A word of Encouragement to those I Love...

To those friends and family members (you know who you are) that are going through tough times lately...whatever that entails, I want you to know that I am here for you; as an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, a caretaker, or an excuse to "go out" to step away from life sometimes. We all go through tough times (and I know I have been through some) and I want to thank you for being there for me. I just hope that I can be the same for you when times are rough on your end too. Chicas, I do love you all...my sisters and "the girls". I may have a few friends in my life but you have done the love and work of 100 and I wouldn't trade that for anything more. I love you all....and don't give up...I'm here if you need me:) Love ya chicas:)

Soooo talented!

Ok...this is Crazy-sick....can you believe this is all coming from him?! Too cool!

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Thankful for....

left to right: Cynthia, me, and Melissa (my sisters and I at Bliss August 2007)

Ok...so I'm thinking of doing a Gratitude Post every day or so (depending on how often I get on the comp). After reading Kelly's post and then thinking about how my sisters and friends took me out of my "humble abode" for some "Me" time, I was grateful for having people, "My people" (heard in Grey's Anatomy) in my life. Soooo....I will be trying to commit myself to a post a week, at least, to thank those in my lfe. Today I want to thank my sisters for inviting me to Bliss with them a couple of weeks back (and out bowling with Cynthia...loving bowling!!). I haven't gone out with them in a while, or a club for that matter, for a looooong while and so Cynthia called me up and asked me out...fun was had by all LOL (especially you Melissa) anywho...thanks Cynthia and Melissa (and Joia too) for a fun "Girl's Night Out" Love you!

Me and Cynthia at Jersey Lanes (bowling)

LOL..too funny:)

yeah, 2 posts in one day?! But I saw this on another blog and thought this was cute so I tagged myself LOL...


1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Dooby Hyundai

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chip (LOL)

3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) P. Rid

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Red doggy

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Cristina Maputo

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Ridpa

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The") Blue The Chia

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Vicente Sabastiao

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Moonlight Path Mounds (OMG this one's cracking me up!!!)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names ) I could tell you this, but then I would have to kill you... LOL



Laterz.....

Purging...my soul and home...lol

Bobby and I at my Brother-in -laws' wedding (early 2007)

Disclaimer: This will be a looooonng post but long overdue...LOL...and yes, in person, I talk more than this....ask everyone...LOL God bless their souls :)

Hey there All! Long time no talk! First, I want to thank all of you for the kind, sweet words you wrote me regarding my last post. I have been getting better with the whole "anticipating" a pregnancy and I'm leaving it in God's hands. Though it'd be great if I had another child, we are very blessed and truly happy for Bobby, our 4yo son. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect child...and if God meant for us to have 1 perfect child to fill our days, that's more than I can ask for. Karla, I'd like to thank you for having my link on your blog too...though I didn't mean to make you cry:)

Ok...so here goes the purging of my soul....I never really knew what it meant to "wait until I could afford something" or "budgeting for a small purchase" til this year...and it's not because I'm "well-off" I think it was because being a single-income family in the Princeton area, has finally caught up to us...and yes, we were living a little above our means (can I say daycare, SAM's club, "scrapbooking" and a nice cable package for this SAHM). So yes, it's a little embarrassing to tell you all this but I've gotta come clean....

So, it's been about 6 months since I last wrote and since then, things have been an uphill battle. My hubby and I have been stressing (big time) with the $$ and bills for the past months. Struggling meaning, late with rent. Yes, I'm sad to say I've joined the ranks of "late" renters. After not having this problem for the past 7 years of renting, it was a huge blow to our ego and our relationship. He was stressing not knowing how to stop the huge ball from rolling in the wrong direction, and me trying to keep a straight face for the sake of his sanity and our relationship...all the while wondering why and how we got into this huge mess.

Well, after months of penny-pinching, cutting down to basic cable, not shopping at Sam's for months, not even stepping foot in Michaels' or anything scrappy (alright I do have a membership with SOMO but it's ending soon:( only using our cells now instead of a home phone, and buying the bare-neccesities (I really mean bare), we are still in a mess but getting better. As of the beginning of August I decided to be inpsired by Run's House and Justine's roles at home and decided to handle all the bills. Why?

