A special day

On Sunday I had the awesome opportunity to meet another blog friend - Mrinalini. She's a beautiful young woman who found my blog quite awhile ago while she was living in India. Now she's going to school in Los Angeles and just completing an internship in the San Francisco area. (I do miss seeing all those visits from India on my counter...) So we finally had a chance to meet!

It felt like being with an old friend who I hadn't seen for a couple of years. We know a lot about each other from our blogs and Facebook. We cruised around Palo Alto and Stanford, and we pretty much talked non-stop for four hours. Well, except when we were eating. Went to an Indian restaurant. She said for me to just find a table and she'd order for us. The food was very, very good and I even learned how to pronounce some of the items!

She's heading back to LA soon, but plans to visit this area again in the future. When she does, I'm hoping she can find time to come to our house for dinner so she can meet Ed and Jenni and her kids. She knows them all via my blog and Jenni's blog!

The internet is truly a wonderful thing. Brings so many wonderful people into our lives that we would never have met before.

See you soon (I hope!), Mrinalini!

One BIG highlight from the NYC Trip

We just returned last night from a 5-day trip to New York City to see it "done up" for the holidays. It was a totally great trip and I'll write more about it later, but I wanted to mention one special highlight. I got a chance to meet my blog pal, Maria, and her hubby for lunch! When she found out I was heading to NYC (via Facebook) she told me that she was only a couple of hours away and that the two of them had been wanting to visit New York - so what better time.



And it was such fun. There's always a little nervousness meeting someone in person that you've only known through the ethernet. But after a few minutes we were all comfortable and yakking away. Of course, Maria and I recognized each other right away and gave each other a big hug, squealing a bit as we did so. Like a couple of teenagers. The husbands just looked on not quite knowing what to do. Poor dears.

Lunch was really good Thai food, and lots of laughing and talking. We talked about our daughters, our blog friends, Maria's novel. The men talked about guy things like their military careers. In her blog, Maria noted that I was "tiny". I think she meant short - tiny I'm not!! Of course, to me she was the one who was the normal height.

At the end of the lunch date there were hugs all around and talk about them visiting us in California. That would be totally cool! It's too bad that we live so far apart that it may be quite awhile before the chance to meet again comes up. But we still have our blogs, Facebook, and e-mail.

And my thanks go to....

My friend, Maria, over at With My Whole Heart presented me this blogland Arte y Pico award so now I want to pass it on and ask you to do the same. And thank you, Maria, for your kind words about me and my blog.

Here are the rules.

1. Pick five blogs you consider deserving of this award, whether for creativity, design, interesting material, or contributions to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Name each nominee and link to his/her blog.
3. Show the award and include the name (and link to his/her blog) of whoever presented you with this award.
4. Link to the Arte y Pico blog so everyone knows the origin of this award.
5. Post these rules.If you already have this award, you only have to accept this additional recognition.

And thanks to the following bloggers who have opened up my world, made me laugh, made me think, and provided me with many hours of entertainment. These aren't in any particular order - well, except for the first one. She always rises to the top of my life

Four Feet More: This is my daughter, Jenni's, blog. She started it when she brought her two beautiful children home from Russia in December 2005. It always brings a smile to me face. Jenni has an amazing sense of humor, is a terrific writer, and has become quite a professional photographer in the past couple of years. Plus, I get to see great photos of my grandkids! Jenni is the one who talked me into starting a blog 18 months ago. To tell stories about our family and to preserve their memories.

With My Whole Heart: Maria, who presented me with this award, writes such thought-provoking blogs. She makes me think, makes me look inside and try to determine how I REALLY feel about things. And she's a warm, loving person.

According to Nikki: Nikki is a very consertive Republican and our views are quite different about many things (!!), but she's a total kick and an intelligent blogger. Her blog is filled with such conviction, such passion. And she loves Tucson. That's a big plus!

Chatti Patti Strikes Again: Patti is another feisty one. She's going through some difficult times right now, but will rise to the top. She has humor, spunk, and a joy for life.

Desert Diva: Diva takes us on her travels - both in her RV and in her heart. She is also an incredible photographer

Fleur de Lisa: Lisa is a single mom who is also an awesome photographer and takes us with her through raising her son, finding relationships, traveling, and just thinking. Always a good thing.

Ira: This blog is written by a lovely young woman who is starting on a very exciting journey in the next couple of months - coming to the US to go to school in the Los Angeles area. Although she doesn't blog often, she and I have become friends via the Internet and I wish her great joy in this next phase of her life.

Thanks to all of you!

Why I blog

I've seen a couple of people write on this topic so thought I'd give it a try. Those of you who have read my blog before know that my father passed away last Saturday after a steady decline in a nursing home in Chicago. He's been in that home for a couple of years and Ed and I would travel to Chicago at least four times a year to see him. We would always try to take him to restaurants he liked (he loved going to Shaws for the 1/2 price oyster happy hour), drive downtown to see the holiday lights, take him to the John Hancock building for lunch (his favorite place in Chicago), anything we could do to bring some joy to him.


During one of those trips a year or so ago, I bought a little book called "To Our Children's Children". The idea is that older people (like me!) go through the book answering a series of questions and write those answers down to leave your story to your children. Since I knew my dad wouldn't be able to do that, I highlighted the questions I wanted to ask and spent several hours with him and my laptop finding out the story of his life. I wish I had done it sooner because, at the age of 84, there were so many things he had forgotten. But we had a good time. He got to re-live some good memories, I heard some things I hadn't known, and there were a couple of times that his stories made him laugh so hard I couldn't even understand what he was trying to say. The last couple of years he didn't have much to laugh about, so it was wonderful to hear that sound.


Earlier this year I was talking to Jenni about the book and Dad, and I said that I wish I had the time and energy to write it all down. Along with other stories about my mom, and the rest of our family. Coming from a fairly large Italian family, there was always a lot of laughter, a lot of characters, and a lot of stories. And telling them always brings me joy and makes me feel closer to all of them again. Even the ones who are gone. That's when Jenni suggested I start a blog. Of course, being me, I thought that was a dumb idea - I mean isn't that something only teenagers do and who the heck would ever read what I wrote. But Jenni said she'd read it and there are services that can print out all your blog pages and turn them into a book.


That sold me. So I started this last February. It's been fun, cathartic, and given me the opportunity to write down so many things that I don't want to be lost after I'm gone. I love my family, I've always felt strongest and the most loved when the family is together. And I want to honor all of them - past and present - by preserving their memories.

This past week, I've come to see another side of being in blogland. The new friends you make. I've received such wonderful supportive comments and e-mails from people I only know through the Internet - Cheryl, Chris, Ira, Lisa, Melissa - and some bloggers I know in person - Catheroo, Scoobers, Jenni. Losing a parent is a lonely thing. Even though I had become the "parent" in this case, he was still my dad. His passing left a hole in my life. But the caring words of all of you have helped fill that hole. And for that I'm grateful.

So I'll go on writing stories about my family and someday my kids and my grandkids will hopefully feel the same joy about all of them that I do.

Thank you for reading, commenting, and caring.

Time to brighten things up

Thought it was time to change the look of my blog. So, with the help of my daughter (actually, she did 80% of it!), we finally got it done. The photo is the basil plant in my backyard with a few thyme flowers and a sage leaf or two peeking through.

This photo is Jenni after she questioned the zoom abiity of my camera. Turned out to be a great shot.

Thanks, Jenni, for helping me with the blog, teaching me some HTML, and putting up with all my phone calls today!