Recovery

December 8, 2012December 8, 20121 Comment

This past week can be wiped off the charts and I’d be all the happier. I hated every moment of it. An alien creature made its home in my stomach from Sunday night through Friday night and I haven’t been so miserable in years. The headaches he brought were the worst; I have a newfound appreciation for people suffering from migraines. Five days without children in the house all morning and afternoon, and I couldn’t even watch a movie because my head would explode. Such a shame.

Jon and the kids were great during the ordeal – Jon took them to Tommy’s Pizza (Maria came home and said “I wish you got sick more mom because then we’d get to go to Tommy’s with dad!”) and let them watch nightly episodes of Duck Dynasty.

Maria was my caretaker. She ran upstairs every day after school and asked how I felt. She felt my forehead and made sure I had water. The second day she made me hot tea, bananas and oranges. She made sure the covers were wrapped snug around me.

Mario was my entertainment. He came upstairs at bedtime and ran naked next to the bed saluting me “Good night dear ma’am!” He closed the bathroom door in our bedroom and sang on the toilet. When Jon came up to scoot him out, he meekly opened the door and whispered “hold on a minute, man. I have some girls in here to chat with for a while.” Jon looked at him quizzically.

“They broke through the window, dad. They wanted to talk to me so badly.”

Jon and I and Ri looked at each other and all knew what each of us was thinking “Crazy, crazy Mario.”

After a few more days of Ri’s nurturing, I have finally started to come back to life. As Maria scolded me after I told her to just put me out of my misery the other night “our family never gives up!”

So take that mr. alien!

Simple pleasures

December 3, 2012December 3, 2012Leave a comment

The kids have been begging to see Rise of the Guardians. After a disappointing trip to the zoo on Saturday afternoon (playground closed and hardly any animals out – I guess it is December…), we decided to hit the 7:15 showing. Of course, it was only playing in 3D so we paid $37 for three tickets – insane. Between the tickets and the popcorn, we could have bought groceries for the month. But the kids loved it.

On Sunday morning, we woke up to sheets of rain. Hence, no stroller ride. So we decided to put up the Christmas tree. I brought up my grandma’s tree and the kids and I assembled it to surprise Jon while he was out for coffee. Mario assembled the metal base of the tree from scratch; he figured out how to put the metal feet in the circle and where to place the screws. There may be an engineer in our future…. Meanwhile, Maria perused through the cardboard boxes of ornaments picking out select ones that she remembered creating or that she knew had meaning to us. Jon’s blue ornament from his teacher, the ornament I gave my grandma when I was ten, Mario’s gingerbread ornament from his old daycare. Ms. Sentimental she is.

We blasted Christmas music from the tv and went to town on the tree. I love our time spent decorating the tree. We talk about years’ past, we admire the ornaments that we forgot about it since last year, we laugh, hysterically. We are completely immersed in the process and it is delightful. Jon always hunts down his favorite ornament to place strategically on the tree; Mario places all of his in one big clump; and Ri directs us all on where things should go.

And there you have it. Our darling Christmas tree lighting up our abode. Later in the evening we realized we forgot to place the star on top of the tree. We looked through all of our boxes and finally found it. Mario begged to put it on and Ri agreed, as always. She got to take the picture and tape a video of it though so she was happy.

Simple pleasures.

Twice-baked goodness

November 26, 2012November 26, 2012Leave a comment

We ended the four-day holiday with twice-baked potatoes; Jon’s and his brother, Chris’s favorite and one of Patty’s signature dishes. I am not a velveeta cheese fan and was hesitant to try one but I had put so much effort into helping Patty make them that I felt compelled. It was not a mistake. Pure yumminess.

I need to buy some stock in Nike elastic sweatpants because that’s all I will be wearing for the next two months between all of the holiday goodies.

Maria and Mario called me from the road on their way back from the farm to see when Grandma and Grandpa Ionno would be over. They had a good time at the farm with Sarah and Jorge and Mama Meg and Peepaw. Maria got in a hike with Sarah and the pups and Mario got to go hunting with Peepaw.

