

Flowers

It's Rhododendron time!

This bush ALWAYS makes me feel like I am HOME!

Thank you to Eva and Brian for that!

Have a great graduation party this weekend, guys!  I wish I could be there!  I'm praying for good weather for everyone!  

Foraging

So far, I have picked cardillio's three times(I have no idea what the actual name of this type of dandelion really is, but that is what we call it in our dialect!).  It is a dandelion that grows with no actual yellow flower.  We eat them in salad, or cook them for greens!  Delicious!

The first two times, I made them with olive oil, onions, garlic and salt and pepper.  Boiled the cardillio's quickly, and then sautéed them in the above ingredients.  This time, I boiled them quickly and threw them in the soup (like an escarole)!

My brother is the mushroom forager.  He has become quite adept at this as it really is an art.  He brought me a garden giant.

I wish I had taken a picture of the stem before I had cut it off the and chopped it up!  I sauteed two onions in olive oil, washed the mushroom good (slugs in the gills - yuck!) and then fried it up. The next time we have steak, the mushroom and onions are all set. 

The sign on the porch.....

The sign on my parents front porch.
The Poem:                What Cancer Cannot Do

I know it is hard to read, but here is the gist:

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.

Author: Unknown

Painted by all the Grandchildren!

Notice the colors of the Grandchildren sign??  The Italian Flag...I thought that was brilliant!

More Freebies

The past month was pretty good for freebies!  I know I am forgetting some things because I wasn't very good at writing everything down this last month....

But here is a partial list of last month's freebies:

I won a bar of soap and a dishcloth in a blog giveaway!
Men's Dove Deodorant
Men's Dove Body Wash
Nescafe coffee - six pack sampler (2nd time I was able to get it)
Another bar of soap
Three diapers (for the trips)
Glade candle
Breve Vanilla Caramel Creme for Coffee (full size)
Tampons
Shampoo and Conditioner Samples (I forgot the brand!)
Land o Lakes Butter with Olive Oil (full size)
Post it notes (again)
Two packages of seeds
Kirkland anti bacterial bathroom wipes (2)
Fiber Choice Fiber supplement for weight loss

ETA: Zantac - free sample

I will edit if I remember more!

Oh this weather....

My post last Wednesday was extemely premature.....we have had rain for days and expect it for another few days.  It just isn't fun here in CT.  It is cold and wet and rainy.  I can't remember a month of May where I get into the car and have to turn on the heat and my car seat warmers to get to work!  It really is ridiculous.  Nothing seems to be growing in the garden.  I think this part of the country is behind in the growing dept.(veggies and flowers) by about two weeks. 

Anyway, it is supposed to be nicer by Sunday......one can only hope!

Posting and Cancer!

I haven't had the opportunity to post this week.  I have been spending a lot of time at my parents home and for those of you who would like an update, my dad is doing well and is comfortable.  He went for a drive with my brother on Sunday evening, just to get him out of the house and he really enjoyed it (Milford beach).  Then last night, he felt well enough to come downstairs to the dining room table for dinner.  We have no complaints!!!  Obviously, there are good days and bad days........Cancer is such a four letter word!  I wouldn't wish this disease on anyone.

I don't think I mentioned the Zumba Fundraiser that we had on May 6th.....It was a success!!!

We raised $1,700.00 - half went to the The Breast Cancer Wellness Fund and half went to the Father McGivney Center for Lung Cancer.

Thank you to all my friends and family that participated!!!!  Love you all!!

Spring Finally...

I know spring means rain, but we have had our share this year......

However, this week, someone UP there, decided we needed some sun and it's been a glorious week so far....So, thank you!!!

Graduation Pictures....

 Dom and I after the ceremony - which was beautiful - Short and sweet!  Great speaker - Kelci Stringer, the widow of Korey Stringer (NFL player who died of Heatstroke some years back).

 the Family!

 Dominic with his Nonni!

 Dominic and Samantha...

 Walking from UConn for the last time.....

 Pictures in front of his apartment that he had for two years (the infamous Carriage House).

The Ceremony was dark inside and I don't have that great of a camera so I only posted pictures of the graduate and the family outside the venue!  It was a great Mothers' Day and I'm really proud of my son.  His degree is in Kinesiology with a concentration in Strength and Conditioning - he is a personal trainer and is working for a company that is grooming him to be a golf personal trainer.

