THE BIG GAME!

Guess I forgot to mention my LOVE DARE for Sunday and yesterday! Sorry!
Okay, Sunday it was Love Fights Fair. If you could see how many underlines I have throughout this chapter!! The dare is to Talk To Your Spouse About Healthy Rules Of Engagement. The book gives you a list of "rules" for fighting. Well, funny enough... we had a fight that morn! Which is what lead to the prayer and the happiness in Luca's heart when the prayer was over. So, instead of talking to Alex about this list, I first, put it to use, second, thought I would write it out as a contract with places to initial next to each RULE. At the end, there's a place for us both to sign. I signed and initialed the whole thing and left it for him on the counter.
Yesterday my Love Dare chapter was Love Cherishes. The dare was to spend time with your spouse. The only opportunity we got was the movies, but we sat next to eachother and I held his hand or leg the whole time! :)
TUESDAY... today, I scheduled myself off of work but had Logan a good few errands to run. Mom was coming down for Luca and my game around 1pm, so I scurried around town getting all the things I needed to get done, done. Gina was working so when I dropped in to do some things, I of course had to visit a bit with her. Pat, her husband was conveniently having lunch as well, so Logan played a little with him and I chatted a bit too! Gotta love Pat, he's just loveable! Gina hadn't been in work all week the week before, so she felt a little "fish out of water", but not for long. She just ROCKS at the job and I can't stand the thought of her EVER not being there!! Reality is, though, that "the bun in the oven" will eventually have to be "done" and she'll have to take the time off, if not for ever, for a while... I still have a few months, thank goodness!
Anyhoo... Mom got to town around 2 and hadn't eaten. Logan and I waited to eat as well, until she arrived. She had the GREAT idea of going to Oishi Sushi for lunch! One of my favorite "other food" places!! At the end, she called it my birthday lunch and treated!! It was SOOOO yummy! We then went to pick up Luca from school and headed to his game. Coach Mark was great to put him as all his favorite positions knowing Noni (mom) and Alex would be there to watch. I could only stay until 5:15 because I had to be at Great Oak High School to prep for the charity game I was playing in.
While I was in "briefing", Luca was awarded the Game BALL!!!! He had been hoping for that up to that morning!!
I suited up in my navy blue mesh shorts, white tank with yellow mesh jersey over it. My white knee high socks, were a suggestion from the guy in Champs and my "old school" navy converse were only part of the "look". I bought wrist bands and a headband to boot! Only thing was, I couldn't get myself to put the headband on and not just embarress myself, but my friends and family too!!! So I settled on just the wristbands. It was the perfect cover up for my lipgloss!! I just slid it up under the bands and it was there whenever I needed it! After we got the "RULES" and there were MANY... we set out to practice. Well, let's just say we were the "Bad News Bears" meets "One Flew Over the Cookoos Nest!" I must say, as the HOUR AND A HALF went by, we got a smidgen better. I was goofin around, as I do... playing with the "entertainment" angle instead of trying to be the "PRO basketball player" that I CLEARLY wasn't. Ryan Hughes, Motorcross Champ (and close friend) and Robbie Maddison, Xtreme Sport Moto champ, 5 time World Record Breaker were our 2 REAL celebrities on our LOCAL CELEBRITY team. They had FUEL, a satallite TV station following Robbie, filiming all of the action! There were other camera crews there, not sure who they were, but as you may or may not know about me... I was just happy to be that close to FAME!! Hahaha!! Sad, I know, cuz I wasn't EVEN CLOSE TO FAME!! Hahaha!! The game was really fun! When they let us play... but the darn Harlem Ambassador's Lade Magic, kept stopping the game for their silly skits. They were funny for the first few times, but got a little old and dragged out after a while. The great thing is, that it was all for charity and it raised money for scholarships for kids! And, I have to say... turns out we really did entertain a good many people! I got koodo's after the game and all day today via texts, emails and phone calls! That was pretty neat!
My dare today was Love is Honorable. The dare was to show your spouse honor and respect that is above your normal routine. My way of fulfilling this dare was this: after the game, the two teams were sponsored by BJ's for dinner. The teams headed over right after the game and everyone was asking if I was going. Typically, I'd be all over it! Totally wanting to go hang and have a good time. This is something Alex wouldn't take part in, so I'd go alone. Well, this time I decided to go to Gourmet, where he went after staying for the whole game. I went there and didn't even ask him, knowing he wouldn't want to go, nor would he want me to and I simply ordered dinner and sat at the bar with he and my mom and we ate and reflected on the game. I'm not sure if he realized what I did directly, but I know what I did and it makes a difference in my heart, knowing that the sacrifice was small for a MUCH better result in the long run.

Monday... can't wait until tomorrow!

