Ravioli Night is heaven!

I am fortunate to come from a close family. My mother's side is 100% Italian (insert greasy, hairy jokes here). We try to get together often. With there being so many of us, it's not always easy to do. But there is one day a year that we are always together. Ravioli night.

Ravioli night is on Fat Tuesday each and every single year. It's the one day of the year that we all look forward to. My grandmother and all her 'cooking assistants' spend two days preparing the feast.

We eat Homemade Raviolis (which are to die for). We eat too much, we drink too much wine and we talk too loudly.

Every year I silently look around and observe each and every one there. Every year I am amazed. Amazed by how many of us there are, amazed that one house can be filled with so much love and laughter. Amazed to hear what may have happened in someone's life that I haven't yet heard. Amazed to see how much the kids have grown. Amazed that I may not have seen someone for months and we bond like we were together yesterday.

But the one I watch the most is my grandmother. She sits and watches and takes it all in. She has created this day, these lives and this joy. Every day, I am amazed by her. And I know that my grandfather is looking down on us from heaven and is amazed too.

To most, a crowded house full of loud talking, wine drinking Italians would be enough to make someone want to jump out of a window. To me, it's heaven.

OCD

I think most people have a touch of OCD. Me, I have several 'touches ' of it, so I am told. However, what really justifies it as being OCD? My biggest OCD issue is brushing my teeth. I do it often. My teeth aren't perfectly white nor are they even perfectly straight and pretty. They are just teeth. You see all these people walking around with these pearly white perfect teeth and when you ask them how they got that way, they claim not to do anything and that they are just like that. These people suck!

I brush my teeth several times a day. Why? Because I do. We all have had moments of talking to someone close up who is breathing all over you and you feel like you are going to pass out from their breath. Mind you these people have no business being THAT close to you to begin with. However, I don't want to be one of those people. When you smoke, you stink. I know this. Therefore, to me , brushing my teeth helps to lessen the blow. I do not want to be the girl that everyone calls Ass Breath...therefore I brush often. I prefer to call it Dental Hygiene, not OCD.

What do your OCD issues consist of?

The Roller Coaster

Life is a roller coaster. We start out too small to be able to get on the ride. As we start to grow, we experience the innocent youthful thrill of being able to get on the ride, accompanied by our parents, with the contentment that someone is there to hold our hand until the ride is over and keep us safe. As adults, the ride gets scarier, lasts longer and those that were holding our hand years ago, now simply hold our heart as they watch us from the ground as we ride .

We all have a choice, we can either sit the ride out or buy a ticket. I chose to buy the ticket. I hope you all will come along for the ride with me!

Welcome to my blog.....