They also got treated to a holiday parade in Marietta. Peepaw piled ’em up in the car on Saturday and drove to Marietta to see what was happening; he had no idea that a parade was in order! Mario scored some plastic army men and a tank and Maria nabbed a ladybug pillow. Maria got to bathe Taz and love on him, too. Mandatory horse fixes when she’s out on that farm.

I got some monstrous hugs upon their return, which I soaked up like bubbles in a bubble bath. The farm (or maybe Aunt Sarah or Mama Meg) had quite the effect on Maria. She went upstairs without any prodding and took a shower, got dressed, and brought down both hers and Mario’s dirty clothes bins. She dragged them right over to the washer and threw them inside. She went back upstairs and got a hamper for the clean clothes in the dryer. All without any peep from me or Jon. Alleluia! She did ask for help with the detergent though and I walked over to get it down for her. She pointed at the Downy and said “I need that, too.” I told her she didn’t need to use that with detergent and she promptly channeled her dad directing me to get it. “We need both – Downy makes the clothes smell better.” I could practically hear Jon in her voice.

Grandma and Grandpa Ionno arrived at 2 pm and Mario promptly laid his body across Grandma and played his iPad game. When she tried to move, he cried “No, grandma!” Finally, she got to move but only to help Ri with her homework. Ri got lucky because Grandma is the master of word puzzles. They cranked the puzzle out with the help of Alana and me at the end. As soon as that was over, Ri and Alana dashed upstairs to Ri’s room never to be seen again until dinner. Mario and Gio watched tv in our room and then went outside to play frisbee and bounce on the trampoline. They referred to each other as “dude” continuously. I picture them on a cross country road trip in ten years with feet hanging out the window and music blaring.

We all watched the Browns game (Patrick was lucky the Bengals weren’t playing) and caught up on the latest. Chris and Connie arrived with pictures from their wedding. Dinner was fabulous with the twice baked potatoes quite the hit. Ri ate two and begged for a third. We talked about Jon and Patrick as kids – Patrick slapping his cheeks outside in order to stay awake on New Years Eve and win 50 cents. Jon had no trouble staying awake. It was a superb time especially with the kids eating in the other room.

After dinner, the kids helped Alana and Grandma open birthday presents. Grandma scored an iPad for her birthday – I can’t wait to see her on Facebook! I am also going to urge her to write her and Joe’s story on it because it would be an amazing memoir.

We had to end the holiday on a pumpkin pie note so we sat down at 7 pm for one (or two) last pieces of pie with lots of whipped cream. Maria showed us her “trick” which entails putting the tip of the can of whipped cream in her mouth and pressing down to fill her entire throat and mouth with whipped cream. About as impressive as her dad swallowing a whole deviled egg.

We sang happy birthday to Patty and Alana and wrapped up the night. I kept wanting to extend the days longer so that the reality of work and school could be quashed. But I woke up this morning (after falling asleep with the kids at 8:30) happy as a clam – my body filled with tenderness and appreciation for a most incredible family and a most fantastic holiday weekend.

Grandma get-away

October 29, 2012October 29, 2012Leave a comment

Which lady is over the age of 70? I know – the immediate answer is “none.” My sister-in-law and I are 40 and our kids haven’t quite aged us enough to look 70 (although we have our days). Whereas my mother-in-law, Patty, looks like she’s 40 with her infectious smile and petite frame and zest for life when she’s really 70+ years old! Every person who meets her is floored when they find out her age (do her genes transfer to me since I married into the family?!).

I’ve been thinking of her a lot lately because she’s been under the weather and has not been able to engage in all of the activities she is used to engaging in on a daily basis such as a mile swim, lifting weights and fast walking (yeah, all of those activities might occur in one day’s time.) She is a machine.