Monday is a funny day in our lives. Well, at least in mine. It's the day of the week that our Temecula restaurant, Gourmet Italia is closed. It used to be our family day, until Luca started "real school". That threw us off. Then, we took the time to be Alex and I until one day Logan joined us. But then Logan started school and we opened Spuntino. I started working on and off on Mondays and Alex took that opportunity to spend there as well. It's kind of turned into our "night off" instead of DAY off. Our evenings have been nice though. Usually consisting of homemade dinner (surprisingly by me!) and television. That's how we got into Prison Break! It was a show we could both enjoy together! We've been hooked since the first season! The Bachelor has been right after Prison Break and surprisingly Alex get's into that too! Well, this Monday would be different. On Sunday, when we sat down for lunch together (oh ya, I forgot we did that!) and Alex brought up the prayer (another shocker!), they all asked me to pray. I prayed for our families hearts and attitudes towards one another and just lifted us up to the Lord knowing that we needed more patience and understanding with each other. Luca was touched (he's quite sensitive) and he smiled and said to us all, "this is going to be a great family lunch". He then got the nerve up to ask his Daddy (usually fears the rejection) if we could go as a family to the movies. Daddy was gracious and said that although he couldn't that day, he could the next. SO! The family decided Monday eve, we would all go to the movies.
I kept in touch with Alex this day, making sure he would stay true to his word as to not dissappoint the kids, especially Luca who really feels his absence in his every day life.
He ended up getting a crew together to move a truck load of things we had in storage, so he called me to see if we could go to a later movie. I let him know that was fine, but that he needed to be sure to stick to his committment to the boys and be sure to finish on time.

So, he picked up Logan and I picked up Luca. Luca an dI went to the mall and I shopped for shorts, shoes and sweatbands for my charity basketball game the next day. Alex called when he and Logan arrived and we went to the movies as a FAMILY!! Okay, can I just say that I don't think we've EVER gone as a family and I don't mean this sentimentally! It cost $52 dollars, just for tickets!!! We paid a little more then the usual tickets cost because we say Monsters vs. Aliens 3D!!!! So the 3D costs more!!!! Gessh! Then, Alex hadn't eaten, so we all agreed just to eat dinner at the movies. Hot Dogs, popcorn, soda... you know, the typical healthy family diet!! But when we starting ordering and the total was popping up on the register... we about had a heart attack!!! $4.50 per HOT DOG!!!!! R U KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?? We ordered 5... $22.50 and that didn't include popcorn or a Coke!! You can order a large pizza and drinks at Spuntino for this! So we scratched our hot dogs, just getting the kids each and then a medium popcorn. In we go, $75 later, 4 people for under 2 hours!!! There is something SERIOUSLY WRONG with this picture!!! Then the darn 3D glasses were one size fits all and they WERE ALLLLLLL adult sizes (in a kids movie!?!??!?!). The problem was not for me, Alex or even really Luca... but Logan... he couldn't keep them on for the life of him!!! Alex had him on his lap and he had to hold them on for Logan THE ENTIRE MOVIE!!! Logan kept slipping down Alex's legs and testing Alex's patience, of which there basically is NONE! But Alex indured only needing about a 15 minute break. It was a cute movie, Luca absolutely LOVED it. We turned to see him laughing hysterically at many parts.
When the movie was over, poor Alex was starving!!! Not feeling dressed to go to the new Yard House or PF Changs, we chose to go to Lucille's BBQ joint. NOT SUCH A GREAT IDEA!!! We ordered the "Best" dishes on the menu, or should I say "most popular". For Alex, he was so hungry that he thought ANYTHING would taste good. Feeling like we just "settled" on dinner, we headed home and immediately went to bed. About 130am I gradually woke up to Alex tossing and turning. He claimed that the food caused him MAJOR stomach "issues" and he couldn't sleep. I encouraged him to get up and take his "natural" sleeping pill. He laughed and agreed and did. Well, lucky for him, it worked! About 20 minutes later, he was snoring!!! Unlucky for ME... I couldn't go back to sleep!!!!! NOT for the rest of the night!!!!!! WAAAA! Then, Logan cried out for me around 4am. I went into his room, layed next to him and settled him back to sleep. I went back to bed, not sleeping still and around 6am, Logan showed up at my bedside!!! So he climbed in and I climbed OUT! I went and layed in his bed and couldn't get another second of sleep! I got my morning going, all excited for the BIG GAME!

I'm sooooo sorry!!!

