eBay

I taught my mom how to eBay last week. She is so addicted.

I guess I knew she would be....

After all, she is the one who taught me to be a serious garage sale addict.

I can picture my dad just rolling his eyes at the whole idea.

I think my PayPal account is going to be getting a workout.

Tough decisions...

I know that being a parent is never easy... but sometimes you can find yourself in a place where you have to make decisions that really just plain suck!

We had to pull Tristan and Trinity out of private school this year. Tristan took it the hardest. He still to this day laments over his old school. Tears even...

Trinity doesn't seem to mind, but I do know that she still holds on to the memory of her old friends... but not as much as Tristan.

It breaks my heart... I've seen changes in him that I've never seen before. Getting in trouble, schoolwork not as good as before... I keep wondering if it is my imagination.

I bought the kids blank notebooks to color in. Tristan brought me (2) pictures he drew that had to do with his old school and his new school. The thing is that his old school was a Christian school and he takes it so hard that he is not learning about God (except for Sunday at church and Monday when he goes to an afterschool Bible Explorers program... I know this because he pointed it out to me tonight.)

I'm so worried that private school will shelter him from "real life". But then... what will be the effects of "real life"?

I know that I should really just pray about it. But I was once taught "Pray like it all depends on God and act like it all depends on you."

The decision was in part financial, so it is not as if we can just reverse a decision and go from there.

I just keep reassuring him that I love him and that I take his feelings seriously. I imagine that is part of the lesson to be learned.

Remembering Dad

This past weekend, we went to Brooklyn to celebrate a One-Month Memorial Mass for my daddy. We stayed with my Tio Ignacio and had a wonderful time. The kids did great on the ride there and back, and my cousin Brigitte was so incredibly patient when it came to touring us around Manhattan. She's tops on Jeff's list because she took us out to an Irish Pub that was within walking distance!

On saturday we went to mass for my dad. Afterwards there was a dinner at my Tio's house and there were so many people (and food) there.

Here is a link to a slideshow of pictures my cousin Wilfredo made on his website.
http://asengphotostudio.com/UncleLeo.aspx
Thanks Cousin!

It is always something to realize that you are connected to something bigger than yourself. That you share the same blood and family ties with people who have know you your whole life. For some people, there are constant reminders because their family is all around them.

I have always had long-distance relatives. New York and Peru mostly. All families have their nutty relatives, but in the end... they still share something with you that no one else does. It is quite humbling to me. Something I probably don't appreciate as much as I should.

Dad always tried to do anything for his family. He often told me that his father kept a room in his home for anyone who needed a place to lay their head. Dad tried to carry on that tradition by helping the people around him. Whether or not they were someone who rented a room from him when we lived in New Jersey, or if they were a nephew who was jilted by the mother of his child. One of his last requests was to have us send his brand new down winter coat to my mom's nephew who just arrived in the US from Peru this summer.

Throughout this whole process, people have been so kind to let us know how much my dad has meant to him. It has been so wonderful to hear how much my Daddy was loved.

I still miss him... but I know that he is at peace now.

Thanks everyone...

p.s. He loved picking apples and he always loved a good pen!

My kids are on the radio!!

My kids recorded some stuff at WJQ 99.3 for commercials for their Tae Kwon Do school. Here is a link to hear them.

I'm so geeked!

http://www.newheightsfitness.com/nhf/celebratesafety.ashx

Missing you...

Here is me showing my age... the song "Missing You" is sung by:

a) John Waite
b) P. Diddy
c) Allison Kraus

Anyways, my husband is gone hunting this weekend. It is amazing how your body can totally react to missing someone. Tightness in the chest... butterflies in your stomach... heavy heart. I am being a wimp, because it is only three nights. Heaven sakes, he leaves for Europe in a couple weeks and that will be for seven nights... I can't even imagine what my mom is feeling now that her husband of 39 years is gone.

I know that I am by no means, a low-maintenance wife. I try to kid myself that I make the "perks" worth the work... but I guess only he can answer that and I probably don't want to know the answer. :)

I grew up in a small family, and we always did things together. My parents even took me to nightclubs instead of leaving me with a sitter. We were always a party of three. No one ever got left behind.

Jeff's family wasn't like that. There were four of them, so at times, the guys would do their own thing and the girls would do theirs. Hunting and fishing were definitely guy things... Not entirely sure what the girl things were (aside from sitting in the back seat of the car). Maybe Kimmers can help me with that.

So now we have a family of five. We try to give each kid their "alone" time with either Jeff and/or I. But the most important thing we do is spend time "together" without the kids. Love the kids... I really do... but we try to keep the balance from being a total "kid-centered" family... and being a total "adult-centered" family. I like to think of it as a "Equal-respect-for-all-family-members" family. (yeah, you can all laugh at me)

We recently started "splitting up and conquering" when it comes to family obligations. Again, new concept for me... but one that does keep Jeff and I from "experiencing" all of life together. I am getting used to it, and I do realize that it is good for our own well-being...

but I do miss him.

I like to think it is because I love him so much.