1) because it makes me feel important. Don't get me wrong, I am important for the simple fact that I have the role of a Mom and wife but I've always been one to pride myself of handling my business. After deciding to stay home, my budget-management responsibilities relied heavily on my hubby since I wasn't bringing home any of my own money anymore. So now having a say where it goes, brings me back to feeling responsible with other "wordly, businees duties"...
2) I decided to do this because I now know exactly how much is being doled out monthly and how much I have to spend (or not spend LOL). Women, if you're married and stay home, I encourage you to try this if you don't know what bills you have or what your money is being spent on because it empowers you and makes you appreciate you're hubby ALOT more for what he does everyday (Rob, sorry for all the times I nagged you about the amount of time you were working crazy amount of hours...without you, we wouldn't be living a cozy life at all). Not only that but, in case anything does happen to your hubby (God forbid) you won't be stuck trying to figure out stuff concerning who gets paid, what you used to pay for, or trying to teach yourself how to budget from scratch (my hubby says he doesn't want me to be stuck if anything ever happens to him). So with that said, I encourage you to try see where it all goes for at least 3 months. I'm budgeting at 3 months at a time to make it easier to me. Anyways,
3) I do this is because it frees my hubby sooo much! He doesn't stress much anymore because he trusts me. He says that I'm usually right (yes ladies, I have the best husband...but then again, I am usually right LOL) so anything I do right now can only make matters better.

So, I have it mapped out and we should be okay (money in savings) by mid-October and all things caught up by the end of December. And, hopefully this time around, be able to afford my hernia operation (one year later). Yes, couldn't have it done in January because the bill of $1,000 was sprung on me one week prior to the operation, because I have sucky insurance right now. Anywho...onto the better side of things....

We are moving! Okay not to a house but to a smaller condo at the same condo community. It's gonna be small because we are losing a den (which was being used as my scraproom) and our guest bathroom but, it's for the better. It's alot cheaper and it's still in the area so I'm happy about that since I love it here and don't know anywhere else I'd rather live (did I say I'm never buying a house in NJ? HUGE property taxes!) So until I figure out what state I want to be in permanantly, I will rent. I know, I pay the same amount (if not more) in rent then my friends do their mortgage right now but...whatever. We're moving LOL.

Soooo right now we're in the process of purging BIG TIME...and I'm okay with that because I believe in using everything you've got and if you don't use it, you don't need it...a far cry from how I used to be but I'm glad I am the way I am now. It frees alot and those who have purged know this. My mom, on the other hand doesn't think so. She believes in having the "finer" things in life. In always being prepared (even if it means having 3+ sets of "fancy" dish sets for speacial occassions). Love you Mommy:) She thinks I'm "settling" to go from a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, den w/fireplace condo to something smaller when I should be looking into owning a house. So yeah, to her, I'm taking a step backwards. Of course this is coming from my parents who live in a huge house in Florida, having homes that always looked like it belonged in a home decorating magazine, and having anything you could possibly need in a seconds notice. But mind you, it hasn't been easy. They came to this country right before I turned 1 y.o. so they started from scratch with one baby at the time! I guess I should ask them for advice on how to save and budget...LOL.

Anyways, my Mom always says she doesn't undertand why I don't strive for more...a bigger house, a job, more "fancy" things but I believe what I have is enough. I don't need too much around me to make me happy. I do "want" for alot of things but have come to realize what I have is what I "need." What makes me truly, and I mean TRULY, happy are not always material things (ok...except for the occassional new stamp sets or scrapbook paper LOL ) but all that I will ever really need to make me happy in this world are my husband, my son, my friends, and my family. My extras in life are going to the cafe with the girls, bowling, laughing my butt off with hubby at something we're watching or his funny recollections of "old school" memories and jingles, going out with my sisters, acting silly with my son, a Starbucks Grande Chia latte at Barnes and Nobles, a nice, breezy, warm night walk...browsing antique shops on cobblestone, tree-lined streets. Stuff like that. My mom doesn't get me in that sense. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to eventually own a converted warehouse/barn/firehouse loft with at least one exposed brick wall (love indoor brick walls), with a space for a garden (rooftop perhaps) but I will eventually get it (I'm confident because I usually get what I strive and work for...minus another child but I digress...) So I'm not stressing what she says. She means good and I do love her for that:) Anways, I always assure her that all I've got is all I'll need.

