Rockin' Heros, Birthdays, and let's just say so long for now...:)~

I've had a pretty busy social life these past two weeks. Let's start with last Friday. I finally got my first taste of Guitar Hero! My friend Ella invited me over to play. Of course she kicked my arse with her Mad Skills..... I bought the game this week...... I think I have a new addiction!

Saturday we were invited to Tina and Jess's for a night of food, fun, and ROCKBAND. Thank goodness I had a little practice on the guitar the night before playing guitar hero. They are pretty much the same on the guitar, but you need more people to play the drums and sing. Fun Times! Def have to do that again soon!

Then Sunday(father's day) was my mom's 61st bornday! Her sister, my Auntie Pat, had a Sisters and Daughters luncheon at her house in Sandy Hook to celebrate the day. Everything was just perfect....even the rain couldn't dampen our spirits of family!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My friend Jen and I went to the Acoustic Cafe to see Indy artists Edie Carey and Christine Havrilla. The first chickie was ok, but the headliner Havrilla, is who I went to see. I found her through a mutual friend on myspace. I dig Indy Rock, so I checked out her sound on her page, and loved it! I don't even want to compare her to anyone else, cause it's her own sound! Thanx for rockin' out even though it was only for a handful of us.
Here is a clip of the song we got her to get back up and do an encore of "Hole in the Ground"
Please excuse the shaky cam....I had a good buzz on! WhoooHooo!


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This weekend was Ffld Co. Pride. We were'nt able to make the day event, but we hit the after party at the Cedar Brook that night. A bunch of our friends were there to help Kat and I celebrate our 10 yr. anniversary. It's where we met 10 yrs ago on the 26th of this month! Damn 10 yrs!!!...That is totally a separate blog enrty fo' sure!

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Also this weekend I had to "say so long for now" (cause good-byes suck!...and sometimes are for ever) to a very special young man named Christopher. His grandmother who has raised him up since he was 5 was a very important person in my life when I was a teen and young adult. She was my Sunday School teacher, and turned out through the years to be like a second mom to me. In fact, all day she kept on calling me and introducing me as her daughter to everyone. Was very endearing!

The reason we were all there was because Christopher has graduated High School and for some reason, which I couldn't get out of him, has gone and enlisted himself in the ....God I hate to even say it out loud....Grrrrrrrr....in the ARMY...Urrrgghhhh! There I said it and that is all I'm gonna say about that!

Except.....God please keep that boy safe!

..........AND WE"RE BACK....... :)~

Daaauuuummmm! I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost 2 months....For some reason I just couldn't bring myself to sit for a couple of hours and write......and it wasn't writer's block either.....Cause sooooo much has gone on in the past few months to blah, blah, BLOG about......

I think it was a matter of not wanting to waste hours sitting at the computer...Instead I spent them being out of this apartment..... Outdoors..... with friends or family....Or sometimes just myself down at the beach or at the park...... I have found myself Seeing... and Being..... and Acting upon things differently since I have known about my surgery. You know... the whole mortality thang!... Especially since I have a date for it to happen.....

I've found myself not caring about allot of stupid shite anymore!

Like yesterday..... I hosted a GRLZ brunch out on the patio..... My close buds....The "regulars" were there....
But I had invited 2 cousins and 3 of my friends that I have known for a few years now .....and have been to their places plenty of times.....but have never been invited to ours........
WHY???.......
Location ...location....location.....

Kat and I are city grlz.......We live on a street of color, ethnic diversity, and....... the occasional crime scene.....For the most part this street is pretty quiet for being a major road with a high school 1 block away.......but for a few hrs. a day, while the gang bangers ...errrr I mean kids that are getting out of school are on the street..... I even plan my outings around them...lol........

Anyway back to the point.......you know ......
NOT giving a SHITE about the stupid .... :)~
To quote Stan from South Park...I think I've learned something here today.....

A few months ago I probably wouldn't have invited those people over .....
But instead........ I chose to share a little bit more of myself, my home, and my food with people that I care about!... :)~
Hope everyone had a good time!......and those of you who couldn't make it were truly missed....
PEACE OUTIE......TMC

Happy Birthday Juniebug!!!...... :)~

For the past month or so, I have been planning my mom's 60th birthday. With some help form my aunts, my sister, and Kat, we really pulled off a great party. Being it was a pool party/picnic, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! The sun was shining.....The birds were singing.....My sister and I didn't fight at all......in fact we got through the day without any fights, between anyone.....LOL.....wich is a great feat within it's self if you know my family at all.....HA! ....