Mother's Day Lunch...

...on the Front Porch.

We were blessed with beautiful weather yesterday afternoon, so our Mother's Day Lunch was held outside at 2:00 pm on the Front Porch.

Twenty-seven people, two birthdays, one graduation from College and Mother's Day celebrations.....We had a lot to be thankful for~

Happy Mother's Day...

....To All mom's out there!!

I have pictures of my son's graduation from the University of CT this morning, which I will hopefully post tomorrow night.  We had a beautiful morning at Uconn.

I am a proud mom today of my son, Dominic!

Saturday

Taught Zumba Class
Visited my dad for an hour
Did the Church's bookkeeping
Planted Ground Cherries
Planted Chichiquelite Berries
Planted Two tomato plants (I need more)
Planted Pumpkins
Planted Squash
Planted Peas
Planted String beans
Planted marigolds
Planted wildflowers
Transplanted six raspberry bushes (new growth)
Pruned the Blackberry bushes
Pruned the White Birch Tree
Cleaned up the Mulberry Tree
Going to visit my dad
And then going out to Dinner with the hubby and friends........Looking forward to a glass of wine!

Good day!!!

Dandelion Jelly

After last week's success with the Violet Jelly , I decided to try dandelion jelly too.  I don't have a lot of dandelion's in my yard (like I did with violets), but my brother and my dad did, so me and my daughter and my niece picked a ton of them!  We just popped the yellow heads off and then used a scissors to cut off the green part in the back of the flower.  All you use is the yellow head.  You make this jelly the same way as the violet jelly....stuffing the heads into a mason jar, pouring boiling water over it and letting it sit overnight.  Strain the yellow infused water in the morning and make the jelly with pectin, lemon juice and sugar.

The dandelion jelly came out good, (the right color, the right texture (after two tries)) but the Violet jelly was definitely a winner in the spring time jelly category! 

If you would like a sample of either, please let me know.

Next up.....summer jams!  I think strawberry will be first!  Catie, are you ready?

My last CCD class

I taught my last CCD class Sunday morning before Mass.  It was bittersweet.  I have been teaching fourth graders for many years, but I now need to devote some time to my family and my life.  They were a great group of kids and hopefully, they now know about their bibles.  (That is their fourth grade requirement!).  Hopefully, they know the difference between Old and New Testament and what each section represents, how to find passages, etc.   I may go back to teaching again in the future, but for now, Cathechism is officially over for me. 

Definitely bittersweet!

Clipping Wings

The new fenced in area for the chickens has been completed by my son.  However, even though it keeps the dog out, the chickens decided that they can fly over and bother the dog!  The dog is bigger than them, though, so our yard was a cacophony of barking and screeching chickens...Not fun at 6:00 in the morning!!

So, I went on You-Tube and Google and learned how to clip chicken wings, so that the hens will stay on their side of the fence.  It was easy (once I caught the dang hens!), and all of the tutorials basically showed the exact same thing, so I couldn't go wrong (could I?).

As of 7:30 this morning, wings are now clipped and I'll let you know if it keeps the hens in their new area......it better!!!!!

 This is the new area - it is about 25 x 20 for four hens......and they have two coops as of right now!

 I think they were pretty P.O.'d at me this morning for clipping their wings, so they didn't come out of the coop to have their pictures taken! HAH!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my oldest child, Rick!!   Where the heck did 23 years go?  Seriously, where did they go?  How can I be this old?  Didn't I just have these kids?  Like two weeks ago???? 

I still remember picking out the ABC patterned primary colored border for his bedroom wall!!  And putting it up!  And taking his picture next to it!  And bringing him home from the hospital!  And the list goes on and on! 

WTH?

Violet Jelly

Last week, I had off for Good Friday, so I had a few spare hours of time. 

My yard is covered in violets.  The 'white with purple centers' type of violets.  They are beautiful and I had remembered that last year, I had read a post on making violet jelly.  The next day, another one of the blogs that I usually read had a violet jelly post, so, I just had to try it...

My pictures are not as nice as theirs are, but here goes......

Just for the record....I still have thousands of violets in my side yard....if anyone wants to try this!