Spring is such a busy time of year! It’s filled with new beginnings, hope for the future and summer dreams. These past couple of months I’ve been busy getting ready for this wonderful time of year so I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write another blog… life gets in the way.
Since retiring, I’ve been eagerly looking to find something that will bring in extra revenue and fill up the day. It’s been four years and I can’t believe it. I love retirement. Who wouldn’t love not having to get up every day and kowtowing to a boss who sets all the rules and policies!!! I love being independent. I only wish it was independently wealthy.
Nanny’s Italian Kitchen is part of the transition to being my own boss. I hope you’ve all been enjoying my cooking videos on YouTube…. Nanny’s Italian Kitchen is gaining popularity and it’s all because of my followers and viewers. Thank you all. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCVDEufSGd-NBIZYE514yDQ
Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday. I lost my mother 15 months after I got married. My daughter Nicki was five months old. This past March makes 48 years since my mother passed away, she would have been 104 years old. Wow, seems like a lifetime ago. 
My children never got the opportunity to meet her and I wish they had. She was a tough cookie. The oldest of 14 children, she was a force to be reckoned with. Her younger brothers and sisters were afraid of her when they were kids, it was her way or the highway. My sisters Ann, Rose and I were also afraid of her. She was a strict disciplinarian and as a result we are honest, hard-working and ethical.
This is Mom, circa 1965. She was always so fashionable and ahead of her time. I remember one of my aunts telling me when Mama was 16 she would go shopping in Manhattan and find the most trendy clothes. Everyone admired her style. As a teenager, I would color her hair once a month and style it every week. She always looked “classy.”
Below – That’s me sitting on Mama’s lap at my cousin Nanny’s 5th Birthday party. Dad’s in the top right. My older sisters Ann and Rose are in the photo as well. There was a significant age gap between us…Ann is 13 years older than me and Rose is 11 years older than me. As a result my sisters were not only my sisters, but surrogate mothers as well. Happy Mother’s day in heaven Mom. We love you.
This Sunday I will be spending Mother’s Day with my children and grandchildren…the first part of the day with my son Arthur and my son Paul and his family and then the second half with my daughter Nicki and her family. She and I will be prepping dinner and my daughter’s husband Mauro will be cooking and serving. I’m making a batch of Bloody Marys for us to relax and enjoy. Lobster’s on the menu…stuffed. What’s better than that!
What will you be doing on Mother’s Day this Sunday? I’m hoping that each and every one of you have the most wonderful Mother’s Day ever.
“The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.”–Bernard Williams