Nonetheless, she still managed to take Maria and Alana two weekends ago and treat them to a raucous good time in Marion. Before they headed up to Marion on Friday night, she took the girls to Tuttle Mall. They got treated to a shopping spree at Justice. She even let them shop by themselves while she and Joe waited outside the doors – pure heaven for the girls who felt independent and cool not having an adult in the store with them. Little does Patty know that she provided them with quite the memory; Maria still talks about that shopping experience today and insists that she will go by herself next time we go.

Patty also took them to the indoor playground where Maria took off her shoes and stunk up the place. My girl does not believe in wearing socks so her shoes smell horrendous. Patty had to buy her socks and clean her shoes. Poor grandma! She called me to tell me in her sweet Patty-fashion. She never comes at me accusatory or obnoxiously. She started out with a recap of what they did that evening and then proceeds into it like any other incident. But I knew at that point that we needed to get on that girl to wear socks. And don’t you know that Patty must have said something to her to get her to turn around because she is wearing socks this week. Only grandma….

Patty took them to a Halloween party in the neighborhood on Saturday night. She bought them witch costumes and all. Spoiled, they are. They both had a blast and talked about it throughout the next day. All of this and she wasn’t even feeling that great.

The day after the party, the hostess asked Patty if Ri had fun. Patty said “of course” and the hostess said “I just couldn’t tell with her.” Maria is her father when it comes to showing her emotions. She could be having a blast and you’d never be able to tell.

Patty also described to me how Alana kept talking about her school friend, Riley. Maria got sick of hearing about Riley every two seconds so when Alana began to mention her again, Maria chimed in with “we know, we know, Riley has that sweater!” And when Patty asked Maria if she wanted a shirt that she was buying for Alana because Riley had one, Ri promptly replied “no way.”

I don’t know how Patty stays sane at times with these two but I am so glad that the girls can spend time together (even if they act like the Bickerson twins, as Patty affectionately terms them). I always wished that my cousin and I spent more time together growing up. And it’s nice they have a separate place to stay outside of their homes – it creates more of a get-away to them. And Patty lets them do their thing – be it shopping by themselves or playing on the computer or hitting a Halloween party and running around with other kids.

Jon always teases me and Patty about our big mouths, our desire to always engage in conversation, and our inability to sit still. I tell him he married his mom. He shuts up after that.

I do see a lot of me in her. We have similar personalities and that’s why I just want to see her feeling back to her normal self. I know how hard it was when I got pneumonia and couldn’t do anything. I was stir-crazy. So, here’s to Patty feeling better – watch out YMCA – she will be back soon with a vengeance!

Here come the O-O-Overbecks

October 22, 2012October 22, 2012Leave a comment

Two out of the four Overbeck kids arrived at our house on Sunday morning at 2 am. Laura and Cy tip-toed up the stairs to Mario’s room and fell asleep. Mario and Gio wanted to wake them up so badly at 7:30 am but I kept them away by promising them donuts and sprints at the track (sounds just like a Big Mac and a diet coke).

When we returned full of yeast and sugar and lactic acid, Laura was awake and watching football with Jon. Cy was still snoozing (17 year old boy for ya). When Cy finally woke up, Mario and Gio descended on him like flies on fruit. They jumped on him and wrestled him and dragged him to the basement to play Lego’s. He obeyed their every command and helped erect some sweet Lego structures.

We had to feed the 6’7″ cuz eventually so we headed to Skyline for some Cincy chili. Maria told Laura scary stories she heard at her party in Marion and Laura diligently listened to all of them. Mario told Cy about his football games (“we always win except one time we tied and the whole team was sad”). We chowed down at Skyline eating coney dogs and three-ways and mounds of oyster crackers. And we all could have went home and slept for four hours – that is, the adults could have. M&M were pumped to have their cousins around and clung to them like koalas to eucalyptus.

Laura took Maria to Target and Loews to buy cork board and supplies for a necklace holder. Cy stayed back with us and played hours of basketball with Mario. Only a high school basketball player could endure shooting hundreds of times with a five-year old. Mario loved having Cy watch his every move, and Cy treated him like a little brother. It was very sweet.

