Forgive me Father, for I have sinned!

I know! I am horrible! Wretched!

I completely forgot to snap picture of the Mafiosos when I went home yesterday. I was too excited about seeing my men that I blanked out on bringing my camera. Duh!

Anyway, my excitement didn't last too long. Apparently, I'm not the only one my husband has dates with. I was promptly kicked out of the house at 7:25 PM so that he could be on time for his online 7:30 PM gaming meeting.

Pathetic! I have lost my husband to the X-Box 360!

Frannie has had enough of me, Ryan wants to marry his X-Box....sigh.

Well, since I don't get what I want, neither do you! :p

Here's more Frannie!

Frannie likes peek at me.
When I can't find her, I just look around and there she is...
peeking at me!

Hey, I don't mind!
Her eyes are gorgeous!



Evertime on our walks, I get asked what breed Frannie is.
I have no idea.


Sometimes I see Pit, somtimes I see Dalmation...
sometimes Pointer.

I love her paws, also.
They have freckles on them and they smell like Fritos!
Nom nom!

Behind These Blue Eyes

Are you tired of Frannie pictures yet?


I'll be returning home on Wednesday, so this will be the last series on Frannie for a while. Sorry to all of the fans of The Mafisos who have been shafted from their fixings of Mafiso shots.

Actually, I'll be returning home tonight for dinner, so I'll snap some pics of the crew then in order to satisfy the demands of the Mafioso fans. I am getting extremely homesick now. And, I hope you're sitting down!, I miss the daily mundane musings of living in a house with another person! I desperately want to do a load of laundry or mop some floors.

I do also miss having snuggle bug dogs. Frannie likes her space and gets uncomfortable if I try to snuggle with her. I need my furry dog heaters back! Nothing like a Pug on each foot to warm up your toes in no time!

You stay on your side of the condo
and I'll stay on my side?
mkay?

One thing I will miss about living here is Seana's lap top and wireless connection. Oh man, talk about spoiled! I'm sure Ryan will so not be happy if I decide to copy the same set up. I can just imagine him fainting at the thought me having internet access anywhere in the house! He's already pitched a fit about my IM'ing and emailing on my phone, so I can only imagine how he'll feel about being 100% wireless!

Ha ha! Maybe I'll bring it up to just to see the reaction on his face...I know, I'm evil!

Alright, I better get ready to go see my men!

Saturday Frannie

I have discovered a few things about Frannie.

She has a ferocious bark! It's low, it's deep and it's LOUD! I keep looking for her stash of cigarettes...I've never heard a girl dog with a bark this deep!

"Who, me?"

A maintenance man knocked on the door let to me know that water service would be shut off due to a broken main line. Poor maintenance man...he stood about ten feet away from the door after he knocked. I don't blame him after hearing Frannie's deep bark!

The second thing is that she's scared of the kitchen vent. Whenever I turn it on, she trembles and goes into hiding. I've been working with her on helping her get over this fear, but it's a slow progress.

Anyway, I think she's just had about enough of me...



Yup, I'd say she's reached
her Mary Limit.


She really would like Seana to come back soon...


"Wait, what?
You have cookies?!
Ok, maybe you can stay for a few more days."

And since the New Year is right around the corner, I'd thought I'd show you all the new things I've been eating.

I have been eating a lot of this...

and a lot of this...

My stomach problems are back. Someone please call the whambulance!

I think I've trigged it to being stress induced. Whenever I stress out about something, my problems return with a vengeance. An effort to keep things, um, solid (so to speak!), I've been eating a lot of new produce. I signed up for a box of local produce from a farmer at UC Davis and I'm amazed at the variety of items included in the box. Ryan's not so on the ball about eating all this "new" stuff, but I've been treating it like an adventure.


My problems also seem to return quicker when I stop running. I am going to return to jogging on my lunch breaks and then eating later in the afternoon. I've started a Couch to 5K in 7 Weeks program, so make sure to check on me that I'm still focused! Join me if you like! You don't have to start off running. You can begin the Walk To Run program, which is where I started.

And on that note, I am off! I'm going to see Sarah today for a haircut and color. When I return, I shall look a little bit more presentable. :)

Talk to you next year!

Best Day EVAH!

I hereby declare this the best day ever! I spent the morning with my men. I met Ryan at our favorite spot and we took a nice long hike. It was during this hike that I fully realized how much I miss Ryan and my Mafiosos.

Because of my absence, I can only assume, Bruno was full of spunk today!I hadn't seem him for two days and he was very excited to see me. I've never had so many giggles erupt watching him!

