After Much Needed Time Away From The Computer

I’m Back. I will be posting and commenting and annoying each and every one of you! Wheee!

On my fake vacation last week, I forced myself to say, “Fuck. It.” to every single damn responsibility or obligation in my life. I didn’t go food shopping, stand in any lines or carry heavy bags up my four flights of stairs. I didn’t pay any bills or even think about the bills. I didn’t cook. The laundry took over my house. I never once made my bed. I didn’t even clean!! (I know! Very hard to imagine – the OCD was really hard to fight off- my closet has never been so messy). I didn’t do anything I am ‘supposed’ to do. I only did what I ‘wanted’ to do.

And I loved it.

Of course I still had to show up for that full-time job thing and face the NJTPK but whatever. I wasn’t letting that stop me from having fun this week and man did I have fun!

Here is where I might loose most of you. I could write the LONGEST POST EVER and torture you with the mundane details of my every move this week. Or, I could be smart and just highlight the fun parts giving you the quick run down of my super awesome week with photo links. I think I will spare you and just give you the abbreviated version.

08/12 Sunday Night: Marco’s Birthday Party

JCH and I went to a birthday party for our friends: Tiffany (my girlfriend- AND the prettiest girl to walk the face of the earth), Dominick (Tiffany’s son who is the same age as my son) and Marco (her other son; the adorable now 7 year old birthday boy).

Going to Tiffany’s for an evening is like a vacation unto itself. First of all, her house is AMAZING. The horse shoe driveway which holds the house back far enough from the road engages tranquility. The separate wings of the house keep the family far enough apart to not get on each others nerves, but close enough when they all meet in the heart of the home. The kitchen. From marble and granite, to silver and china, if I ever own a house, I want my kitchen to be exactly like hers. (Not that I would ever use it or anything).

Then you have her backyard. The backyard is nothing short of like spending time at a resort. As soon as you walk through the black wrought iron gates, you feel like you landed on an island. Crystal blue waters run clean through the underground pool. The sun sparkles off the water making the air look like it is filled with glitter. The temperature is always the perfect degree. It is just warm enough but not too hot. The sky remains an impeccable shade of blue. There is something so inviting about her backyard.

On top of the wonderful surroundings, my girl Tiffany can cook with the best of them. Fuck Rachel Ray. Let’s see if Chef Ramsey could take on Tiffany’s ability to set it off in the kitchen. Tiffany makes homemade lasagna to die for. (Yes I know I am not supposed to eat that, and yes I did pay for it later, but it was so totally worth it).

Tiffany and I sat on the deck like those mothers I remember seeing when I was little. You know that kind? The mom’s that sit poolside, not daring enough to get wet because they don’t want to mess up their hair or make up, but all the while laughing, drinking some sort of coconut mixture with fresh mint leaves, while the kids swam and played water sports.

Even after all the birthday candles were blown out, and all of the presents were open, the kids kept running back and forth, shooting water guns, jumping in and out of the Jacuzzi until it was dark.

08/13 Monday Night: Camp Ridiculous

We went to JCH’s camp for the annual family-visiting day BBQ. (Which, by the way, is the best camp IN. THE. WORLD.) I have never seen such beautifully kept campus grounds with the most amazing activities.

At first, we weren’t really sure if Tiffany, Marco, Dominick were going to be allowed to come to the ‘family’ BBQ day. The invitation did say ‘family members only’. But, since I think the rules of the world simply don’t apply to me, what would make this event any different? Nothing. I made Tiffany, Marco, Dominick ‘family members’ for the day. Yup. They were our long–lost–live-far-away-only-here-for-a-week-visiting- family members. We told the camp that Tiffany was my sister. (Which was so NOT believable considering we look NOTHING alike). Nevertheless, they let us through the gates, into the camp for a night of incredible festivities.

The entire visit as JCH proudly introduced us to his friends and counselors, he said, “This is my mom, and this is my Aunt Fanny.” A name that sounds more like a ‘Little House On The Prairie’ character. The best part of my night was watching my sons face light up when he took charge of us as a group and he led us through: The Tour Of Camp Ridiculous.

Yes people. Welcome to Campus Ridiculous. 86 Acres, of Ridiculous.

There are go-carts, and bumper boats, kayaking and archery. There are snow cones and curly fries. There is an arcade room set up like an old fashioned diner, complete with soft serve Ice Cream. There are horses to ride, rock climbing and zip lines. They have camp fires and a private beach. There are lakes with water fountains. They get to eat in a dinning room with real linens. They even have their own airplane that drops confetti overhead at the beginning of color war.

(I can’t post too many pictures from the camp grounds without giving away the name and or location of the camp. Because that would be just about as smart as drawing a map, listing my child’s daily itinerary and hanging a sign from his neck that says “Kidnap Me.” But you can get the general idea of the awesomeness that is Camp Ridiculous from these.)

I was thrilled knowing my son WANTED me to be there with him. I was overjoyed having been able share this part of his childhood with him.

(Yeah um, when I went to camp there was nothing more than a mosquito infested lake with one single rope to swing from).

A Big! Thank! You! To My Mom! For sending my son (these past 3 summers) to THE BEST CAMP IN THE WORLD. I am so sad the summer and camp are O-V-E-R.

08/14 Tuesday Night: Home Sweet Home

JCH and I decided to make it a night ‘In’ having been out gallivanting two nights in a row. (And during a work week. That was already a real stretch for me). We made a light salad and took a leisurely stroll though our own golf course. There is a short cut across the course that leads directly to my parents’ house. That’s when I discovered it is actually faster to WALK to my mom and dad’s than DRIVE.

