King Baby's Crazian Persuasion

Well we are definitely in the thick of the holiday season. Our pants have gotten tighter thanks to turkey day. And the once beloved holiday shopping of our youth has now made way to internet orders and well planned out marathon shopping sessions crammed into a few precious hours of free time, hopefully cutting down mall visits to a few days as opposed to every other day for a month and a half.

One thing that seems to happen during the holidays is depression. No let me not go on about how depressed I am because on the contrary I'm far from it. I have a lot to be thankful for. I think nostalgia plays a big role in why people get so sad during a time when we should be so happy. And not because of the presents or anything like that, but as Roman Catholics this is a time of true rejoicement because it's the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. I'm not here to preach (religion anyway....but the blog is young). The birth of a religious savior has to make you happy.

Well as I was saying, this can be a depressing time because we are fed and fed an ideal of what a great happy time this should be, but if things are not going as planned in your life, it really can be heartbreaking. What do you tell the mother of the soldier, cop, or fireman who lost their life in service this year? What do you say to anyone who lost someone they loved recently or even 20 years ago, especially a child When we are supposed emulate Disney land 24-7 during this time it can be very hard and almost phony. How do you not feel like crying when you see their pictures...what if that important person that passed was a child? I can't even imagine how to deal with that, The idea of it is terrifying to a parent.

But these aren't the only reasons. After some time death does get easier to deal with. What do you tell the man who lost his job after 1 year before being vested due to budget cuts? The parents who have to choose between paying mortgage or heat..

Ok now that I've truly depressed everyone, I can get to the point of this entry. A short time ago I posted on facebook that I was depressed over thanksgiving. I was asked why by a few people when we should be happy during this time and thankful. I am and was during the time more so than ever, but a few things of note happened that week that just made me a little sad, and really actually a little mad. (But I am over it). Well the first 2 things really are kind of related, it has to do with reconnecting with old friends. I ran into an old friend I had not seen in years, and the long and the short of it was that I suspect the person to be suffering from mental disease. He was nothing like the person I was friends with so long before. I see mental disease almost every day and he reminds me of the people who lived through something traumatic like 9-11 and never recovered all the way... Then there was a childhood friend that I had from my days in woodside. Not too long ago I had to take Frannie's civic for an oil change at the dealership in queens and to my surprise they moved their service center about 2 blocks from my old house. I decided to walk around the old hood and I ran into the mother of one of my best friends from that neighborhood. We talked and caught up and she filled me in on what he was up to. She gave me his contact info and told me to get in touch with him. I was very happy with the idea of reconnecting with my old bud Joey. But alas I got voice mail a few days after and then I tried a text right before turkey day with no reply back... He was probably busy or didn't recognize the number, or maybe just didn't want to hear from or talk to me. I dunno. I just wished he called back, even if just to return the courtesy and satisfy the human nature of curiosity.

Then as time passes the inevitable fact my friend Mr. Spids is leaving for PA. This is another blog entry on it's own, but the short of it is that out of all the people from St. Johns, if I would have grown up with Pete, and if he were a girl, I would have married him...lol. J/K.......or am I!?!?hahahah. Ok seriously, Pete and I have a lot of common interests, much like The Don and myself. And much more than my other friends. A guy truly cut from the same cloth. Him being so far away reminds me of my friend Nick in Colorado, and sad that I didn't take more time to enjoy a beer with them more often. Then finally we get to the main reason I was a little taken back. A girl (woman) I looked up to since I was in junior high and a voice in the dark for me in high school got married recently, and I wasn't invited to the wedding.

I don't know the details of the wedding so I don't know if it was small and intimate or an obnoxious spectacle. But I was a little hurt that I wasn't there especially if it was a big wedding. I think it's a lesson I am slowly learning that not everyone you love and respect and look up to may feel the same way for you. I guess I'm just sad and disappointed because my wedding was not a fiasco. 100 people is relatively small for a formal wedding now. I purposely put her and another person I looked up to as older sisters on my list and insisted they stayed, despite the fact we were leaving out other family friends who to this day still invite us to their functions or have actually gotten even closer than we could have imagined at the time... I insisted on leaving people out who I now realize would have really enjoyed being a part of an important day in my life all because of the naive loyalty a 16 year old boy had for the few times those 2 girls were the voice of reason in my life. I just don't know. I'm still a little torn over it, especially since the other girl is getting married soon too and I'm almost positive I'm not going to that one either. Nor do I think i would at this point even if I was...

I think that as a person, I am pretty close to loyal as anyone can get. But is this a liability in life now? Is it too much to expect the same from everyone you consider a friend? I would like to think that isn't true, but I think my eye's have opened a bit wider on some things.