So thanx to everyone who came......and especially to those who helped make this a special day for my mom... me.... and my sister! I couldn't have done it without you!......Oh yeah, and a special shout out to my cuz Rob for letting us use the house!...Woooot! Wooooot!....You Rock!....
Here are some pics of our day! :)~

Baby Steps... :)~

A couple of weeks ago my cousin Jenny, on the Italian side, sent out an invitation to all the female first cousins for a get together. Since our family is soooo big, and sadly there are many conflicts within, it is rare that we all are invited, or can make family events. In fact there were some cousins that didn't show because others were invited......Sad I know..... Only 6 of the 17 of us made it....Hopefully next time w/a better time and day more will show!!!!

My sister Lisa has stayed away from this side of our family for almost 27 years. Jenny and I were trying to figure out when the last time anyone really saw her.....It turns out it was at our Grandparents funerals.......27 years ago......That's 27 years of me having to answer the question.....WHERE IS YOUR SISTER.....form EVERY family member at EVERY gathering....

Lisa, Vicki, Jenny,Annmarie, Laurie,

But Monday night she came with me to the dinner!!!!....I couldn't believe it!!!...She said she was going to come last week....She even called Jenny and replied for the both of us.......Now, I know how hard, and nerve racking this was for her.....So I thought she would bail on me at the last minute like she has many times before.....But she didn't!!!....WooooHoooo!!!!...I am soooo proud of her!!!...Hopefully this is the first of her "Baby Steps" towards getting to know, and letting her extended family in!....I hope she gets that they truly are worth investing the time and energy in..... as well as knowing that she is worth the investment too!!!...
Luv ya Lis

Coming out all over again..... :)~

It's Easter Sunday, and Kat and I just got back from my Aunt Mary's. I came straight to the computer cause I had to get this down while it's still fresh in my head.

I should start this by saying that my Aunts and Uncles from my Italian side of the family are Very Old School....VERY Old Country...

It was a typical Easter Sunday ..... great Family....Food....and lots of Homemade WINE... which is probably what gave my Uncle the cajones to ask me to come down to the Aunt/Uncle end of the table for a "confidential talk".....It was like a seen from the God Father.....So I'm thinking he's gonna ask me something about my family......Bwahahahahaha............oh no no no........
He starts by asking, in the thickest of Italian accents......."You and the girl.....how does that work? ......Well, now he has the attention of the whole room....My cousins and Kat are just sitting back enjoying the entertainment.....He goes on and continues.....All these years I see you together. I am so curious..... is this your wife?...How does that work? who is the Man.....who pays the bills???

I just looked down the cousin's end of the table, and asked "how many shades of red am I turning right now?!!!!"......

A few of my cousins getting ready for a walk after dinner.
Now he was sincere with his questions, he was not being lewd, and meant no disrespect.....
So I took a big breath....... and tried to think of the simplest way to say this because of the slight language barrier, and started with this....

Yes Kat is my wife......Then asked my aunt how to say gay in Italian....She says....Gay....So I look at my Uncles, and tell them that I am gay.....My Uncle Silvio then says, "that's two men.....Hmmmm, two women too?".....Then he wants to know ...Who has the man role......So I try to explain how it is different for everyone, and what makes them feel comfortable in their own bodies.....That some same sex couples do have a man role.....but for me and Kat it's an even woman to woman relationship.

At some point in this conversation I feel a hand on my shoulder, and think that it is my wife coming to support me.......But Nooooo. Kat was down there thoroughly enjoying every second of my uncomfortableness......She even convinced my cousin Ned not to come and save me.....Just plain Evil I tell ya!!!!... So finally my cousin Anthony came to my rescue.....it was his hand on my shoulder.... THanx Ant!!!

There were more questions, and answers that I can't remember right now....What was probably only 5 min. seemed like an eternity.....I asked my uncle if he understood what I was trying to tell him, and asked if we were good now. Then politely excused myself. Anthony got me up from the table, and we went down the other end. My cousins were shocked at how well I handled that. They said that was probably the most schoolin' their parents have had on the gay subject in all their lives....
I can't believe I put myself through that ......cause seriously, at the end of the day, all my uncles really wanted to know was ......Who Pays The Bills???...

Is your hand smacking your forehead right now???......cause mine is as I am writing this...LOL.....

It was time to go, and make my rounds to say good-bye to everyone. Uncle Silvio started to apologize for his questions.....I took his hand and told him that it was ok that he asked.....Then my aunt Catherine says to me "we are family, and we love you".....Then I looked at my uncle and said with a big cheesecake smile....See, you don't have to understand it all .....Ya just gotta love me.....and my aunt Mary chimed in ....YEAH!!!!......

So what seemed to start out as a very uncomfortable situation, turned out to be a blessing just to hear my aunts tell me that they love me.....and let me know that it doesn't matter to them if I am gay.

New Year...New Hope...2007... :)~

Hope everyone's holiday season was a good one!!!

Mine was great! I think I gained 10 lbs. though...LOL.....
Spent Christmas Eve at my sister Lisa's with her boyfriend Manny, my mom, and our friend Tom .....Lisa and I suprised the hell out of my mom with a new T.V. She started balling her eyes out, and having a panic attack.....Totally didn't see that reaction comming....

THen Christmas day up at Auntie Pat's .....with the usual cast of characters......I love spending the day up there.....it's so ....Christmassy.......
Talked to my bro John on the phone.....he had to work...poor thing. Thought about calling my father....then decided in my head that he can call me for once in his damn life....He Never called......Big Shocker....NOT........

I got Kat her pink Timberlands.....
and she got me the green ipod nano........and we both got the pink razor phone..........I love my new toys!! She is turning me into such a gadget geek.

Life begins today... :)~

Big Shout Out and Congratulations to my brother Nate, and his wife Kate on the birth of their 3rd child.....
My niece.... DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....Mercedie Kathleen!
Life begins for you today!!! Welcome little one, to this crazy mixed up world !

Hopefully, within the next year, I would like to plan a trip to finally meet my bro's family! They moved to Manitoba, Canada about 7 years ago....and sadly we kind of lost touch over the years.

Actually, Nate called a couple of weeks ago. It was so awesome catching up with him. Hopefully we will both make a way better effort to keep in better touch in the future!...I truly miss him!!!!..and would like to get to know Kate and his children better.

I hate that I have nieces and a nephew to call me Auntie Tina......but have never seen me other than in a picture (probably a bad 80's photo too...lol) to call me that.....hopefully soon that will change!!!! :)~

An unexpected family gathering of sorts... :)~

Last Thursday my cousin Rose and Frank stopped by after thier hair appt. up the road from me at our cousin Annmarie's hair salon. Normally I would have gone up there to hang with everyone, but I was waiting for the DISH Network people to finish installing....By the way, I love it way better than Cablevision/Optimum....and it's much cheaper. $68/month...180 channels & Showtime & Serious Radio stations....Plus we definetly get way more than 180 channels...

Ok, I went a little off track...So I wound up taking Rose & Frank to Aunt Lucy's to meet her parents there. They were having a late lunch there , and asked me to join them. My Aunt is always yelling at me to come over more often, so I did....What was supposed to be 8 people turned into 19 family members within 45 min. We just kept adding folding chairs to the 3 long tables..... Typical.....Of course she had more than enough food to go around. Did you have any doubt?... :)~

It started with homemade pasta (tagliatelle) w/ light red sauce, and garbanzo beans. I asked Frank, " Are we just having this, or do I need to make room." He just laughed, and shrugged his shoulders. That was a stupid question!!! As soon as the pasta was gone in came all the rest of the food. Pork chops, stuffed baby aubergines (eggplant), oven potatoes, tomato and mozzarella, greens salad, and some great bread. They got it at The Bagel King....Humph! Who knew!.....and Ohhhh, let's not forget the homemade wine. Mmmmmmmm.

Frank and I went outside to have a smoke, and check out the garden. You would not believe the size of some of the squashes they've got growing up the fence. They have two of them craddled with a macrame netting. There are plants every where. And my aunt uses everything. Her pantry is filled with canned and jarred food from the garden, as is most of my Italian Aunts pantry's. I also got to see the new crusher, and old family wine press. They must've just bottled it, cause everything was still out...and the wine was still bubbling in their open vats. He had both white and red. Can't wait to try the 2006 batch. They said the grapes were great this year!

Stuffed Aubergines (Eggplant)

3 small eggplant
1 onion diced
1 red pepper diced
1 shredded large carrot
1/2 c diced mushrooms
diced eggplant from the scooped out pulp
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp fresh chopped basil
S & P to taste
fresh mozzarella sliced

Halve the eggplant lengthwise. Score the pulp deeply with a sharp knife, being careful not to pierce the skin. Scoop out to leave a 1/2 inch shells. Sprinkle with salt and invert on paper towels to drain for 30 min.

Sautee the diced onion, red pepper, carrot, mushrooms, and eggplant pulp. Add oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Cook til tender.
Brush scooped out eggplants with olive oil. Skin too.
Stuff with mixture, and top with sliced fresh mozzarella. Bake for 30 min at 350, or till eggplant is tender.