So yeah..."less is more" in my books...and I'm making someone somewhere happy with my donations:) Maybe this new move will start us on the right path again...Rob, remember how I said I want us to get back to our life on Murray street? Loved that year there. Maybe this is God giving us a hand at reclaiming our simple life like the one we had before? :)

Another piece of good news? My husband is going from working 80+hr job and a second weekend job, one of them a 1.5 hour commute from home...to a new job!!! Only 10 minutes from home and only 40hrs a week with reasonable hours from either 3pm-11pm or 11pm-7am! That means more time with him home! Not only that but they offered him way more than what he was expecting so he doesn't really "need" to get another job! Also, if I really wanted to and needed to, those hours are great if I decided to work a part-time while he was home with Bobby!! Yahoooo!!!!

Lastly, to be completely honest with everyone, I LOVED my son's 1st year experience with school at his daycare. LOVED it! Unfortunately, with our money situation lately, re-enrolling him in school for Pre-K in a Princeton daycare at close to $500 a month for 2 half days a week was not feasible. Therefore, we did not re-enroll him. We were stressing about it but came to the consensus that 1) he will be going in January 2) Um...yeah, I was a daycare teacher so I will be "homeschooling" him in the meantime 3) we will be trying to enroll him in gymnastics (loves jumping and such and seems interested) for him to interact with kids his age...not to mention that it costs 1/2 of a month's daycare tution to enroll him in gymnastics for the whole season of fall 4) Bobby hasn't asked about school...for him, it's still vacation 5) it's not mandatory to attend daycare here....I never went to pre-k or Kindergarten and I'm fine. I went to one year nursery and then straight to first grade and look at me:) LOL....

Anyways, believe me, it was a hard decision seeing that we and our family stress the importance of education (my family is one of doctors and engineers so my parents were are a little wary about us not giving him a "solid foundation") but he will have about 12+ years of being in school. So, with that said, I will be teaching him at home with all the materials I still own that I taught at school with before...and see Daddy, I told you, my $88,000 college education did pay off...all I've learned will be taught to Bobby...the next generation:) Just kidding, it's something he once said in jest but took back when he realized it didn't sound right. LOL. Love you Daddy:)

So yeah, three new things on our horizon! Hopefully with these changes and me handling our bills (helping the hubby out) we can get back to the life we once had.....barely watching tv (had only 6 channels at the time), rollerblading, going out for walks daily (but now with Bobby), riding bikes, spending every minute together, gardening, etc. A time when the bare neccesities were the best thing you could hope for and cherish, since it was all you had to live off of. Right now, I'm getting so excited about reclaiming the hard-core "domestic-goddess" role I once had a la Martha Stewart and my daily inspiration! Love ya girl! You help me dream when times are down....oh and I love white in my house too! LOL. Ok, enough with my cheesy giddiness....LOL

Well, that's all for now...phew! You still there? LOL...til next post!

I've got 'Baby Fever"

I've been having Baby Fever for a while now. I have a four year old son who's the light of my life and I never wanted him to be the only child. I believe having siblings build character and are the closest people to have in your life so, naturally I've been wanting to have a brother or sister for him. I've been wanting this since he turned two years old. My husband and I have tried with tons of "false alarms" throughout the two years with no avail. Lately in my life, alot of people have been getting pregnant leaving me to wonder why we're not. Is God trying to tell me something? Is there something in my future that's going to happen that makes me better off having only one child? Is Bobby really supposed to be the only child? Am I asking for too much when he's so perfect? Maybe I should be glad with only one child? Maybe, but I really want him to have a "partner in crime" a "Built-in best friend" you know? Someone in the family. My husband's the oldest of six and I'm the oldest of three and I can say I know it made a big difference in our lives to have siblings, even when we "hated" eachother, LOL. It teaches unconditional love and all the other good stuff. Granted Bobby can have close friends, but that doesn't come close to a sibling.

As of last year, two friends had kids (one less tha a year apart from her second child), and a cousin. Now, this year, my two of my sister-in- laws are pregnant, and my brother-in-law's wife just found out she is too (a moth after they got married). I'm really happy for all of them but I feel like "what's wrong with me? I'm a great mom..." On top of that, my mom calls me yesterday to let me know that my cousin from Ohio just found out she' s pregant...and with twins. Though she didn't ask me what my hold-up is, I know she was wondering if we were still trying to get pregnant and why we weren't. It gets a bit annoying when others ask. At first I used to joke and ask them to (the ones who were pregnant) "Pass me the Mojo" but now my answer's become a standard, "When God is ready."

