i'm a halloweener

and too tired and sugared out to post pics tonight! they'll be up tomorrow though; look out!

birthday weekend

we've had a weekend of partying! friday was maria's birthday and we went out for indian food. today we went to a birthday (costume) party for elena (maria's niece who is turning two).


whee!


that's face paint on me btw


miss p and the birthday girls

i shaved my head

yep. after 6 years of hair i've had enough. or something like that. in any case, i woke up yesterday with hair past my chin and i went to sleep with a mere 12mm all over. is it too soon for a midlife crisis?

doing what he loved best!

this picture was taken about 26 years ago (at my parents' wedding)!

happy birthday grandpa tony (and alison too!)

my grandpa tony would have been 92 today; he died a little over two years ago on september 12, 2004. here is a story i wrote in a college writing for children class shortly after:

When the Mandolin Man was very very old and very very sick, people came from near and far to visit him. His family gathered around his bedside to remember his life. His friends brought him fresh figs and sweet pastries. And every day there was music in his bedroom.

But long before the Mandolin Man was the Mandolin Man, he was a little boy called Antonio. He was born in a tiny Mediterranean village on the island of Sicily. Every day he danced while his sister Pia played her mandolin and chased his brother Guiseppe along the seashore, like little brothers do. Every day he hugged his mama and missed his papa.

Antonio’s papa was a fisherman and his dream was to take his family to America. He worked very hard to make enough money for the journey. One day his papa left on a fishing boat bound for Alaska and did not return for almost four years. When he returned he scooped Antonio up into his arms and told him: “We’re going to America!”

The next winter the great ship, Asia left for Ellis Island. Antonio and his family were on board. The boat was meant to carry cattle and smelled of hay and dung. The sea rolled angrily. The trip took many days and many nights. In New York they boarded a train. It passed through farm after farm, city after city. The trip to San Francisco took many days and many nights.

San Francisco was bustling and exciting place for a six year old boy. Still, Antonio was lonely; he had no one but his family and they were so busy. His papa mended nets at the wharf but Antonio was too young to tag along. His mama cleaned homes in the wealthy neighborhoods and had little time for him. His brother Guiseppe was all grown up and was no longer interested in playing children’s games.

Antonio begged his sister Pia to teach him to play mandolin. So she did. And day by day he learned the tarantellas, the mazurkas, and the waltzes of his homeland. The day came when he was better than Pia and she told him: “One day, Tony, you will be the Mandolin Man.” Antonio was less lonely now. And everyday there was music in his fingers.

Time passed quickly and Antonio became a handsome and athletic young man. One day he spotted a beautiful young woman scrubbing the marble stoop of her parents’ home. He called out to her and asked her name. “Lucretia,” she said. And he was in love. Soon they were married: she cooked and he played his mandolin for her. And every day there was music in their lives.

Before long Antonio and Lucretia welcomed a baby girl into their lives. Then there followed a boy, a girl, a boy, and one more girl until they were seven in all. They moved to the mountains where there was always fresh milk from the goat and sweet honey from the hive. The children learned to sing and play instruments. And every day there was music in their home.

Antonio worked hard at a factory and his children grew and grew. They were never too poor to eat. They were never too cold to sleep. And they were never too tired to dance. It seemed that there was always something to celebrate. The children began to marry and have children of their own. And every day there was music in their families.

Years became decades and Antonio was suddenly quite old. But his grandchildren knew him as the Mandolin Man and believed he would live forever. And maybe he would have but he was suddenly quite sick. There was nothing to do but hope. And when there was no hope left, there was nothing for him to do but play his mandolin.

Soon it was apparent that the Mandolin Man would not get well. Now he was too sick to play his mandolin. So Lucretia sat by his bed and held his hand so he would not feel scared. And his sons slept on the floor of his room so he would never be alone. His daughters cooled his forehead with damp cloths. His grandchildren read to him from his favorite book.

The Mandolin Man could no longer eat or speak and he was in very much pain. Family and friends and famous musicians came to play music for him. They played all day and into the night. When he slept there was song. The music was his food and drink. The music was his medicine. And every day there was music in his ears.