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

Double wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

And then he does the thing where he taunts the Pugs. I wish I knew what it is that he whispers to them that gets them so riled up!

"ALL PUGS SMELL LIKE BUTT!"
shouts Bruno.

"Hey, did you hear me?!
I SAID ALL PUGS SMELL LIKE WET ASS!"

"Oh no he didn't!" exclaims Gino. "Let's get him!"

"That's right, you big ol' meathead! You better run your big ol' ass!"

"Say it to my face!" shouts Gino.

"Say it to my smooshed-up prune face!"



"Hehehe. I win everytime!" says Bruno.



"Ma, that's not true right? We don't smell like wet ass, right?"

And just so you all know... The Fun Police doesn't rest because it's a holiday!



And they are not afraid to use excessive force to bring those having fun down!

Seeing the Gino was getting violent, I tried distracting him. I sat Gino down and asked him a very serious question.

"Gino, what would you like for Christmas?"

"My two front teeth!" he replied.




"Ha ha! Just kidding!
I already have a full set!"



Vinnie wants to know if we can go home now.
It's so cold that he's afraid his tongue might freeze off!


"Not yet!" says Bruno.
"I see something ahead that needs conquering!"


THE RIVER!

"Surely Bruno won't want to go into a river
filled with water from the ice caps, right?" asks Vinnie.




"Right?!"



Right!



And of course, a trip to the river isn't complete if Bruno
doesn't walk the rest of the way home with a rock in his mouth.
Weirdo.

When we returned home, Bruno had a very important question to ask me. I was shocked when I learned his questions wasn't "When are you coming back home?" It was instead...

"Did you bring us any presents?"




But of course my son!


Bruno gets to pick first. After all, he's the oldest!


"Hmmm...so many choices! I pick this one!"



"Hey, Ma! I have another question for you..."


"We can have more than one toy, right?"

Ok phew! Because I eated this one!



Oh yeah. Blue says Merry Christmas.



Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to quietly back away
from her face before she rearranges mine.




And then I turn around and see these two Guidos....with fuzz on their chins.
Honestly, I couldn't pose them like this if I tried!
They somehow manage this hilariousness on their own!




"Pugs are stoopid," declares Bruno.


And this is how Christmas of 2007 ends...
three very tired dogs wishing you Happy Holidays!

The Fun Police and I wish you a very Happy New Year!

Mom always knows best...

Today I drove down to see my Mom. The traffic wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, there was none on the way down there and only a little bit (due to a stalled car in the fast lane) on the way back.

I learned some new things about my Mom today. For example, on Monday mornings she goes to a homeless shelter and helps in the kitchen to prepare dinners that will be served to the homeless in her community. She's also attending the local community college. She's so far taken computer classes and just enrolled in the third level of her English classes. She also set up an email account and showed me all her favorite internet sites. She even logged on to the community college's website and showed me her grades!

Learning all this about her made me realize just how little credit I give my Mom. As far back as I can remember, I have always translated things for her and helped her attain anything she needed due to the language barrier. She has the equivalent of a 3rd grade education and never completed anything beyond that. Now here she is showing me just how much she's accomplished on her own. I'm really proud of her.

In the meantime, my nephew and niece are keeping her pretty darn busy, so for the moment, the focus of when her next grandchild will be born has been temporarily suspended! Phew! ;)


Unfortunately, I couldn't stay very long. My roommate Frannie missed me terribly and I wanted to assure her that I was indeed coming back.

Seriously, where the hell have you been?

This is the part where I grab a rolled up newspaper and beat myself. I left a pen, a comb, a toothbrush and a small bottle of lotion out. Yup, Frannie tried to eat them. I completely forgot Seana's warnings that Frannie will chew on those things if left out due to her separation anxiety.

"That'll teach ya, you big dummy!"

When the hell is my real Mom coming back?
You being my pseudo-Mom is getting pretty damn old.

I try not to acknowledge her when she does this, but it's really damn hard. Especially when she looks so sad sitting there. She's taken lately to laying by the front door. I assume she's anticipating Seana's return.

"Can you least give me another cookie?
Cookies always make things better!"




I also noticed that Seana is quite the wine connoisseur...


I know Seana told me I could help myself if I wanted a bottle, but
I just can't seem to muster up the courage to open one up.


"GASP! You better not open my Mom's
reserve 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon!
I'll maul you in your sleep if you do!"



"I'll be watching you!"