Laura and Ri brought both supplies and another Overbeck, Robert back to the house (the last Overbeck kid, Emily, is in Colorado and couldn’t fly back for the fun!). Mario got Cy and Robert to pal around with? What a day for the little man!

Maria got her Laura time – spray painting her cork board pink and preparing to liven up her room. Thank god for Laura and her crafting skill because I have none of it (check out her blog!). An hour later, Ri led me, eyes closed, to her room to check out the new necklace holder. What a kick-butt, bright pink, functional wall decoration. Laura rocks it out again.

After all that madness, the Skyline finally set in. Everyone got in relaxed mode (even M&M!) and settled down while Jon and I cooked dinner (yes, miracles do happen). Jon and I cracked up when we glanced into the living room only to see these high school macho boys watching the “Bodyguard” movie with Whitney Houston. They were all into it.

And just when our stomachs finally felt at peace, we were ready to eat again! Jon made soup with meat, spinach, onions and beans (we still need a name for it) and I made corn bread and scalloped potatoes. Jon kept pushing me to try the soup and when I finally did, he asked “do you like the meat?” I knew this was a different kind of meat at that point and just hoped it wasn’t squirrel.

But no, it was elk and it tasted good. Listen, my man doesn’t go to the grocery to buy meat; he goes out and hunts it down! Jon shot this elk last year in Colorado and we are still trying to eat up all the meat.

Maria did not have the same reaction. She put down her spoon after Jon’s declaration and stuck with the potatoes and bread (and lots of it!). Mario tried the elk and ate two pieces (a lot for him). He also battled the boys while they teased him about eating his food (any thing to try to get that boy to eat).

After dinner, we engaged in some pick up basketball. The boys laughed hysterically at the PIG game that Jon and I played. It was a pathetic sight, especially to two b-ball players. Laura couldn’t help but feel sorry for us.

The fun had to eventually end with school and work in the horizon, and so it did at 6:30 when the Overbecks plopped in their car and drove off. “That was fun, mom,” Maria said as she jumped in my arms. Yes, it was. Those Overbecks know how to bring it!

Maria-isms

October 21, 2012October 21, 2012Leave a comment

Maria stayed with Alana all weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Ionno’s house and got spoiled royally.

Jon and I missed her “Maria-isms” through the weekend. We can always count on her crazy sense of humor to get us belly laughing.

But she didn’t disappoint even if it was at the tail end of the weekend. I let her ride her bike to the grocery with me. As soon as we walked through the door, she begged me for a donut. I told her she could get a small one for her treat for the night. I left her at the donut case while I picked up some fruit. I returned and she was still contemplating.
“Seriously, Ri?!”

“Sorry, mom. This is as hard as picking a coach on the Voice!”

Gotta love that girl. I laughed so hard that others around me couldn’t help but smile.

When we got home, Maria found the stationary bike we carried to the basement this afternoon. She called up to me. I peeked downstairs and her head was on the seat, her body stretched along the length of the bike and her legs barely touching the pedals. She was laughing and having a good ol’ time.

I went back to the dishes and ten minutes later she whispered “mom” to me. I looked behind me and there she stood with a water bottle and towel. “That was a hard workout!”

Glad to have you home, pumpkin girl.

Cheers for guests

October 15, 2012October 15, 2012Leave a comment

Maria cheered her final cheer of the season this past Saturday. She woke up complaining of a belly ache but cranked out the entire game nonetheless (later in that day she boasted that “[her friend’s name] would have cried and not cheered but not me – I am strong and don’t give up!).

Meg and dad came to watch her cheer and were quite amused at how distracted she was while cheering. She’d begin a cheer with gusto and then someone would pass by and she’d stare at him or her. She’d make some random sways while staring but her mouth produced no cheers and no hand movements occurred. She’s got her daddy’s innate desire to be aware of everything around her at all times. Meg and dad also got a kick out of her “boom” cheer where she swings her hips to the side… she performs it a little too well.

After cheering, dad headed back to the farm and Meg enjoyed some b-ball with Mario. Ri and I found the frisbee and pretty soon Mario joined while Meg checked out the flowers on the patio. I love playing frisbee with the kids. It’s the one activity we are all good at playing. Ri’s got a heck of an arm and Mario catches zingers. They were cracking Meg up with their sidebars (Ri’s commands and instructions to me and Mario’s dance moves after each catch).

We hung out waiting for Meg’s friend, Suze and her kids to arrive. Suze came to town and painted a rooster on the side of Meg’s and dad’s barn and she and her kids were flying out of Columbus back to Arizona on Sunday. Her rooster is absolutely Incredible. What a talent!

You would have thought we fed Mario speed when Suze and her kids walked in the door. He zoomed around the house squealing and finding random objects to show Suze’s son, Ian. He blasted “Sexy and I know it” on the CD and danced around the family room. He tackled Ian. Pure Madness. Meanwhile, Ri gawked at Suze’s daughter, Sedona, hanging on her every word, and tried to show off to her by being quite sassy with me (“get me a drink, mom…now…”). I had to pull her and Mario aside and give them a little talk in order to avoid going off on them in front of our guests. They calmed down after the talk to the point of being half way normal. Ri loved hearing about Ian’s and Sedona’s school stories and Mario loved having an audience to watch him play iPhone games. Ri lasted until 11 pm and Mario until 11:30. Party animals they are.

Sunday morning was idyllic. We woke up to 65 degree weather after a cold week. Mario and I ran five miles in the stroller and met Meg, Suze, Sedona and Maria at Stauf’s. I loved starting my day with a run, sipping coffee, chatting with funny gals, and people watching.

We ran home and rushed around to get ready for a trip to Cincy. Mario cranked out some push-ups for Sedona before we left and Maria chided Ian about sleeping on her pillows. Whoo, those two may think twice about a return trip! Meg and I were getting snacks ready in the kitchen. She turned to me as I loaded up the pretzels and remarked “You are such a good mom.” It came out of the blue and took me aback. Funny how six words can cause such emotion. It meant a lot to me coming from a fellow mom, and the woman who helped raise me and whose opinion I hold dear.

We gave our hugs to the crew and headed to southern Ohio for some pumpkin patch fun with my best girlfriends (minus my girl Kath who had to head back to Michigan with her newborn baby, Rose) and my mama. When we returned, I had a most delicious treat from Suze – brownies from the Bon Bonerie in Cincy. One for me, Mario and Ri. Heaven.

Taking care of mom

October 2, 2012Leave a comment

What did I do after work before M&M? I thought about that question a great deal tonight as they watched Ben Ten before bedtime. I have been fighting a nasty cold that has my head pounding and my nose bright red and raw and when 5:00 rolls around all I want to do is go to bed.

But then I walk in the door to two kids that squeal “Mom!” and wrap their bodies around me and suddenly my head and nose play second fiddle. “Mom” is needed and no pounding head or raw nose can stand in the way. There is no time to feel bad for myself, to slouch across the recliner and veg. There is dinner to make, homework to review, and baths to prepare (who am I kidding – we are lucky if we get baths in every other day! They’ve probably added two years to my life span with the way they keep me moving.
This morning Mario jumped in bed at 6:30 am and begged for a stroller ride. Ri pounced on me a few minutes later. And we were off by 7 am to Stauf’s for black russian bagels and cream cheese. Ri was not happy with my purchase at first; she wanted a chocolate chip scone. But when she had no choice, she ate the bagel and to her chagrin, loved it. She felt bad for raggin’ on me and took the stroller telling me “she’d help her old lady stroll Mario.” Mario, meanwhile took down his half of the bagel and then my entire bagel on the ride to school. I about passed out – my Mario would never have accomplished that feat. We are usually lucky to get him to take a bite. He must be going through a growing spurt.

