100th Post...Inquiring Minds Want To Know

A couple of weeks ago, I had asked if you all had any ideas for a 100th post topic....

The consensus was to do a Question and Answer....it seemed like a lot of fun and I got some interesting questions!

Just to add an element of fun to this....I went digging through the archives of non-digital photos to see what I could scan in to go along with some of the topics discussed....the quality of the photos is not the best, but better than nothing!

So here goes:

1. How did Pat and I meet? Pat and I were set up by a mutual friend. I actually worked with Pat's twin brother for 6 years. One of our former bosses married my best friend, Shelly. She threw a 40th surprise party for her husband and invited all of the people we worked with....Pat was also invited to this party!

Shelly had been watching me struggle in the world of dating since my divorce and thought that Pat and I might hit it off! Turns out, we were the only two single people at the party and we talked for most of the evening. We had our first official date the very next weekend! He lived an hour away so he drove up to where I was living....we had a great time and he brought me home at about 1am and then drove all the way back to Philadelphia....a true gentleman!

We tentatively set up a date for the next weekend and I was so excited, but on Wednesday of that week I got a call from my Aunt and Uncle that said they were surprising us with a visit from Rhode Island...they wanted to do a family dinner the same night that I had made the date. I didn't know what to do...cancel and have him think I was blowing him off, or invite him to a crazy Italian family dinner for our second date??? So I explained the situation and told him he could make the call, reschedule or meet the entire family on date number two!

Without hesitation, he said, "Of course I will meet your family, they sound like fun" besides, Pat is one of 6 children in an Irish family...he was use to the craziness!

There was no looking back from there, he fit in perfectly, everyone loved him, he heard just about every embarrassing detail of my life that evening, compliments of my sister and cousins.....and even after all of that, he still wanted to be with me!

It took about a month and then I introduced him to Nick, I knew not only would he make an incredible husband, but a wonderful father.....he was so good with Nick! It was at that moment, I knew he was the man I was going to marry.....he understood me, and he understood my child....what more could a girl want!

We were married within 2 years and as they say, the rest is history!

Our engagement picture!

2. What kind of job do I have that allows me to have such a flexible schedule? I have what I refer to as my "Dream Job".....I head up National Sales and Marketing for a uniform rental company. I call on large F@rtune 500 Companies that require uniforms....it can be anything from a lab jacket to an Arm@ni suit and everything in between. I work out of my home(that is what makes this a dream job to me) and travel occasionally, but have a lot of flexibility in my hours! I do go out on client site and find the work very interesting...I help create updated looks for people in the workforce while keeping their safety in mind. The clients I deal with are diverse so it keeps things interesting....I am always in front of different people....each day is unique.

I have been with this company for 6 years, the owner and I share a mutual respect for one another....he runs a wonderful organization but still understands the importance of family and all of the responsibilities that go with it!

3. How do I keep up with my job, the kids, my husband, and my home? This is a constant juggling act, but I have learned to multi-task. The fact that I work out of my home is also a tremendous help....I can squeeze little things into my day, that I could never do if I had to report to an office on a daily basis.

4. What is my daily household schedule, start to finish? This is tough because I don't really have one....every day is different in our house, some days I am working from home, some days I am on the road and the schedule will vary greatly. I can tell you this: I typically wake up between 6 and 6:30am, grab my first cup of coffee and instead of the paper, I go to the land of Blog....after that it is time to start the day, get the kids ready, get myself ready, and get everyone to their destination...put in a day of work at home or on the road.......pick everyone up, homework, dinner, play with the kids, a load or two of laundry, baths, bedtime, etc.

5. How many hours of sleep do I get on average? I average 6-7 hours of sleep per night

6. When we built our home, did we have a interior designer? Pat and I picked out everything ourselves.......I lived with our house plan and every sample imaginable in my car for the 6 months our home was under construction.......we were very excited and organized throughout the building process. We met with many of the contractors to see all of our options before coming up with our choices....and thankfully, Pat and I were in agreement for almost every decision...which is not typically the norm when building! We had more fun shopping during those 6 months.....every weekend we were shopping for something different!

7. How many children will we have when our family is complete? We are thinking that this adoption from China will be the last child to join our family, but one never really knows where life might lead us!

8. Please share with us, the story of Sarah? For the story of Sarah, please see my sidebar under "Important Posts"

9. Talk about your life as a ballerina and where do you keep your toe shoes right now? Most of my childhood was spent dreaming about becoming a dancer....I sacrificed a lot of things that normal kids do so that I could train everyday. I front loaded all of my credits in High School so that I could leave school at 11am and go take classes daily.

My Senior year I went into NYC each weekend so I could audition for ballet companies across the US. What an experience.....150-200 dancers in a room with a number pinned onto your leotard....before they even started the music, they would walk through the room and dismiss people based of their body type, height, hair color, etc......then after each exercise they would dismiss people until at the end they were down to about 5 people! It was extremely competitive......I was one of 5 people on only two occasions.

I got lucky....I did make it but after only two years........my career came crashing down when I snapped a tendon in my foot.....unfortunately a result of overuse and under nourishment. It is safe to say that your body cannot withstand that kind of demand on a very low calorie diet....my body was starting to break down. The plan was to rehabilitate my foot and get back into the swing of things.....I came back home to my parents while I was recuperating and when I was better, I made the decision that my health was more important than my career. That was all she wrote for ballet.....I still cannot go to see The Nutcracker at Christmas.....I cry through the entire thing....it was such a passion for so long....it was difficult to walk away, but it was the right decision. Oh, and the toe shoes are in a closet with all of my old leg warmers, skirts, and leotards....one day I hope to bring them out to show Sarah!

Most of what I have from my dancing days are VHS tapes, but this was the only photo I could find....I believe this was a snapshot that was needed to accompany a resume....they often had you take snapshots of yourself in different positions. Obviously my foot is cut out of the picture...which is why I still had it...not good enough to turn in!

10. Where do I shop for clothes? I like to shop at a lot of different stores and love it when I find things that are unique or one of a kinds. If I had to list a couple places that I frequent: M@cy's INC Intern@tional Concepts Department, The Lim!ted, Ann T@ylor, White H@use Bl@ck Market

11. How do I stay fit? I did have a long time love affair with the elliptical machine in the local gym, but when Sarah came along, I gave that up because there were not enough hours in the day. Funny thing, I am thinner now than I was before she came along...I guess chasing a toddler burns more calories than the elliptical:)

12. What was my favorite family event of gathering? My favorite family event was our wedding! Not only was it a very memorable day, it was New Year's Eve! It was very special to us that we were able to have Nick be a part of our wedding ceremony. We had a 3 o'clock wedding and the reception started at 6pm and went right through until 1:30am......at midnight they passed out hats and horns and we had a live feed into Dick Cl@rk's R@cking New Year's Eve!

It is not often that we get to spend a holiday with both sides of the family in its entirety....and all of our friends too!!


Nick had a loose tooth during the ceremony, he eventually lost it at our reception....everyone was giving him money from the "tooth fairy" By the end of the night, he had over $100.....that was one lucky tooth!


Getting down on the dance floor....some things never change...if there is music, I must dance!


The stroke of midnight.....what a fun way to ring in the New Year!


13. What values do I want to see passed down to my children and grand children? For me, it is the importance of family....I want my children and grand children to have the same traditions and family gatherings that I had growing up....big family dinners on Sundays, learning to cook the family recipes so they can carry on the legacy of my grandparents. I also want to teach them the importance of respect for themselves and for other people and the importance of their faith.

14. Favorite room in our house: My favorite room is definitely the kitchen.......it is the heart of our home!

15. Favorite photo of the kids: Look at my last post...."It's All In The Eyes"....that is now my favorite pictures of the two kids!

16. Favorite animal at the zoo: I always love to visit the Polar Bear tank....they are so cute!

17. Favorite Recipe: My Italian Grandmother's Marinara Sauce....I will post the recipe next week....it is great and very versatile....it has also been passed from generation to generation!

18. Farthest place I have traveled: At this point, I had hoped my answer would have been China, but we will have to wait a bit longer for that....The furthest place I have traveled was the Carribean.....St. Lucia

19. If I could go travel anywhere, where would it be? Hands down, Italy!

20. How would I spend an extra $100? I would probably spend an extra $100 on my kids.....and if I were really being honest, it would probably be on little girl clothes.....I have a major addiction and can't help myself when I see a cute dress or pair of pink shoes!

21. Worst memory from Junior High: This is a good one....during the junior high years, our parents would drop us off at the movie theatre to meet our friends, then after the movie, we would walk up to the Mc D's for something to eat and then we would get picked up....this happened most Friday nights.

I of course had a crush on a certain someone, but he was not there this particular night, but all of his friends were......we were sitting in a booth and I was against the wall....this one boy was a total clown and he did this monkey face that was hilarious......well, I could not stop laughing and was trying to get up to run to the bathroom, but didn't make it.....Yes, I peed my pants in front of all of my friends.....funny, no one really knew until they came into the bathroom and saw me using the dryer on my clothes!

It took all of 2 seconds before everyone knew what went on........just to add another element to this already horrific situation.....we were all in the same Spanish class.....even the guy I had a crush on.....I begged and pleaded with them not to tell him......we all had Spanish names when we were in class and they had to begin with the same letter as our real first name. My Spanish name was Lupe......after this incident......The boy I had a crush on named me "Leaky Lupe" and the name stuck.....right through High School!

So there you have it......everything you wanted to know about "Half Gaelic, Half Garlic"