After I brooded on this for. A day or two, I realized it really doesn't matter. As much as I would like to stay friends with everyone I know, I know not everyone wants or is willing to put in the effort to remain close friends with me. But you know what? That's ok. There are a handful that I know will put in that effort, and to have a few quality friends who are more like "family" is much much better than keeping half dead ties with people who can't respect that ideal. Is that harsh of me to say? Well fuck off if you don't like it, that's life right?

Family is important to me, more so now than ever. In February I will have shared my life with Francesca for 11 years. And our 30th birthdays are in 2009, as well as our 3rd wedding anniversary. Victoria will be 3 as well, can you believe that? My life has come a long way and there isn't a day I am not thankful for the few good friends I have left and my wonderful family especially my little pumpkin... So am I sad? Not really, just progressing, just opening my eyes, growing up a bit and leaving a part of my life behind that honestly was like a dragging anchor. It seems harsh, but I think it's good advice. Don't concern yourself with people that don't appreciate your concern. Continuing that sentiment in my opinion is actually quite selfish because that concern would be appreciated and not wasted by the people who hold you close... And don't ever take the power of loyalty and concern for granted, you may be on the other end if you do.

If I learned 1 thing this holiday season, it will be to go back to basics, be good, treat people the way you want to be treated, appreciate the simple things and show love, loyalty and respect as much as you can, especially towards the truly important people in your lives. Loyal friends give me as much enjoyment as hearing my little girl give her grandfather a nickel and telling him to buy her a toy... I AM thankful and though a little sad, I have most things in perspective. The sleeper has awakened....Ok I'm going to go watch Dune now....

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I made an expensive purchase last week as many of you know from facebook, and as I am here updating this blog sitting in a half frozen piece of crap health department patrol car, a 14 year old iguana put things in perspective, even if only for a moment before I get sidetracked and think about how I truly despise my job and the majority of people I work with. Sweetpea is frannie's oldest "daughter" she got her as a little cute 7 inch lizard at a street festival in her neighborhood. Her dad spent so much money trying to win the damn thing but just couldn't. He ended up buying sweetpea for a discount because the damn carnie felt bad for him. Frannie took Sweetpea home and the cute small little lizard grew, and grew, and grew, to what she is now at 4 feet and counting. Think of all the things that have happened in the past 14 or 15 years, the terrorist attacks, the elections, the wars, the price of gas, movies, milk... So much has happened in that time, and through it all Sweetpea has just been there fat and happy, enjoying her broccoli rabe, grapes, figs and occasional pasta.

So much has happened in our personal lives, high school, college, turning 21, our mid 2o's, starting families, careers, having children...buying houses. We're all almost 30. THIRTY. all these years Sweetpea hasn't changed, she's as lovable as any iguana I've ever met, in fact she's the most tame one I've ever handled. She still loves baths, and she still manages to find me after I let her roam the house after her bath so she can snuggle up next to me or at least use me as a pin cushion on her way to sitting on my shoulder, or the ever popular top of my head. For as long as I've known her and she's been part of my family, she's always been like this.

I guess I've changed over the years, adult life does that. But I wish I could be like Sweetpea, never changing, the sweet loyal lizard she was 14 years ago is still the same lizard we have today albeit a few feet longer and a bit heavier. I hope as even more time passes, I'll still be that guy everyone loves, not just because I'm easy to get along with but because I've never lost my ideals and given in to what life dictates should be done. 30 years from now, I hope I'm still funny and amusing...still playing video games, still listening to hip hop even though I have no business knowing about 60 percent of lil wayne's last album. I hope i still manage to say something poignant when it counts.. But that's me. I guess as I am freezing my butt off at work I've come to realize that I should go with the flow but never lose myself.

Sweetpea isn't doing too well. She's been through countless habitat changes, but after we moved back to SI, Her color has been off, she hasn't been eating properly and has been sluggish. She has been long overdue for a new, proper "house" and frannie and I decided it was worth it to try and make her as comfortable as we could now that she's a senior citizen. 2 grand crazy for a glorified lizard cage? Not really...that lizard's worth every penny, for the past 14 years she has been teaching us how to roll with the changes without losing ourselves....
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Well the last 2 and a half weeks have been very eventful and found Frannie and I doing stuff we really missed out on the past 2 or so odd years.. I guess it started with the Rangers game the last saturday in October which was Frannie's first hockey game. It was an awesome game and frannie enjoyed it enough to ask if we could go to another one. It was truly great ending with a come from behind shootout win for our Rangers. Frannie then went to see Equus on broadway a few days later, then we got front row tickets to the ballet and followed it up with a ridiculously overpriced steak dinner at Del Frisco's which I highly recommend. Finally we threw in our potluck party somewhere in that mix, and a few days ago Frannie and I went to see Zack and Miri make a Porno which turned out to be pretty good, and the first movie fran and I have seen in a theater in over a year. All in all we've seen a lot of our good friends a lot more the past few weeks than we have in 2 years. We are thankful indeed, and blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Thanks guys.
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Well for the 2 or 3 people that actually read my blog, I must apologize for not keeping it up to date. A lot, and I mean A LOT of stuff happened this month but at this point it would take me hours and hours to re-tell everything, so I'll do my best to give it to you short and sweet.