I know, it's been what?! 4 day's since I've logged in to BLOG! I'm having such a hard time with my internet access and getting time to get online! Okay... Sunday... what happened Sunday?
Oh, wait! Let me take you back to Saturday...
I had to come back from my Neice and Nephews birthday early because Alex needed me to do a catering job. It was for someone I had never met before. It was a friend of a friend. So I met Alex at the restaurant around 430pm and loaded up our cars. My girlfriend Marija was finishing up her Yoga certification and meeting me at the house to help. Alex was down one server at the restaurant, so he couldn't stay. He and I went to the house, dropped off all the food and he took off. Marija showed up about 15 minutes later. We set up the appetizer buffet and waited. As guests arrived, we helped pour wine but not much more then that until um... about 830!!! Yes, 3 and a half hours after Marija showed up, they were ready for the main course! Most guests had 2 helpings and some guests didn't show up until around 915! I waited at the pace of the host but realizing, some guests were leaving as others were just finishing up their meals! Well, we had dessert and if we waited much longer, it would be a tray of tirimasu for the 2 hosts, their 2 kids and Marija and myself!! So! We did the birthday song and by 10pm I was serving dessert! By 1030 I figured if Marija and I didn't sit to eat ourselves, we'd go to bed starving or have to eat at Del Taco or Denny's! After talking to Alex and knowing all was well at the restaurant, Marija and I sat down and ate. The host and our mutual friends sat with us as I talked about life these days which always brings me to the LOVE DARE! They were so interested that they both took the info so they could buy the movie and book that week! Around 11 Marija and I cleaned up and by 12 we were headed back. Alex called a little irritated and confused as to why we were there so late. He got home before me and the LOVE DARE was put to the test. He was upset, not because I was doing a job longer then expected, but that he wasn't busy at the restaurant and there was time we could have spent together and I was taking to long wrapping things up. The LOVE DARE that day was Love Let's the Other One Win! This actually took action the next morning, Sunday, which went from a nice, "romantic" morning to a heated jealous MINOR rage from Alex over taking TOO MUCH TIME AT THE CATERING JOB. I stayed calm, stating facts of the night, although he refused to believe what I was saying. Understanding where he was coming from, I simply stated that I understood his point and will be considerate of it next time. He didn't instantly change his attitude but it definitely defused the anger/argument.
SO, Sunday, I missed church. Was bummed about that. But did enjoy time with the boys. We read by the pool, cleaned the garage, fed the animals and then went grocery shopping. It's always more difficult to shop with children then by yourself, but we make a game out of it and it seems to help a ton! They each get to retrieve items we need (and some we don't) and then we take "jobs" at home, putting things away. This time Luca had the refrigerator and Logan had the pantry. I find having this Team Work Game, we have family time, the kids value teamwork and I GET HELP with the dirty work! hahah~! I ironed into the evening, my "sick" pleasure and the boys played Wii. They play Batman which was written for ages 1o and up. My children's ages together aren't even 10 right now!!! They clear level after level like NOTHING! Unbelieveable!! Come 8pm, we watch Funniest home Videos, Extreme Home Makeover and then beddy bye time for them and Criminal Minds for me!

Slammed Saturday!

Today I have just a few things going on...
This morning I need to clean my house for the cleaning lady. You know, pick everything up and put it in it's place so she can clean! Then I have to go buy snacks for Luca's baseball game we're missing today for my niece and nephews co-birthday party. Of all the days to be scheduled for snack, and of course I wait until last night to try to switch with someone! I guess there's still hope... who checks their email between Friday night at 11pm to Saturday morning before 8am!! Why am I up so stinkin' early??? Maybe it's because Luca came in my room before sun up having had an accident in his bed, so he came to sleep in MINE! Both the boys are so tough to sleep with! They constantly toss, turn and kick.
OR maybe it's because EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, by sweet, wonderful, loving husband tosses and turns pulling the comforter over to his side completely!!! I swear, I play tug-o-war with him every night! If it's warm in the house, no problem, but when it's cold, it's COLD and I can't sleep once the comforter off me, for the fact that the cold wakes me up!!!
Let's see, my Love Dare chapter today... (could it be to not play tug-o-war with my hubby???)Hahaha, just kiddin'! ;)
Okay, it is Love Let's the Other One Win!!! Are you kidding me??? I was totally joking!! That's too funny!! Not that it's totally talking about the blankets in your bed at night, but THAT was weird! My love dare today is to choose to give an area of disagreement to him and let him know I'm doing so, lovingly of course! ;) This may be a challenge today, only because I'm going to be gone the entire day at the birthday party. Then I come home by 4/430 to work a catering job for him/us. That will probably last until around 830 or 9! I may get off easy today, but, if you do the Love Dare properly, I will definitely have other opportunities!!! These dares become daily thoughts in your mind and when you're faced with the one's that deal with conflict, you pull out the suggestion of the book and the day continues on without turmoil!
So I'm off the computer and ON to my duties today!
Have a wonderful Saturday and I'll be back tomorrow night! :)

Finally Friday!

