Summer Time=Ice Cream!

What could be better then eating ice cream when it is hot outside? Okay I actually do not eat ice cream. I know I am very crazy. I just do not like it. I hate the way milk smells. I would rather have chocolate cake. Sounds very crazy I know. Even funnier is that Gerard is an ice cream hound. He counts the days until the local ice cream stores open. I get a phone call immediately when one is open.

This is even crazier I usually go to the ice cream shop and bring it home for him. I am sure these people are thinking she is back again?? How she eats a lot of ice cream! I am telling you he frequent at least 4 ice cream shops per week. Not including the ice cream sandwiches that are in the freezer. The worst thing is that he is only about 175 lbs. Stinker!

Gerard is hoping that the little guy is going to love ice cream too. He has big plans for eating ice cream with the little guy.

Before Dottie got her new diet she NEVER got table food. I was told very early when I got her that she is only to have dog food and treats. One nice thing is she never begged at the table. Well that has been thrown out the window. So I figured ice cream and cottage cheese is made with the same stuff (almost). So here she is with her first ice cream. I think she likes it.

More Documents Sent Out and Random Thoughts

Today I got a little more paperwork done for the second part of the dossier. I sent out my birth certificates, Residency Statement and Employment letter for the apostitles. Because I am not sure which region that I will be assigned to because the Dossier is still in the translation phase I made the decision to have both a New Jersey State police and a FBI criminal background check completed. I am 100% sure that I am jumping the gun for this and that I will have to redo these steps but it made me feel better to get them done today. So when I complain about having to redo these documents please remind me that it is my fault.

I finished my Cultural Diversity class today. One more down and 3 more to go. Actually I already started another one so only 2 more to go. I just can not wait to be done with this degree.

This is where my post will get a little sad so stop reading if you are already sad today. I insist. Today is the anniversary of my Father's death 11 long years. I miss him everyday. I have also turned another year older. My father did not want to die on my birthday so he waited a couple of extra hours. His death has affected so greatly. I often feel cheated that he is not here with me. I remember so many good things about him but unfortunately I am traumatized by his death and all the events that occurred directly after that time in my life.

My Father died a couple of months before I was to be married. I remember being so upset by his death and feeling so shocked that others could just go on as though this event never happened. I cancelled my wedding and I have not been able to move past that point of walking down the aisle without my Father. Gerard has been so understanding, wonderful and as supportive as he can be. I pray one day that I will be at peace with everything enough to marry him.

Please anyone that reads this post understand that I do reserve this day only to be sad about my Father's death. The rest of the year I celebrate life and all that life brings. I pray that next year will be completely different. The funny thing about this is Gerard keeps telling me that the little one will not understand why there is no birthday cake for Mommy so suck it up. He is right. I promise that next year there will be cake, presents and balloons. No tears allowed.
Here are some of my favorite pictures of us.


Here we are after I won a beauty pagent. Now that is some big hair!!



Jenny (My little Sister), My Father and Me! I look really good in a two piece!



Seeing him at work


This is the one I keep on my dresser.

Who's your Daddy?

Well, I could say many different things about Gerard. We have been together for 17 years. Gerard is an Electrician who works for a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey and has his own business on the side. He has mostly done only commercial electrical work. It seems that he is always working. Gerard is one of the most goal orientated people that I have ever met. He is criticized for working so much but what many of his critics do not know is that he wants me to be able to stay home at least part-time for the first year. He is making sacrifices that many would not even consider to be an option.

Gerard comes from a perfect family of four; there is Chippy (his father), Mommybird (his Mother), Gerard and Am (his younger sister). They all grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Gerard however is so not a city boy. His family was lucky enough to have a summer home at the Jersey shore where he stayed every summer and on most weekends. After he graduated he lived in Brooklyn and worked in the city for a couple of years. He decided to move to New Jersey to his parent's summer home because the commute to Manhattan from Brooklyn was the same as if he left from the shore. That is when we met.

He loves to fish, Jet Ski and goof around on the boat. The one thing that he loves the most about living here is that it is much quieter then in Brooklyn. For him it is painful to have to go to the city. Gerard is a shy quiet person. Sometimes this gets mistaken for being stern or uninterested. This is so far from the truth. Gerard is very camera shy. I think over the last 17 years I only have about 10 good pictures of him. That is it. As a result of his shyness to cameras I stopped trying to take pictures of him. I have told him that he will just have to figure it out and get over it once the baby is here. He just laughs at me.

As I mentioned in a previous post Gerard has a little OCD. That just makes him quirky. That is one of the things that I love the best about him. Because he will not let me post a picture of him I will just describe him to you.

He says he is 5 foot 10 inches but I say he is 5 foot 9.5 inches (Just to mess with him). He weights 163 lbs and is a muscular build. He is one of those people that if he stopped eating carbohydrates for one day he would lose 3-4 pounds. He has dark brown hair that he loves to keep short (no gray hair yet just wait till the little bean comes). The one thing that his family has always told him is "just wait until you are over 35 your waist will just expand." Well he can lovingly say they are all wrong. Still the same 32 inch pants from when he was 18 (Don't you hate that). He has a five o'clock shadow about 10 minutes after he shaves (This drives him crazy) but I like it.

Gerard is the King of nicknames. I am not sure if I mentioned it but everyone has a nickname even some of the people that I work with. There is the Talker, the Quiet one, Craig's wife; those are my weekend girls. If he does not have a nickname for one of my friends then he calls them by their first and last name. None of his names are mean (at least he does not think so) just funny. He has only called me by my name once other then that I am the bozz or bozzie.

It was not until our nieces and nephews were older did they realize that he never call any of them by their names. Now teasing him is their main goal in life. When I introduce each family member to the blog I am hoping to have a picture along with their nickname. It is easier to keep track of them that way.

When he comes home from work everyday the first thing out of his mouth is not "Hi' or "What's for dinner" it is "Oh Dottie, Dottie, Dottie did you miss me. Mommy did not pet you at all today did she?" There you have it he loves his dog. I will try to slip on a couple of pictures every once and a while.