The job i'm waiting for never called. We can only assume it's due to the fiscal crisis...still not worried, it's only time.

Frannie and I finally had the closing for the queens apartment. Very bitter sweet for us but what a relief to finally be finished with the process.

We bought a new camera, the latest in Canon's G series. The G-10. You can read my review of the camera on the best buy page for the camera. My ID there is ineeda63. It's a fantastic piece of photography equipment, and gave us fantastic shots for our trip to Maine.

Frannie and I decided that we needed to get away, with the closing in hand and our anniversary just passing we decided to go and enjoy ourselves over a weekend in the state that I feel saved my life (but that's another story). It was exactly what we needed. It was relaxing, beautiful, and a refocusing point in our lives. That and I totally overdosed on lobster.

All month I have been battling the effects of kidney stones and the subsequent infection I got. I'm feeling pretty good right now but there will always be the chance I'll have to go through it again at some point. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Victoria ended up catching Roseola which basically caused her to have a high fever for 4 days and then gave her a bad rash all over her body for the following 4 days after the fever broke. Aside from extreme crankiness, she is fine now as well. Vivi has also kicked her pacifier (BaBa) habit and has even slowly started sleeping in her own bed now. (We hope potty training goes as smooth when the time comes)

For the most part, that catches us up to everything except the suicide cock wings incident at the Don's house, and our trip to the farm a few days ago... But it's late, and I'll have to write about that tomorrow.

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Frannie and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary last night at a japanese restaurant on Staten Island called Tomo. I had heard of this restaurant previously but had never had the pleasure of dining there. I have to say Frannie and I were pleasantly surprised. The food was absolutely fantastic and the service was second to none. They were very attentive and helpful with menu items we weren't familiar with. We started with an appetizer of kumamoto oysters, in my opinion the best raw oyster I have ever had. Every year when they come in season, Francesca and I make sure to have a good dozen or 2. I had never seen a japanese restaurant offer kumamoto's. In fact Frannie and I have only had these small delicate oysters which have a sweet nutty taste in higher end seafood restaurants. We also ordered a fantastic bottle of cold sake which had lychee fruit infused with it. It was sweet and very refreshing(frannie drank the whole bottle and I only had one glass lol), the perfect compliment to the love boat for 2 we ordered as our entre which was a fantastic mix of sushi and sashimi. We ended the evening with a desert order of Mochi (frannie had mango and I had red bean) mochi if you have never had it is a small disc of ice cream with a very thin pastry dough covering it. A very light satisfying desert. The red bean mochi they had was the best I ever had, actual pieces of red bean in it instead of the puree with artificial flavors I'm used to at other restaurants. Overall the experience was top notch. We were worried when we first pulled into the lot of the restaurant which is very long and narrow. The restaurant itself is set very deep into it's lot right off the corner of amboy and richmond ave. I have to admit I almost missed it. We pulled in and were a little worried, there must have been parking for 40 cars but there were only 3 cars there. We got to the restaurant and the outside was nothing spectacular. Inside was better. The design was nice but could use an update. I like how they used a lotus flower pattern all over the restaurant and the entrance has a huge cascading waterfall but unfortunately it wasn't on. Also as with all the japanese restaurants on staten island, compared to queens there is roughly a 10 to 15 percent increase in price. However the restaurant shines in service. Little things make the difference...cloth napkins instead of paper, quality wooden chop sticks that did not split improperly or had splinters...and as I said before, attentive service. I highly recommend Tomo and will definitely be going back.
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Well I find myself sitting where else but the doctor's office... I've been dealing with a considerable amount of pain in my left side and lower back for the past few days. I really didn't think much of it as I have been dealing with stomach problems on and off for the last 3 months. I noticed I also had the urge to go #1 more often then usual so I thought it might have been my sugar getting out of wack. Well yesterday morning the pain pretty much went from a 4 to a steady 8. Very painful and even laying down didn't help subside the pain. I happen to be assigned to the health department location that houses the NYC Poison Control Center. The director of the PCC, Dr. Hoffman took one look at me and insisted I come see him in his office. He tells me he can't give me a definite diagnosis without running blood work and getting a cat scan and sonogram, but it could be anything as simple as a bad urinary tract infection to kidney stones. So now I went home slept and woke up this morning feeling great. Except for the fact I had to pee every hour I had no more pain, just soreness. So I'm now in the waiting room of my doctor's office hoping it's not too serious and wishing it won't screw up my anniversary tonight.