We stopped in for hugs and hello’s, kisses and goodbye’s. But, we never leave their house empty handed. I managed to wrangle up a fresh pack of AA batteries for my camera and JCH scored some new sunglasses.

On our walk home we stopped, literally, to smell the flowers. Then we made our way over to one of the sand traps to squish our feet in the sand and feel the grains in-between our toes. Finally we walked over to the pond to sit and listen to the frogs sing.

When we got home we ignored the pile of clothes lying in the middle of the living room floor and settled on the sofa with chips and salsa. The evening ended in laughter, watching the HBO special featuring Dane Cook.

*There was nothing “eventful” about this night, it was just so nice to spend alone, uninterrupted, time with my son.

08/15 Wednesday Night: Dinner At The Shanty

It would not be a week of family and friends without these two. Jen has been my best friend (going on 12 years now?) and JCH and Chloe have been in each others lives since the day she was born. We (all 7 of us) met for dinner at our local Seafood restaurant. It’s no Joe’s Crab Shack, but it is within close proximity to all of our respective houses. Neither Jen, Tiffany, or I enjoy the food served in this place, but the kids absolutely love it.

Seafood Dinner Mania – Photos are here.

* See now this is where I could have gone off on a really long winded story about a rather scary man that made us all wonder what he does at night while everyone else is sleeping but that’s an inside joke and most of you would have bailed by now. You are still here … right? *

08/16 Thursday Night: Home Sweet Home (Part Two):

Thursday nights have always been BIG TV night up in here. NBC delivers. Even if 30Rock and Scrubs are repeats. Because Alec Baldwin anytime is a good time, and because Tina Fey is my HERO.

While watching TV, I decided to start uploading some of the new pictures onto Flickr. Holy hell Flickr went all upgrade on me. Thank you! What used to take 45 minutes to upload 5 billion pictures, now only takes 5 seconds. Seriously, if you don’t have a Flickr account, get one. It’s the easiest way to store pictures without hogging up space on your hard drive.

I was also reintroduced to an old friend. The Phone. Yeah, a real phone, with a cord connected to the wall. Remember using a land line? My girlfriend Patty has retuned from her week away to visit her niece. I spent 2 hours talking ON THE PHONE. Its weird, I never realized how much time I spend communicating via email or instant message. I haven’t had a real live PHONE CALL in a very LONG time.

*Another “un-eventful” night, but the FIRST and ONLY night I stayed HOME and sat still, RELAXING all week.

08/17 Friday Night: Dinner With The Parents:

I managed to convince my father that it was a good idea for him to cook Chilean Sea Bass, rice, steamed broccoli, with a tomato, mozzarella and basil salad on the side, for me to eat. My mother even pitched in to cook. Wow. She must’ve really missed me coming over for dinner! We ate, we laughed, we talked. It was so nice to spend one on one time with my parents. I haven’t been over there like that for months.

After dinner, and back at home, I spent the rest of the night getting my Ass Kicked while playing video games with my son. I still have no idea how he manages to move his thumb so fast on that damned x-box trigger. He has like magical super bendy rubber flexible crazy thumbs.

*Ya’ll still here? Bored yet? It’s almost over I promise.

08/18 Saturday Day / Night Family Function:

I know that I am seriously disturbed because while most people loath going to family functions, I live for them. I was banned on Father’s Day when I had the German Measles, for various other reasons and illnesses I have missed out on 3 family events. But Not! This! One!

Every year, my Italian side of the family has a “cousins pick nick.” But its never just the “cousins.” It’s the whole Desordi side of my family. And it is AWESOME. I get to see all the people I haven’t seen in years. When you attend a family function of this magnitude, you get caught up on all the latest gossip: Who’s having babies, who’s getting divorced, who’s on the wagon, or off the wagon, ect ect ect.

The food is beyond words. All homemade Italian foods. Every single kind imaginable. We could not have asked for better weather either. After Friday’s hail storm, we were pleasantly surprised with the picture perfect Saturday.

This day, was best described by my Uncle Victor as he passed by me and said,

“There’s nothin’ better than this baby…”

Agreed!

“My Fucking Family Reunion and all of the fucking photos” are HERE

Nothing beats the picture of GANSTA POPPA SYE 

The Movie is still A WORK IN PROCESS (C’mon its been less than 24 hours! I had to write this and upload / edit / crop 350 + some odd photos! Cut me some slack!)

*(The Movie will be available shortly. The Movie is for my family. But you are all more than welcome to watch a picture slide show, set to music, with kick ass effects, full of people you don’t know… just to see my mad movie making skillz hard at work. For the movie you will need a Quick Time Player installed on your computer. If you don’t have one, download / install one. If you don’t know how too, then you are probably also still using Internet Explorer, when you should be using Firefox, and that means, I can’t help you.) *

08/19 Sunday: Back To Work:

Well, the party is over. And so is this post. (A collective sigh and cheering heard round the blogosphere) As soon as I finish up here, I have to do all of the things I have avoided all week. This house is a wreck, there is no food in the fridge, we have no clean clothes and the mail is busting out of the sides of the box. I am off to CLEAN, SHOP and DO ALL THE LAUNDRY. But I might not get the mail until tomorrow!

Nah…screw that. I’m sleeping all day today!

It sure feels good to be back.