During the night the Mandolin Man passed away. His room was silent for the first time since he was a boy. His family wept because they missed him. They laughed because his life was good. They took comfort because there would always be music in their hearts.

camping, shmamping

so we went to san luis again and went camping with my dad and maria, and r's dad and sister. we had a really great time, mostly. on saturday night r choked during dinner and had to go to the hospital. r seems to have GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) which among other things causes problems in swallowing. in any case, he is okay but it was really scary for all of us.


cool berries

can you find the speck that is maria/parker climbing that giant hill

mmm, mud!

cancer shmancer

so, after waiting way too long i finally had my annual checkup at the hospital with my oncologist. the gist of the appointments in the past few years has been yeah, no cancer. come back in a year. today was a little different. since i've been in remission for more than five years (7 years, 3 months & 27 days to be precise-no really i calculated it with this) now i've been moved to the long term cancer clinic. i guess i expected the appointment would go like it always does, instead it was sort of a downer. mostly the nurse practitioner (jaye) told me about all the potential things i have to look forward to in the future. these include:

avascular necrosis is a disease resulting from the temporary or permanent loss of the blood supply to the bones. Without blood, the bone tissue dies and causes the bone to collapse. If the process involves the bones near a joint, it often leads to collapse of the joint surface.

this would be caused by the radiation and the prednisone (steroid) i got during treatment and is hopefully not the cause of the hip pain i've been experiencing for the last 5 years. i'll be having an MRI on my hips to be sure though. jaye mentioned hip replacement and told me not to do any running or impact type sports-basically swimming is okay. boo!

cardiomyopathy literally means "heart muscle disease", is the deterioration of the function of the myocardium (i.e., the actual heart muscle) for any reason.

also from radiation and the doxorubicin. i'm having an EKG done in the next month to get a baseline heart function. apparently the left side of the heart is frequently damaged and this can lead to heart disease and cholesterol issues.

thyroid dysfunction caused by radiation. already have that thanks. i'll be on synthroid for life. i'm being referred to an endocrinologist.

secondary cancers caused by radiation and the drugs i took. namely breast cancer, skin cancer, and tumors in the radiation field are the ones i have to look out for. hello mamogram!

learning disabilities caused by who knows what...got that also. nothing to be done.

so, as you can see it was kind of a downer!

buddies

happy birthday dad!

here's a picture from about 24 years ago. looks like we swapped some hair during that time.

food log: day 7

breakfast:
pita chips (in the car on the way to the hospital)

lunch:
a piece of fish, a salad, a chocolate cookie from the hospital cafeteria

baby report:
three large am poops :-0 AND another poop at the hospital, very happy boy especially considering that we were at the hospital all day

food log: day 6

breakfast:
slept through it

lunch:
half a chicken and avocado sandwich; slice of cantelope; cucumber, avocado & tomato salad

snack:
pita chips & grapes

dinner:
at the lb for my dad's birthday! cheese fondue; short rib with tomatoes, pearl onions, scallions, green beans, and mushrooms; two bites of chocolate fondant (waaah! the baby lost it before i got to finish)

baby report:
cranky in the pm, overstimulated? one small midday poop

food log: day 5

breakfast:
pancakes w/homemade blueberry syrup

lunch:
shrimp, brown rice, bell peppers

dinner:
(at preschool education meeting) half a turkey sandwich, a few crackers, some grapes (at home) french bread & butter, chocolate covered banana (my substitute for ice cream these days...waaa!)

what the hell is that?

oh! i know! i know! it's parker in a box! but why...?

parker: photo-journalist & 'renzo: rock n' roller

parker loooooves disposable cameras (hello stocking stuffers!). here are some of the pictures she took this summer.


parker's tummy and feet

our kitchen tile (not nearly as ugly as it looks btw)

guess what? mr. baby rolled over! he beat his sister's record by two weeks and she was a dang early roller. he's mobile folks (er, sort of); watch out!

food log: day 4

breakfast:
2 mini pumpkin muffins baked by the little 'uns at preschool; three bites of pineapple, one cheese cube

lunch:
cup o'noodles (blech), one pot sticker, chocolate cake

dinner:
big salad, half a burger with avocado, a few fries, some caramel corn

baby report:
mostly happy am, pooped at 11.30, gassy, very happy guy during pm, took a loooong nap w/me n' p

notes:
i really need to work on having easy, protein filled breakfasts. talk about crap this week.

food log: day 3

breakfast:
donut (parker walked to the store for it)

lunch:
chicken, broccoli w/cheddar, roasted potatoes

dinner:
15 bean soup ala vince; green salad with balsamic dressing, tomato (the LAST from the garden), blue cheese crumbles; corn bread with butter; a few animal cookies

baby report: smallish poop at noon, moderately fussy, thrush is gone-scratch moderately fussy, rather fussy, never completely inconsolable but pretty upset all day

notes: omg today was another loooooong day

food log: day 2

breakfast:
3 dried apricots, 2 mini aussie snacks

lunch:
(buffet at humanists society)
2 bites potato salad; green salad with tomato, purple onion, sunflower seeds, cheddar cheese & ranch; a few bites of veggie & cheddar sandwich; apple juice; oatmeal raisin cookie & chocolate chip cookie

dinner:
noni's gnocchis with butter, parm, nutmeg, salt and pepper (YUM, thanks gramma); green beans; hotdog (r said we needed a "meat")

baby report:
one stinky am poop, one crying jag lasting 20 minutes at approx 12pm
pm poop, two more cranky periods, didn't nap well

notes:
moderate thrush in mouth
i need some more protien tomorrow

food log: day 1

please do not follow my diet to lose weight, er, unless you are expending a gazillion calories nursing babes.