So I thought! Hahah! Woke up knowing all the things that had to be done from the night before, at work! I got the kids ready, as well as myself of course and said goodbye to my sleeping honey! We got to Luca's school a little early, which is NOT typical! When I get there early on Fridays, I like to be there for Flag Salute, which is their assembly every Friday morning. Luca loves for me to stay! Couldn't stay til the end because time was ticking until Spuntino would open and I had to make sure it was cleaned and the credit card machine settled and was ready to go!
I jetted Logan over to school and then back to Spuntino!
I got ahold of the credit card company customer service and they basically told me I needed a physical repair of the machine. By the time I got ahold of OUR rep, it was an hour later and he told me it would take him around 2 hours to get us a "loaner". Okay, that was one issue. The next was that the water was STILL NOT ON and wouldn't be for another 2-3 hours!!! My hands were tied. Fortunately, no one came in until around 12:30ish. So from 11 to 12 I watched the video that I had just received yesterday of my charity event, Stars of the Valley! I was anxious to see it in general, but I especially wanted to see me and the board of directors as the Spice Girls! It was BOMB!!! Gina was our red carpet interviewer as "Gina Seacrest", naming herself after her "dream husband", Ryan Seacrest! The whole video, by Video Adventures, was amazing!!
People started coming in and we managed. Alex showed up and helped a bit, then, as the Tazmanian Devil that he is, was gone in a flash! I was fine, all was good, until around 230, when my bladder infection pain pills started wearing off! Rolling at the speed of light! It came on full force by the time Marissa came in for her shift to relieve me! Thank goodness she didn't show up a second later! I took my pills then HAD to sit down without the slightest movement for a good hour. Good thing is that Jen showed up to see the DVD and Marija and family showed up dropping Luca off to me. We all sit, ate pizza, watched the video and had some laughs! By the time I was comfortable enough to move at all, it was time to go get Logan! I rushed out, but was still not feeling good, so I had to decided to take the night off and rest at home. Fortunately the boys wanted to play Wii, so I was able to plop myself on the couch, catch up on some email and start feeling better!
Today, Love Dare is.... oops! Sorry! I was confused! Yesterday was Love Is Unconditional and today was Love Cherishes!!! Okay, but the dare is similar, yesterday, for Unconditional, I was to do something out of the ordinary, to prove that my love was unconditional. I did that with going to get his friend, for reasons that I can't explain. For today, love cherishes, I was to meet a need today. Well, I believe that handling things at the pizzeria myself, without putting the stress on him, was my way of meeting his need. He NEEDED to not have that stress! :) Dare complete!

Oh gee! Thursday's Love Dare!

Almost forgot! Yesterday was Love Cherishes. My dare was to meet a need of my spouse today! I would say I accomplished that, wouldn't you? I went and picked up his friend for him! :) And it felt good to be able to do that for him. There's not a lot of things outside of my "normal duties" that I can do for him, so it was the perfect opportunity... no accident, i might say! ;) Dare 11... DONE! yay!

Thursday! Whoa Thursday!

Okay, I'm not quite where to start for yesterday! My little guy doesn't go to school on Thursdays, so I had him during the day. We met Gina at Target to get some "Superhero" stuff for my charity organizations beneficiary. I know, you haven't heard all about the details of that yet. I'm not going to get into it entirely yet, but you can go to www.charityforcharity.org to be filled in a little. The brief of it is that we are an organization which selects 2 individuals with special needs by fulfilling their wishes. This year we had a 33 year old single mother fighting cancer and a 4 year old little boy, fighting Langerhans disease, which is a form of cancer. He wanted to have a Superhero party with his friends and go to Disneyland with his family. We are able to make these wishes come true! His Superhero party was last night, so there were last minute deeds to be wrapped up yesterday. Fortunately, our desperate search for replacement Superhero characters was resolved with our restaurant employee, Becka and her CDF boyfried, Jerimiah!! So, like I said, Gina and I had to buy out Target, Walmart and Dollar Tree while Brenda bought out Toys R Us of all the Superhero stuff we could find. I'm talking EVERYTHING we could find!! That kid could not want for ONE MORE Superhero product!!! It's awesome!! Not to mention it was so fun going on a shopping spree!! After shopping, I went to help my "new PR girl" and friend Tammi in our office. That was the "smooth" part of the day, especially since my nanny showed up to take my adorable little baby boy!
From there, I met Becka and Jerimiah at CC&Co, the costume shop donating the costumes. They had to try on the perfect costume for them. Jerimiah was able to be HULK, Tallon's favorite character. And Becka was the PERFECT Wonder Woman!!! I got a call from Brenda, who was in charge of bringing all the Toys R Us stuff she bought and she was on her way to pick up her daughter who was throwing up at school! She wouldn't be able to come to the party and needed me to pick up the stuff from her work. So, from the costume shop, i headed to Old Town Temecula, to State Farm, where she works and we pulled up at the same time, but she was rushing into the bathroom with her daughter, who was suppose to sit in a back room while she finished working! Well, she didn't make it to the toilet and Brenda was stuck. I offered to take her kids home for her, so she could keep working. So I did, I transferred the Superhero stuff to my care and drove her kids home. At this point, I had to RUSH to the party as to not be late! Drove in right at 4, when the party was supposed to start. No one except Gina and Karen were there. There were 26 kids who RSVP'd... where were they all???? We unloaded everything in the party room and began to set up! Around 415 the gang arrived and Tallon, as shy as ever, was sweet to give me a little hug, showing that he remembered me from the Stars of the Valley event, where we awarded him his wish!
So the kids headed into the Pump It Up bounce room and I anxiously awaited the Hulk and Wonder Woman arrival! They waited to get dressed until after they got there and I had to paint Hulks whole face green! He was such a great sport! He looked AMAZING when he was done, and Becka couldn't have been more perfect or beautiful! We called all the kids into the party room
and showed Tallon all of his goodies. Poor kid... I don't think he could absorb it all! So, before feeding them pizza, donated by the Mill in Murrieta, we had Wonder Woman and Hulk come out and surprise everyone! They did such a great job and the kids were so excited to see them! Hulk sat with Tallon while he ate and Wonder Woman worked the room.
As they were finishing their pizza, I get a call from Spuntino saying that the center's water would be shut off at 6pm due to a water main leak! Thursday nights at the pizzeria can be like Friday nights! I already was short handed, since Gina and I had to be at the party. Marissa had been there since 11am and Breanna was coming from school at 5 or 6, the last thing I needed, or they needed was no water! Alex insisted we stay open and work it out without the water!
While the kids finished up their Batman cupcakes, took photos with the Superheros and all of the sudden the power shuts down! We were in the dark for about 1 minute and I get a phone call from Spuntino saying there's no power there! That's in another city on the far side of town! What kind of problem is this???? Shortly there after my nanny calls from my house telling me there's no power there! Terrorists? County wide blackout? What is this!?!??! Then Alex calls me from work saying he needs me to come there and be there incase any customers come, but he has to go pick up a friend in Fallbrook! Torn between all the crisis's I took a big breath and walked outside. The lady that worked at Pump It Up was on the phone with her son who said it was a Green Day plan for 8 minutes and literally as she announced it, the power came on! EVERYWHERE! Yay! Okay, crisis number 2, get to Gourmet Italia for Alex. Gina, Karen and Jen stayed to wrap up the party and i rushed to relieve Alex.
Well, I pull in and in the window I see customers! I walk in and the place was FULL! Alex was taking orders, so I looked at him and said, "Now what?!" He said, "I don't know", so I offered to go get the friend. Only thing was, I was supposed to head right to Spuntino after the wish party. Expecting me around 615, Breanna let Marissa go a little early! Welp! I was on the freeway headed to Fallbrook at that time! I picked up the friend and was headed back when Alex called saying Breanna was in panic, ready to walk!!! It was packed, the water was turned off, the credit card machine wouldn't work after the power outage and she couldn't do it another second alone!!! So I called her and told her I was coming to Rancho. She held back her tears and said okay. I walked, I mean ran into work and it was packed, FULL and there was a line of take out customers out the door! I jumped right in and rescued her from her distress! We stayed packed, working without running water and having to ask customers for check or cash only. About 6 customers didn't have a check or cash, so i accepted IOU's! It was a crazy night until around 930. During the chaos, Hulk and Wonder Woman showed up for some din din! They changed back to their civilian selves and I sat with them to enjoy a glass of wine when things settled down. We left there around 11pm and I was whooped! Breanna finished with a smile by the way! Fhew!
Since we left the place a mess and the water was being turned back on at midnight, the credit card machine couldn't settle, there was a lot to do Friday morning!

Doctor Results...

Okay, I was cracking up... I got into Dr. Uhler's office with my "list" and after I went through ALL my problems (Which were ligit by the way) and my 2 boys issues, I told him that I almost cancelled my appointment, but I'm so glad I didn't. He then proceeded to compare me to one of his "geriatric patients" who brings a list of things wrong everytime they come in! Hahaha! Fortunately I'm a LONG WAY from truly being "geriatric" but doncha feel like sometimes between forgetting things, loosing things, repeating yourself and seeing kids grow up so fast... we are closer then we think?????? Something to think about! ;) Good night!

Thank you Mommy...

Today, I wanted to start by sharing an email from my mommy... they say apples don't fall far from the tree... well, this apple (me) came from a respectable, grounded, loving and fruitful ROOTED TREE!!! :) Thank you Mom, for your love, committment, support and most of all for showing and teaching me about our Lord! No matter where I wander, I am blessed to know God's there for me when I get back! So he has proved over and over again!

Hi hon,I just read your blog. How very special to share your love...on your sleeve and with whomever:)What a wonderful gift you are giving not only your family but others who may need to hear an encouraging word. You have always had such a precious loving heart. What a gift you are to me. I was the lucky mommy when God gave me you. And Luca & Logan were the lucky boys to get you as their mommy. I love you my "Sweet Charity". I wanted to put this on your blog, but didn't know how:) So, I'm sending it to you the way I know:) You are such a blessing to me. Amazing that 35 years ago you were in my tummy. I may forget different things, but that is a memory I will always remember and cherish the rest of my life. Everyday from the time I delivered you was a precious day from God. You were such a beautiful baby and each day you made my day worth living. I thank Him everyday for you. You now get to experience how much you can love your child. More than you ever thought possible. Every time I hear that song "Your'e gonna miss this" it brings tears to my eyes, because your'e holding your baby in your arms, then your'e holding her hand and then they grow up so fast and you do want back those times. (Your'e gonna miss this, your'e gonna want it back, your'e gonna wish these days...hadn't gone by so fast) There is a season for everything and I will cherish the seasons I shared with you always...and will share. I look so forward to everytime we get to make more memories. Big Hug for the day! God Bless...as He has blessed me with you! Mommy

So! As for my Love Dare today... I like today because it's Love is... oh shoot! I can't remember what the chapter is called... but here's what I do know... MY DARE... This is funny, because it's one of the things that Alex quite recently mentioned in a "relationship argument... I mean "discussion"" ;) Anyhoo! The dare is to change the way you greet your spouse whether it be in the morning, in person, on the phone. Have a happy attitude and make sure you always do it! This was something I was paying more attention to anyways, but now I know how truly important it is and the book gave me a perspective that made so much sense! We put effort into strangers everyday whether at work or passing by because we know it's polite or makes them feel good. Imagine how that can change the tone or set the tone in your day to day with your spouse!! LOVE this dare and hope I only get better and better at it!

Off to pick up Luca then meet Gina for a Nori Tostada at OISHI SUSHI! YUMMY !!!! After, I'll go to our North location where the Office is, meet with Tammi one of my BFF's since 2nd grade who is now our PR gal, cut some checks.... yuck! Then pick up Logan, then off to Dr. Uhler to see what's up with my bug bit on my foot, my horribly dry cough, get medicene for my bladder infection... hmmm, anything else?? GEESH, I'm a mess! haha! Wish me luck and talk to you tomorrow! xoxo

Work Work Work!!

Well, what mother doesn't work work work? but seriously... on top of that, I have to work in the office, work at the pizzeria and make sure my oldest is picked up from school on time AND entertain my youngest WHILE at the office!! I know, poor me! :? The bummer is, I usually get to work with one of my BFF's, Gina on Tuesday nights, but she took the night off! :( Boo hoo! At least I still have AMERICAN IDOL!! Yes, we watch it EVERY Tuesday night at work and it's fun, everyone discusses the singers and their favorites... oh! and we talk about the judges as well as Gina's husband (in her dreams, literally) Ryan Seacrest! Haha! HE IS NOT GAY! That's what she has to hear ALL the time, but we believe differently! In fact, he has a new fling (he's cheating on Gina's dreams)... good thing is, Gina approves (only because she has dark hair like she does!). It's fun, for all of us on Tuesday nights! Our pizzeria is kinna like a Temecula/Italia "Cheers", so it's been stated. So, I do have the evening to look forward to...
As for my Love Dare today.... well, today is Love Is Not Jealous. Here's the funny thing... I am not jealous, not a jealous person pretty much at all. But my husband thinks that because I am not jealous, that I don't care. Isn't that sad? He should be thinking that he, for me, is trustworthy, doncha think? Anyways, the book and, more importantly, the Bible says that jealousy (envy)is the root of all evil and I SOOOOO believe it! That's why I don't want any part of it.
So! My Dare is easy today... well, kinna. I am supposed to cheer Alex on for something. Be happy for him and praise him. I am not with him AT ALL today, so it will be difficult to know what he's doing that I can cheer him for. I do know he was cooking during the day and he'll be serving tonight. Both things that he is incredible at! Maybe I'll give him kudos for having the ability to wear so many hats! That takes talent!
Well, it's Filippo, my pizza man's birthday today, so I'm off to organize a special surprise to let him know how much we appreciate him!
Buona Sera Tutti! (Good Evening Everyone!) xoxo

OWWWEEEE!!

This morning at around 4am I woke up with a killer bladder infection!! I took a bath to relax, which helped, but I was miserable! My medicene was in the car, parked WAY out by the shed from the party the night before, so I couldn't get myself to go get it! I suffered myself to sleep again around 6am!! When I woke up again, it was 9am and the house was still sleeping!! I woke up Alex and he freaked, jumped up and got the kids up... they all ate breakfast while i lay still in bed waiting for the right moment to ask Alex to go out to the car for my pills. He was a hero this morning as he took care of the kids and me too!!! Without complaint!! LOVE DARE is WORKING!!! :) He jetted out the door by 10am and i rested until the pills kicked in. Silly thing is that i didn't think about the fact that I was taking them on an empty stomach!!!! I then became nausiated!!! GEESH!!! So I rested another 30 minutes before I pulled myself out of bed and got ready and left! Fortunately for the way I was feeling, we weren't busy at work and Alex was there to help me. Although it was a close call, for when I walked in I saw a bandage on his forehead above his eyebrow! He was changing a lightbulb and it fell on his HEAD!!! Cut him pretty bad! What a 2some we were today! haha!
At 4pm my bsketball team for a charity game i am playing showed up to learn a routine that I thought up and choreographed!! haha! Yes, i thought, if we're playing against the Harlem Ambassadors, we should do somekind of show too!! Get Your Head In the Game came to mind and the next thing you know, i'm making a routine and have half the team show up to learn it!! What great sports!!! It was hysterical!! 2 guys over 50 but not over 5'5", a few hot chicks and Rusty... But the committment and dedication is so touching!!! They all participated and gave 200%... it's going to be such a great touch to the "show". We play next Tuesday night, so we're going to practice next Monday as well, hoping to look good but not expecting to look professional!! Now, I'm heading home to have dinner with my family, our Monday nights are our family nights... very special and relaxing... my Love Dare for today is "Love Believes the Best". Today I have to write a page of positive things about Alex and a list of negative things. I need to put them away until sometime tomorrow, then tell Alex something positive that I feel about him... This get's easier every day to come from my heart without effort! GOD IS GOOD!! :)

OOPS!

I totally forgot to tell you my LOVE DARE for Sunday! It was Love is Not Irritable. I had to refrain from getting irritated or reacting negetive to Alex all day. We were together a lot of the day, but with 2 opportunities, I DID IT!!! Happy to say it worked really well, since I didn't react, he didn't!! GOOD STUFF!!!

Sunday!

This morning I woke up feeling anew! Thank goodness! That sinus migrane was the pits! It did result in a little congestion, but nothing big!
For some reason, my oldest woke up on the wrong side of the bed today! He was supposed to go to his buddy's birthday party at Muligans but he wouldn't get up! After the umpteen time hollaring that he needs to get up and get ready... i realized that he just needed a little TLC. So i helped him up and atum and rushed his little booty out! My little guy wanted to stay home with his Daddy. So I took Luca to Muligans and headed off to church by myself. Great service... about... oh shoot... what was it about again? Between studying my Love Dare and going to church my messages are all jumbled!! haha!! Well, if memory serves me correctly... it was about making plans for your life and following God's direction. Good stuff! After church I went to Baron's then headed home to make my KILLER burgers! I get potato buns, ground beef seasoned with whatever i feel like, top it with guacamole, tomatoes, arugola, goat cheese and carmalized onions!! It's the BOMB!! After we ate I had to get ready for the guests I was having over for a Jacob's House meeting. Jacobs House will be like a Ronald McDonald house but not just for parents of children. Jacob was the son of our city manager, Shawn Nelson, who was killed in a car accident in 2006. Shawn, his wife Stephanie and many other supporters are developing this organization to fund this house for Temecula Valley. Such a touching story, there were tears in every eye. With good news, everyone invited became a "key partner" by donating $25 a month through automatic debit! It was a beautiful evening, mostly outside, with good food, great people for a wonderful cause! We relaxed into the evening (I wathced the DVR recording of Prison Break from Friday night... oooooo... GOOD!) and konked out around midnight!

Catch up...

I am a first time blogger who is a bit clueless as to the world of "blogging"... so here goes nothing!

You'll learn that I LOVE explaination points and elips...!!!! :) OH! And smiliy faces!! ;)

Someday I will fill you in on my entire life's history... but today, i'm going to start by catching you up to my past week!

You should know who I am and who "we" are:

I am Charity, 35 (until May 2nd!) born and raised in America. My husband, on the other hand, (Alex) was born and raised in Sicily, Italy. I will get to the point of this! :) We have 3 children. Our oldest is Alex's daughter and she's 21, then we have 2 boys together 6 and 3 1/2. We live in Temecula, California. We own 2 Italian restaurants and a Pizzeria. I have a charity that I started a couple of years ago with a group of my closest girlfriends. With this few sentence paragraph you begin to understand me and the life that I must lead!

Without getting in to my past at this point, let me just say that an American woman, married to a Sicilian man takes the whole "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. Culture, roles of the husband and wife and the languge/communication are all challenges we deal with on top of an "ABOVE AVERAGE" busy life and now, this struggling economy.

All this to say, that we needed a little assistance in managing our relationship. Simply "existing" just isn't enough for 2 hard headed, passionate people who desire love and "happily ever after".

So! A week ago, my father told me about this incredible movie he watched that had a book to go with it. The name of the movie was "Fireproof". It was about a firefighter and his fight for his marriage. The book was the follow up to the movie, but was actually the basis of the entire movie. Monday night, Alex, myself and the boys took the only night we had together to sit and watch this gift from my daddy.

Throughout the entire movie, we were touched by the abundance of wonderful messages of relationships and committment. My 6 year old even had tears in his eyes as he was touched by the outcome of the movie. The very next day, I started the 40 day committment of "The Love Dare".

Tuesday, the first day, was "Love is Patient" and it dared me to refrain from ALL negative comments for the entire day. WOW! Do you realize how many times I had to catch myself??? I didn't even realize I could be so "negative", my friends would tell you otherwise... "how can you always be so positive and happy, Charity" is what I hear from them... but my husband would express different... that is what the first day showed me! That with him, it was so easy for me to be negative! :( Alex didn't notice that I refrained, but it made an impact on me at the end of day 1.

Day 2 is "Love is Kind" and you are dared to do something nice for your spouse. Well, in the movie, the wife responded disgusted and blew her husband off. Funny, same thing happened to ME!!!! Good thing is that I prepared myself to deal with the response, how ever bad it may be. Doesn't mean it didn't hurt, but at least it didn't "kill me" as it would have if I hadn't been coached by this book!

Day 3, "Love is not selfish"... WELL... how this book sets you straight! I am always after Alex about how selfish he is... well, this book puts the mirror right in front of you and humbles you. The dare is to buy something for your spouse to show them you are thinking of them. Well, that was a challenge for me since my husband buys himself everything he wants and he doesn't have many hobby's or interests to buy for, nor would he appreciate flowers as I would. I ended up getting him a work out outfit, since he is starting to work out again and a cover for his iPhone that I know he would like. I had my nanny drop it off to him at work. We bothed worked that night, so I stopped by on my way home to where he was working and asked him if we wanted to go for a cocktail with me. He was too tired, but did acknowledge at that moment that he realized what I was doing. With a smile and open heart, he let me know he was receiving it well. How could he not? I had committed to 40 days of proving my love to him!!!

Yesterday was day 4. This is the day of "Love is Thoughtful" and dares you to call your spouse and let them know that you're thinking of them and ask them if they need anything. Well, we were together most of the day, so calling out of the blue, wasn't appropriate, but I was able to do something for him and it blessed him!

Today... well, today brings me to a more accurate example of what my daily blog will be like. More of a "Play by Play" of my day...

I woke up this morning with a KILLER migrane. How do you do your "dare" when you feel like CRAP!?!?!? I'll tell you, as you committ to each day, your spouse will respond to you differently.... how ever that may be, it will be different from the way it was. Today proved this for me! My dare today was to ask Alex to tell me 3 things I do that bother him. The subject is "Love is not Rude".

Well, after waking up at 8am, I fell back to sleep and when Alex woke up, I was asleep on the couch. Before, this is something that would bother him. When he wakes up, he likes me to be ready for him. Undistracted and beginning to fill his needs of breakfast and attention. Well, I guess after he saw me sleeping, he went about his morning, going outside to instruct Manuel on his chores for the day and cleaning up the property, feeding the animals, etc. When I woke up, he was outside and I thought, "Oh no, he's not going to be happy", but rather then getting stressed about how he would feel, I took the "Love Dare" attitude and happily prepared breakfast, knowing he would like that. When I went out to tell him good morning and that breakfast was ready, his attitude was great and he came in pleasantly and we all sat together and had a lovely breakfast! My migrane continued to linger so I sent the boys outside with their daddy and layed down on my bed with a pillow over my head and fell asleep. I guess all the boys came back in and looked for me... Alex walked in our room and didn't even see me in bed. They hollared for almost an hour as I slept. Never getting irritated (Major shocker!), when I awoke for the second time, he simply asked where I had been. This may not mean much to those of you who do not understand a Sicilian mans "way", but believe me when i say, it's HUGE!!!

I then went down the hill and bought some In and Out and came back up to eat with my boys again in the same day... that NEVER happens, and Alex had set up a table out on the patio. The day was amazing, I was feeling a tad bit better, but the setting was enough to let me forget the pain for the 30 minutes we sat there enjoying eachothers company. It was then that I realized that our son's game time approached much more quickly then I was ready for! I jumped in the shower, threw the boys clothes on and raced down to the baseball field. Alex headed to work. I attempted to be the "Assistant Coach" that I am, but the sun and the yelling brought my migrane back almost full force. My girlfriend, whose son is on the team and husband is the head coach, offered to have me and the boys over and cook for me, so I could relax and the boys would be entertained. Since I feel very comfortable with them, I took her up on the offer. Over dinner tonight, is where I was introduced to this "Blogging" deal. After some great ibuprofen, some great homemade food and a few glasses of water, my feeling of nausia subsided and my ability to function came around about 9 o'clock. Knowing my life and all that it entails, Marija talked me into blogging my daily happenings. I felt that I could start by taking you through "The Love Dare", but believe me, that only touches on a tiny percentage of the action that happens in my life everyday! Before I wrap up today, I haven't been able to attempt my dare because my morning was a struggle and we had to leave eachother so quickly that the opportunity passed us by. My plan is to ask him when he gets home tonight, if I can stay awake until then! After all, it is a Saturday night and the restaurant is open until midnight!!! Wish me luck and GOOD NIGHT!!