Monkling’s Blog

Tonight I went with Theresa to the mall because she wanted/needed to buy a coat. Since Frank is off visiting his mom, we took her car and she drove. Now we have this rule - whoever is driving is in charge of the radio (except that when Frank is driving, he usually lets me play whatever I want). That meant Theresa got to try out her new device for her iPod and was playing a bunch of new songs she just loaded onto it.

“This is called Flashback to the 90s,” she told me. Yeah, like she is so old and the 90s were so far away. The girl was born in 1988. Then that song by Meatloaf came on, “I Would Do Anything For Love.”

Now here is what we wanted to know. What the heck is it that he won’t do? We were discussing this after I incorrectly said, “That wasn’t from the 90s. Wasn’t that in the 80s?” Turns out I was wrong. Then, according to a Wikipedia article, the that is identified. I am, however, way too sleep deprived to comprehend what they are saying in that article. I’ll have to go read it after I am able to get 8 hours sleep.

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I’ve had to do a bit of redecorating since my sister in-law and nephew came here on Wednesday. This is what my stove now looks like:

When Steve went to cook himself a grilled cheese sandwich, he was a bit confused when he went to turn the burner on. And all of my kitchen cabinets now have these nifty decorations:




My nephew is 2 1/2 and exactly the right height to smack his head into the edges of assorted counter tops. Most of them at least have rounded edges but there is one that’s pointed so I had to improvise and make a little bumper:




It’s amazing what ya can do with a dust rag and some masking tape. No, the dust rag was not dirty.

My sister in-law wants her son to get to spend some time with his dad’s family so today we stopped by to visit Janet for a little bit. She’s home from the hospital and I told her she had better stay home or else. I think she’s afraid of me since I’m the oldest so she won’t dare do anything that would land her back there again. Yep, it is sheer fear of me that’ll do it.

Over the weekend, we go my brother Paul’s house. I suspect John will like running around with his 3 cousins over there and Paul has nice stuff like gates so little nephews can’t make a run for the stairs. This old aunt isn’t used to running around after young’uns. I wonder how many pounds I’m going to lose between now and Jan. 1st…

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That sounds like nap time from kindergarten. Anyhow, things are likely to be quiet here in Monkling Blogland for the next few days. We have the wake today, the funeral Mass tomorrow and then my brother’s wife & son will be staying here with us until the 1st.

There is always the possibility that I will be back with some funny stories because this is, after all my family. But if all I have is depressing stuff, I probably won’t post anything at all.

Thank you for all the prayers & kind words.

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I don’t know about you guys but I can’t wait for this blog to get back to the business of being funny. Although, I do think those gingerbread cookies were pretty funny. How did I get to be bigger than Santa, anyway? What was up with that?

Wishing everyone a peaceful Christmas. May you all spend the day surrounded by those you love.

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From tradition, that is. Normally we go to midnight Mass on Christmas. We’ve been doing that ever since the kids were old enough to stay awake that late. Tonight we’re going to the 8:30 p.m. Mass instead because Stephen is playing the organ at that Mass. It seems kind of appropriate that we’re doing things differently this year since Christmas doesn’t really feel like Christmas anyway.

The tree is up but it just has lights. Every other year, I never, ever put the gifts under the tree ahead of time because, after all, Santa hasn’t arrived yet. This year the presents are all under the tree. Frank got cheated & I only had time to get him one gift. When I told him that, he said, “YES!” because that’s all he had time to get me, too.

I have no idea who’s coming to dinner tomorrow because some of the family may or may not have the flu and/or that awful stomach bug. I only know who isn’t going to be here. It’s going to be a strange day.

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My children decided that there must be Christmas cookies in the house so they spent yesterday evening baking. We now have little Christmas trees and gingerbread men. Theresa is currently decorating the gingerbread men. Usually I don’t bother with that part. Here are a couple of cookies. One is Santa & the other is me. Can you guess which is which?

Yes, I would be the one with the big lump on my lip.

Then there was our Gilmore Girl moment. There was an episode in Season 2 involving Christmas & the ugly baby photo:
When Theresa came home from school Friday night and went to bed, guess what she found on her pillow. Yep, an ugly baby picture. She ran into my room & we were hysterical. When I got up the following morning, she had taped the photo to my computer.

As I’ve said before, we are easily amused.

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So much for all those funny Christmas blog entries I had planned on before I got the news about my brother. Then, this morning while I was out with my father & his wife ordering flowers, we got a call saying my sister was back in the hospital.

My sister in-law and nephew are flying up on Monday, along with the body. The wake will be Wed. & the funeral Mass on Thurs. My brother hated it down in FL. They moved there from NY just about 2 years ago. He said he wanted to come home for Christmas. I don’t think this is what he had in mind.

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In the spirit of Christmas, I have my own personal decoration. You see, I don’t have enough going on so I decided to go do something weird with my lip. I have no clue what it is but when I told Theresa I had a ping pong ball on my lip, she said, “No, Ma. It’s a Christmas ornament.” Maybe I’ll buy a tiny little Santa hat for it. Too bad it’s too late to do a photo Christmas card because that would have looked really cool with my lip all decorated for Christmas.

Don’t worry. I have a Dr. apt. although what with Christmas & the funeral, it’s not until January 11. Meantime I get to walk around looking like a freak with a giant bump on my lip. Hmmm - I wonder if I can get a tiny strand of lights…

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Yes, that’s me - slap happy. Therefore, I am going to amuse myself here by posting something that is probably disrespectful and possibly blasphemous to some people. It’s either sit here & do this or go do laundry or sweep up dog hair or figure out what to make for dinner but I really don’t feel like doing any of those things so you’re stuck with me.

Today I was out with my father & brother, taking care of stuff. One thing on our list was to get a cemetery plot. I was considering asking the cemetery guy if they were having a Christmas sale or something. “Do you have a 2 for 1 deal?” Hey, eventually I’m gonna need one, too.

I gotta tell ya, this was one of the more bizarre things I’ve been involved it. There we are in an SUV with 2 cemetery guys, driving around. “Over here we have this section blah blah blah…” It was like we were looking a pieces of real estate property or something.

At one point I interrupted to point to a big statue of Jesus with children. “That’s where my babies are,” I told Paul & my father.

“Yes, that’s where they bury the babies,” Cemetery Guy says.

I made sure to point out that not only did I know that (isn’t that what I just said?), but that my 2 boys are there.

So there we are driving around, seeing the new section, hearing prices. It seems some people are particular where they’re buried. They want to be by a tree or a statue or whatever. Personally I doubt you care much about where they stick you, once you’re dead but that’s just me. It was just plain weird.

In any case, things here in NY are taken care of. We have no idea when anything will be because they have to get him up here from Florida. We’re thinking probably next Wed./Thurs.

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Okay, this is going to be really short because I am wiped out. I just found out this morning that my brother died. I have 2 brothers - Mike & Paul. Mike lived in FL with his wife & 2 year old son. Things are going to be up here in NY so tomorrow Paul & I have a lot of stuff to take care of. Oh, & my sister isn’t feeling too well (even before this news) and is seeing her doctor tomorrow.

I’ll be back when I can but that might not be for a bit.

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