breakfast:
trader joe's green chili and cheese tamale (gimme a break i can't have eggs or milk...); half an apple

lunch:
trader joe's orange chicken; trader joe's pot stickers; fruit salad (banana, blueberry, apple); a piece of chocolate

dinner:
1/2 a chicken chimichanga; some guacamole & chips; chocolate covered frozen banana

baby report:
normal levels of crying and crankiness. no obvious tummy upset. two big poops (for 'renzo btw) (one am, one pm).

notes:
boy, i need to eat more veggies tomorrow.

goodbye studio 42

i am so sad to report that studio 42 closed its doors for the last time on wednesday. the new building owner (who unfortunately brings shame to all italians everywhere) would not extend a lease to joe and celeste. the gallery was open for almost 18 years (correct me if i'm wrong celeste). i will always have fond memories of spending bustling christmas seasons with an amazing group of people, a surrogate family really. it was my first real job, a place that i could be creative and social. r and i worked many fridays together there, eating won ton soup and and playing rummy when business was slow. we had our pictures taken there before our first high school dance (TEN years ago) and gathered there with family and friends on SO many occasions. thank you joe and celeste for all the years you put in; it was so much more than just a business!

me: 3 months

i guess 'renzo has my hairline... bah!

oh- if anyone has pictures of r at this age we'd love them for comparison!

so happy in the morning!

three months

lorenzo is three months old today. in some ways he seems so much older. he laughs and babbles and stands (with support of course) like a six month old. he also drools like a six month old which is odd. (someone told me that's 'cause he's a boy. um, okay.) he absolutely adores his big sister and follows her around the room with his gaze. he seems to have some allergies to foods through my milk so an exciting new addition to my blog will be a food/behavior log! yippie right?

today my mom called me a bitch (don't ask, it was all in good fun) but parker thought that she was talking to her (p). so she turned to my mom and said, "i'm not a bitch, i'm parker!" what a goof. but a sweet goof. she adores 'renzo as much as he does her. she is so into babies and families and nurturing right now. the other day in target she had to stop eating her cookie so that she could nurse her baby doll. if she doesn't have one of her many babies with her she improvises with whatever is around: sticks, crayons, chicken bones... she makes little families and "friends." and she's got a sense of humor about it too. when we were up in washington she had two green colored pencils. the bigger one was the mama and the littler one was the baby. the baby asked the mama to pick her up and parker made a mama voice to say, "i can't pick you up, i have no arms!" hahaha. we thought that was pretty clever.

lorenzo has his papa vince's hairline at three months!


parker had einstein's hairline at three months?

my lord, can you tell the size difference between the two?!

yep, i'm tired

and so glad tomorrow is friday so i'll have a chance to update the blog. really!

the accidental pork chop

we're home! here's the rundown on our trip:

friday: getting there

wow. we managed to leave only an hour behind schedule (after a wild goose chase to get parker a bigger life vest). we hit a little bit of traffic before gilroy and had to stop at casa de fruta to calm a crying brother but other than that the drive was uneventful. when we got to san luis we found a nice campsite, set up camp and made some grilled cheese and soup for dinner. my dad arrived shortly there after and we all headed to bed pretty early. (ooh, we heard coyotes and i for one found it a little creepy because they sound like screaming children. yipes.)

saturday: being there

r got up suuuper early and went fishing. the kids and i got up around eight and had donuts with my dad. r came back around 8.30 with a striper for dinner. we hung around, went for a walk and explored the lake a little. amanda arrived around lunchtime and we all headed to the forebay with the boat. big mistake. lorenzo hated his lifevest and only stopped crying when the boat was going fast. that would have been fine but parker screamed bloody murder every time the boat moved. she was hungry and tired. the water was choppy and there were no fish. needless to say our big boating adventure was short. we went back to camp and took a walk. we saw a tarantula (miss p wanted to touch it), jack rabbits, TONS of owls, ground squirrels, and a pot belly pig (someone's pet). that night we had the the striper with lemon/butter/garlic sauce, baked potatoes, green beans sauteed in butter and salt, foccatia bread followed by smores of course! tasty.



the infamous lorenzo pout



happy on the dock

stay tuned for more tomorrow...i'm off to bed (yes, it is 8.15 suckers!)

but here's a preview: