Have a nice weekend.

What are you up to this weekend?  I am going to the city for a family dinner.  Whatever you do have a good one!  And we can only wish that calories don't count on the weekend!  xoxo

My Dad's Special Birthday Celebration.

This New Year's Eve my Dad has a special Birthday.  It is so true when they say that it is just a silly number.    My Dad should teach a course in how to live life to the fullest!  My Dad is passionate about his work, his family, and his golf game.  This past Saturday my family hosted a Birthday lunch in his honor.  It was a surprise and he most definitely was surprised!  My sisters and brother and cousin (who is like a brother) and I made toasts to my Dad.  It was a beautiful intimate lunch with our family and my Dad's close friends.  Happy Birthday Dad!




                        My Dad was really surprised!

My first pic is very blurry...sorry.

Very blurry again (sorry) but very happy!

My cousin who is really my second brother.

My Dad and my cousin.

Listening to his Birthday toasts.

Me and my Dad.

The Seawane Club.....so beautiful!!!!!

I was not being the best photographer......too many windows...sorry again.

This is the centerpiece.  I took pics of all the flowers in it.

Father's Day

MY FAVORITE FATHER'S DAY GIFT  
By Ann S. Mindicino





If you are interested in the history of Father’s Day there is little information. It is a "Hallmark Holiday." Mother’s Day was so successful that Father’s Day was declared a holiday as well. You can find the history here:

Father's Day Timeline — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/fathersdayhist.html#ixzz1wo0ZVERH  

There are probably too many of these days.  Everyday should be one that we recognize and express our gratitude to those who are significant in our lives.

How do you incorporate Father’s Day into a world filled with “deadbeat dads”; “absentee dads”; families with “2 dads or 2 moms” and “blended families”? Family dynamics have changed so much. 

One thing has not changed. Dads are very important in children’s lives. If you are lucky enough to have a dad (no matter what you call him) in your life celebrate the day and let your dad know you appreciate him, even if it is a Hallmark holiday.

My favorite Father’s Day gift is a book I gave my dad a few years after his first grandchild was born in 1983.   I wrote in the book for my father and he then, wrote in it for my son. It is one of our family’s most precious possessions.  Below I will share a few pages with you. Now, with the help of computers you can create all kinds of these memoirs. There are also some you can make yourself. You can customize these more than the ones available to buy.  This one was done in 1989 and my Dad passed away in 1998.  I like this so much because my dad filled in the pages with information about his life and his values that my son would never have known and I may have forgotten.  The children in the family, someday, will be the true recipient of this gift. It will become a glimpse into who came before you and them, what their Grandfather's life was like and how special you were to your Father, Grandfather or whomever.

Happy Father’s Day to all Dads and Granddads!

Happy Monday!

Good morning lovely ladies,

I was away in Florida since Tuesday.  I had the most wonderful time with my family.  It was so beautiful there.  I have not gone anywhere in four years so it was really special to be away.  The weather was sunny and hot.  It was such a treat to be surrounded by green grass and colorful flowers.  I have so many photos to share with you.  I will upload them when I get to the office.  (what a great break to be away from my desk for a few days!)        

This was actually my only time on the beach for a few minutes.
I just wanted to put my feet in the warm sand!

We Are Family!

This past Sunday I attended my step-daughter's bridal shower.  Her mom hosted it at her country club in New Jersey.  It was absolutely beautiful!  My step-daughter was surrounded by friends and family.
 My step-daughter opened her gifts as her sister, my daughter, assisted in the festivities.  My step-daughter is 31 years old and is getting married in October.  My daughter is 24 years old.  When I met my step-daughter she was three and a half years old.  She was so adorable!  I was nervous to meet her at the time because, of course,  I wanted her to like me.
I was blessed with a daughter when my step-daughter was seven years old.  I was so thrilled that they had each other.  So happy that they were sisters.  They were never half sisters, they were always sisters.  They were typical sisters, just not seven days a week.
My heart broke when I got divorced from their father.  It broke because not only was my daughter's father moving out of the house but I was breaking up two sisters.  What do I do?  Stay in a marriage that is not good  and let my daughter and step-daughter see that or get out?  A torturous decision.  I couldn't stay married.  So not only was my husband leaving, I knew that my step-daughter was not going to sleep over every weekend anymore.  Needless to say this made my daughter and myself extremely sad.  This is a guilt that I always have within me.
I tried in whatever ways I possibly could to keep my two daughters together over the years.  It was not easy.  They saw each other whenever possible.  A positive was that I love my step-daughter's mom (when my daughter was little she thought that her sister's mom was her aunt.)  When their father was around the girls would see each other a little more.  It was never as it was when we were all together.   Then years later my ex-husband and his girlfriend moved to Florida which greatly upset the two girls.
As my two daughters got older on their own they recultivated their sisterhood.  Each year they get closer and closer.  Needless to say it makes me happy.  But more important they have each other.  And I know that that makes them happy.  They have different personalities that sometimes clash.  But through it all they are sisters.  They always have been and they always will be!
Now as my step-daughter enters the next phase of her life as a wife to a wonderful man,  my daughter couldn't be happier.  My daughter made a beautiful speech and presentation to her sister at the shower.  It was a very emotional moment for me as well as for my two daughters.
 There are so many happy things to look forward to!  We are all so excited about the wedding! My daughter looks forward to getting a brother-in-law and cannot wait for her sister to have a baby so she can be an aunt!  That will make me a step-grandmother.  But I hope that I will just be considered a grandmother.
My ex-husband has been in a relationship for the past ten years.  So at the shower was the mother of the bride, the step-mother of the bride, the girlfriend of the father of the bride and the mother of the groom.  That makes four future grandmothers!!!  One big happy family!!!  And we really are!!!!!! (most of the time)




My beautiful Step-daughter at her Bridal Shower
To her right, her mom (1st wife), me (2nd wife), next,  present girlfriend and to my step-daughter's left her future mother-in-law