Anywho, despite the happiness I feel when I hear someone new is pregnant I feel like crying. Yesterday, I felt like it when my mom shared the news of my cousin's pregnancy...and twins no less! My friends keep telling me that the more I stress, the more it won't happen and I know that but can you blame me when I've been trying for two years and nothing? When people around me are getting pregnant all the time? When I see cute pics of everyone's babies? When I go to the mall and see these cute little clothes? When I watched the video of Bobby when he first rolled over and of his cute chubby legs? I LOVED being pregnant. LOVED it! I would be pregnant again in a heartbeat but nooooo...:( Maybe God does know something I don't know. Maybe God doesn't give you what you can't handle?

Maybe we won't be able to financially support our family. Maybe he knows we're gonna go threw a life change like a big move or something. Maybe my relationship with my hubbie has to get back on track as far as the balance between family time and work. Or maybe we're not trying hard enough. I did get my normal Woman's exam. Everything seemed fine to her but, she did suggest I go in with my hubby to make sure he was fine too and to see if we needed an intervention if we were really serious about getting pregnant again (invitro and the like). Well, we haven't gone yet. Partially because he "forgets" to make an appointment or because we partially believe that God, not science, should be the driving force for us to have a child. I don't know. All I know is that I feel the pain some of the women on the blog world feel right now as far as not getting pregnant, for one reason or another. Anywho, I'm gonna leave you with a journal entry I wrote a little over 1.5 years ago:

Today I found out my friend from high school is pregnant...again. She just had a baby about 3-4 months ago after trying so long for her second child and now she's pregnant again with her third. I'm happy for her but at the same time a little sad for me. See, I've always loved kids. I've always wanted to be around them because they're so lively, curious, and fascinated by the things around them. I've always known I've wanted kids of my own. After teaching, I knew I wanted one of my own for sure...a boy would be a bonus...and then after 6 months of trying, came you. Exactly everything I've always enjoyed. You're astonished at the smallest things...like bugs which makes me smile inside because I was fascinated by ants for the longest. You love to wrestle and play and as rough as you can get, you keep me young at heart...not feeling like an "old" mom...more like your buddy. Well, as life goes on things change and you are growing to be such a big boy in such a short time. You're gonna be 2.5 years old next month. About, actually 2-3 weeks from now and you're so smart and cuddly and loveable. You're always saying Daddy and now Mommy ("Money") and want to go play outside and always look longily at children playing because you want to join them. I was so happy to see you run crazily at the airport terminal with the three older kids having fun this summer. Age didn't seem to be an issue for you, you just wanted to play. Well, you growing older and looking out into the world and not only at me for what you need and want makes me...sad. Sad becasue soon you won't need me as much. I miss you being the tiny baby of mine. Knowing that you need me, all those little clothes, the baby paraphenelia. Funny I miss it already. It went by so fast. I was so engrossed with all the tiny details but time just slipped on by anyways.

Well, back to my friend. I'm sad because I want you to have a baby brother or sister soon. I want to have another baby. Though I'm scared of what the world will do to you and any of my children, I believe God wants me to have you and another, because he believes you will all do good for humanity and believes that your Dad and I could do our job to get you to that point. I want to have another little one in the house. I just want you to have a friend for life--a brother or sister through good times and bad. I want to have a house filled with things going on. The more the merrier. I want you to have a sibling close to your age. Close to age because I want you to to understand eachother and be able to be on the same level and help eachother out as you grow up. Your Dad and I believe in the importance of siblings and I hope God puts His trust in us as parents again... 8-10-05

Yes..and this is why:)

Rob...Just wanted to say...

Loving this video

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Getting back on track with this blog thing...LOL

Left to right: My sisters Cynthia, Melissa, my Dad, my Mom, my Mother-in-law, and my son Bobby

Hello everybody!!! Hope everyone had a great Holiday...Whatever it is that you celebrate. I had Christmas Eve at my house for the first time and let me tell you....I started cooking at 5pm because I didn't want to start too soon and have the food be cold. Ok....doesn't sound too bad right? Well, my family was expected to be there by 8pm!!! Yes, and I rocked it!!! Let me say, I cooked everything all by myself and had it done by 8:30 pm (yes, my family ended up getting there around 10 pm because my sis Melissa was running late) but nonetheless, I had all this done in 3.5 hours:

My Pineapple-glazed Ham

Corn Pudding and Turkey Prosciutto with Cornbread stuffing

Main course and Side dishes:
Pineapple glazed Ham
Mac-n-cheese
Sweet potato mash
Corn pudding
Turkey breast and Prosciutto
Jasmine Rice
Cornbread Stuffing

Dessert:
Chocolate Cheesecake Flan

Favors:
Chinese take out boxes set at table settings with Pepperidge Farms cookies inside

I also set the coffee table with roasted peanuts, craisins, M&M's, goldfish, sliced Portuguese bread and baby clams with tabasco sauce for appetizer. I served sparkling cider when everyone came into the house...wine was brought by my sister since my hubby and I don't drink a lick of alcohol, my other sister brought her Strawberry Shortcake, and my mom brought our favorite cod fish dish that we all LOVE. We had a great night hanging out together talking and laughing!