Today also happens to be my 3rd wedding anniversary. It feels weird that 3 years has passed. It seems longer and shorter at the same time. Longer in the sense that we have gone through so much in such little time and shorter in that our lives were stuck in an emotional limbo living in the apartment in kew gardens.



Aside from my health there has been some good news since I last wrote. We finally have a closing date for the sale of our apartment. October 9th @ 10:30 and our nightmare officially ends. Also I have unofficially heard (again) from multiple sources that the next academy class enters October 27th. So let's see what's going on with my kidneys and tomorrow I should hopefully update saying that all went well and our anniversary was wonderful...

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Everything was going pretty well from the last time I wrote... pretty well until yesterday, I got out of work and sat in 2 hours of traffic on the BQE the traffic watch said there was an accident on the BQE west bound blocking 2 lanes. So I did what most normal folks do I hoped off near the tunnel and decided to take local... BAD idea for the first time in my 13 years of driving the drawbridge warning came down five cars ahead of me. I didn't even realize that there was a drawbridge there. Well my shortcut ended up costing me a half hour and then another hour after that just navigating because there is an unbelievable amount construction under the BQE again...sigh.... Well this is where it gets better (not really) I get home and I have terrible headache. A few hours later I now have the chills and a 101 fever. I ended up calling out of work hoping a good nights rest would fix me, but it didn't. I felt worse this morning and I dragged myself to the doctor. I now had a 103 fever and my blood pressure was through the roof (probably from dehydration). They ended up giving me IV fluids and antibiotics. So now I'm at my mother in law's watching italian tv and drinking gatorade...with any luck I'll be better tomorrow.
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Well today was a very interesting day, I had to go to Brooklyn to get retested for a drug screening for the hopeful job. Everything went well and for the second time in a row I was lucky enough to find parking right in front of the building...just dumb luck to get parking in downtown BK at 9AM and just crazy to get the same spot both times I had to go there. So far so good right? Well it got better frannie and the baby were on the way home and I ended up getting a call from the Don to have lunch which worked out nicely. The Don's mom even showed up to play with the baby which was great. All in all a great day indeed. Pending the second drug test it should be a go for academy sometime the end of October. Everything falling into place MWAHAHAHAHA...
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2 days ago an important and much loved family member of mine passed away... Our almost 10 year old ferret Daisy. My wife Frannie loved that rat so much and so did I for that matter. She learned many tricks in her lifetime but none more endearing than giving kisses on command. I figured a great way to honor and remember her would be to re-tell how she came around to becoming our first "kid" together. Frannie and I were in a Petco on Central Avenue in Yonkers not too far from our college when we saw a cute little runty ferret getting pushed around in the ferret tank. We asked to look at her and it was obvious she and Frannie had some weird bond. Frannie wanted to take her home but we were broke college kids...we couldn't afford the 120 just for the ferret, let alone the supplies and cage which rounded the total to well over 300 dollars. But there was hope in the figure of a baggy jeaned petco employee. as we were walking out the guy who helped open the cage for us comes up to me and asks if I really wanted the ferret because he would get it for me at a discounted price. I said sure and he said he would come right back and to meet him in the back of the lot by the dumpsters. Now frannie and I were not really thinking, I guess in my mind I thought he would buy the ferret and supplies using his employee discount and pass the savings to us. Frannie and I are in the back lot waiting for him when he comes out with a trash bag. He tells me it'll be 100 for everything I was like ok when do I come back for the ferret and the supplies? He laughs pulls Daisy out from his pants and says he put a starter cage, bedding, food, and toys in the garbage bag...hahaha i figured out what was happening, thanked him and sped all the way back to campus hoping to god there weren't any cameras in the Petco lot...We decided to name her Daisy and she stayed with us for a few semesters hidden under my bed until she came home to fran's parents house where she romped, bit ankles, and terrorized cats all day until she passed. She was a very very special ferret, smarter than most ferrets I had ever seen and smaller than most large rats.... Daisy never grew in size from the day we brought her home, she stayed our little runt and entertained us day in and day out. She even outlived her younger, bigger Ferret siblings Lilly and Casey. I'm sure they are all wrecking havoc together wherever they are...I miss you fuzzbutt.
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O.K. a good friend of mine entered into a difficult but exciting time in his life and decided to start a blog because of a lost bet...i was slowly sucked in and found myself reading his ramblings whenever i could. I found it to be theraputic and in a way comforting in my own trials and tribulations. I slowly found out more of my friends had blogs... i didn't even know...kind of weird for the guy once known for being the go to guy for computers and tech stuff...i barely logged on to my computer anymore, i checked email once a week...what had i become? my father who is in his 60's had become more tech savvy than i...so i did what any logical nerd would do, i built a new computer from scratch, made new email accounts and aim accounts, joined facebook and finally gave in and bought a blackberry...and so now i find myself wondering why i had not started a blog earlier. Here i go...