It was pouring rain on my bike ride home tonight, and as I pulled up to our driveway, Mario and Ri stood on the grass waiting for me. Ri had a blanket that she draped over me and Mario had a glass of water for me inside. My caretakers.
I asked them what they wanted for dinner and Ri begged to go out to eat. I ignored her for a bit as I watched Mario play Wii but then she approached me with a hat full of papers.
“Pick one, mom.”
I reached in and grabbed a piece of paper that had “Jason’s Deli” written on it. She also had Bob Evans on one, Home, and Knotty Pine. A little game to get me excited about dinner out. Mario begged for Bob Evans so Ri made me draw another piece of paper until I chose Bob’s.

I think the gods were trying to tell me something by making it so difficult to select Bob from the group; after dinner my stomach joined my head and nose in pain. Luckily, my girl found some Tums for me.

Scarves

October 1, 20121 Comment

Maria came downstairs today and breezed past me. I caught a glimpse of olive and white and looked around to see my mom’s old scarf wrapped around her neck and trailing down her back.

She’s not old enough to remember my mom wearing this scarf but I can still see my mom sitting at the Alpha restaurant waiting for me to arrive to Sunday brunch with that scarf wrapped loosely around her neck.

My little sis played dress-up with my mom’s scarves. The scarves hung in the upstairs hallway – a tapestry of cloth and color when you reached the last stair. Sarah wrapped them around
her and pranced around the house like a nymph. She still loves those scarves and Maria only knows of them because of seeing Sarah wear them on the holidays when we get together. But those brief moments have made an indelible mark on Ri who carries on the style.

I watched an inspiring TED video after I dropped my scarf-wearing girl off at school. The video left me feeling grateful for all the incredible women in my life and now my daughter’s life. And it also left me wanting to remember back and tell more stories….

Rest on Sunday? Ha!

September 30, 2012Leave a comment

Coffee, chocolate chip scone, and… sprints? Apparently that was in the cards for us today.

Maria wanted to bike to Stauf’s this morning – a welcome change from our Tim Horton’s runs. She asked if we could bike down the hill next to us and I told her that would mean she had to bike back up the hill. Surprisingly, she still wanted to do it. A very proud moment for me. And an even more incredible moment when she willed herself half way up the hill (which is steep) and then got off and walked it the rest of the way without complaining once.

We met Jon at Stauf’s and got chocolate chip scones and muffins. Mario told us how stars come from nebulous clouds – just a typical morning with our five year old son. Maria told me that she was going to be my coach and make me run on the track. So we headed to the track after breakfast and Ri timed me as I ran sprints.

“Move it lady!” she screamed at me. “Go faster!” She could definitely move straight into the army.

Mario and Jon arrived shortly after us and Mario dove right into my sprints… and push-ups. He is an animal. Maria and Jon timed us over and over.

Then Ri got into the mix and sprinted across the field to us. I am not sure what got into this girl of ours but she turned into a monster, too. She continued to sprint back and forth a few more times and then biked home. Love it!

Soon after we got home, Ri had to go to cheer leading. I was worried that she may peter out but she stayed strong belting out the cheers and kicking that leg up!

While at the game, my brother texted me about a gig he was playing at the riverfront. The kids have been wanting to see him play so I thought it would be perfect since I didn’t need to take them to a bar to see him! I told Ri to get dressed up like a rocker girl and she didn’t joke around! Blue eye shadow and all (dad was not pleased nor was I but we let it go this time!)

The kids made some quick friends with my law school friend’s kids. They all sat together waiting for Jack’s band to start. The Evan Oberla Project jammed it out.

Mario sat on the stone seat and watched the entire show getting up every once in a while to get out some dance moves and then chillin’ again in his seat. He loved it and even got a shout out from the band members who said he was by far the best dancer of the day. He was smitten!

We wrapped up the day the way I love most – with Jon’s yummy spaghetti and homemade meatballs. Heaven. Our cousin, Robert and my bro, Jack ate with us, too. What a treat, especially for M&M who idolize the both of them.

A full day for us – we will all be crawling into work and school tomorrow morning. But there is no other way to live!

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Family