I got a Hp Photosmart printer from my sister Melissa, a Starbucks mug, tea, and an AC Moore gift certificate from Cynthia. My parents got me a huge stamp set and an AC Moore gift certificate (which, yes, got me emotional because I realized that they really listened to me when I talked them to death about stamping and scrapbooking...this was big for me). My sister Melissa was like "Yeah, Paula, they actually do listen to you." Oh, and also got emotional when Melissa got me the printer because it was such a huge gift from her (she usually doesn't get us anything or does, but not on the actual occasion). My son got a bike from her! His first bike, helmet, elbow and knee pads! Crazy! Let's just say everyone got a huge gift and was shocked. My poor hubby didn't get my gift on Christmas because he didn't want me to buy anything at all for him. Said he'd be happy just to spend time with us (although he did spend Christmas Eve at work) but I did create a mini brag book and tin with family pics of us and I drew and painted him the POPEYE tattoo on canvas, that he got tattooed on his arm...

Popeye canvas I made for my Hubby

he loves it! Oh, and did I tell you that I gave Melissa a Target gift card and Cynthia a slow cooker and wine bottle opener (that she needed badly) and then I made both of them an altered clipboard (but I forgot to take the pic).

Anywho.... for New Year's we rang it in the car on the way to a family friends' house party. We got there at 12:05 am so I was busy scrambling to call my parents (who were there already) and my sisters HAPPY NEW YEAR at midnight!! New Year's Eve is a big deal to my family because we used to have the biggest bash on the east coast for family and friends every year for close to 15 years (although my parents have stopped about 3 years ago). People would wait for their invites 2 months in advance and they'd come from Florida and from Boston and anywhere in between to spend it at my parent's house. It's also important because my sisters and I believe that the way you spend it, predicts how the rest of your year will be. So, I was glad I spent it with my parents because they will be moving to Florida in 2 weeks so maybe it means this year, despite the distance, I'll be spending time with them. My sisters went to clubs either in the city (NYC) or stayed local.

Anywho, my new addition that I talked about on my last entry?

Meet Choco

I have a new puppy. His official name is Chocolate, but we coined him "Choco". He's a black pug/boston terrier mix which is a new breed of "designer dogs." He's bred to be one of the best lap dogs and apartments dogs to have and are great with children. They're called BUGS...LOL. Long story short, we got him on the 18th of December. He's my Christmas gift from my hubby. I think he's such a cutie but to be honest with you, I didn't know it'd be this much work....more work than I believe it was to care for my son as a newborn! The first couple of days I was regretting having him. Me getting up at 6 am to walk him? Every morning? And feeding every 2 hours? AHHH! I was so sure I was gonna give him up and sit my hubby down to tell him but, the day I was planning to, I picked up my son from school and the first thing he did was ask for Choco so...I decided to stick it out for him because I did ultimately want my son to grow up with a dog. He's getting better. I can predict when he needs to be taken out, for the most part, and he's really good with not barking when I put him in his cage. He still is chewing on stuff but it's because he's still teething. He's only 2 months now. We got him when he was 1.5 months! He was so expensive too but not as expensive as how much they are charging for them at those mall pet shops. We got him at a nice kennel pace for 1/2 of what they cost now at the mall shops, so I was happy at the time. I've had good days (when he eliminates outside in his box on our balcony...I stopped walking him around the condo because of bad lighting at night) and I've had bad when he's chewing everything and peeing and pooping everywhere! Thank God for enzyme cleaners! Anywho, so yeah, he's the new bundle in our family...and he's alot of work, but a new challenge I will plan to take on. Well, I wrote alot so I'll go for now. I'll be writing again Friday. I was supposed to have surgery this past Tuesday for my hernia but postponed it for now so, my hubby's home since he took the week off. I'll be spending time with him and Bobby until he goes back on Friday so I'll write you then! Until....