Congratulations Adam and Stephanie!

Words can not describe the day I've had with my family and old friends.

As I drove home from Adam and Stephanie's wedding the tear flood gates opened. Not due to sadness but happiness.

An all day affair. We attended the ceremony in the afternoon, then my family shared a meal in between the ceremony & reception.

We all always have fun when we are together. My sister and I wanted to take pictures in our fancy new dresses. My niece mocked us for taking pictures in the parking lot of Mulligans!

Then my nieces were texting to make sure they did not buy the same dress. Always a hub of activity and fun stories being told around the table!

Backtrack to the ceremony--When we arrived at the church, we gradually made our way inside waving at and chatting with those we had not seen in a while.

One of the most memorable moments for me personally was seeing my cousin Johnny's family and his children running at warped speed into my arms.

No one has really done that to me since my own nieces and nephew were little tikes themselves.

It felt SOOOO good to be loved and wanted by someone. The last person who made me feel like they truly needed & loved me was Mom.

I think my oldest niece could not believe they did that....it felt wonderful!

Then, the cutest little girl was passing out wedding programs. Turns out she was the daughter of a grade school friend I used to have the biggest crush on (a million years ago and he knows, so I am not letting the cat out of the bag!!).....he married a wonderful woman and they have 2 beautiful daughters. The little one kept eyeing my shoes! Little did she know I too was eyeing her shoes and whole outfit! What a doll!

The service was quite moving. So wonderful seeing relatives young and old, distant and close all in one gathering place.

Then break time where we all rested, changed, and started on round two of the day!

When you go to a wedding you never know what to expect! Fortunately, our night was filled with love, laughter, sharing, great food & drink, visiting with family & friends, and crazy dancing on the dance floor for almost 4 hours!

I don't think any of us wanted to leave but eventually we did shortly before the wedding ended.....

Again, so many highlights from start to finish. We were all seated together just next to the head table. Adam and Stephanie are super wonderful people. Adam is the son of my 1st cousin--Tommy's dad was Mom's brother.

I've always felt closest to this particular family and my cousin Diann and John's family. I'm quite lucky to be associated with all of these people.

Again, I can't verbalize the laughter, jokes, smiles, picture-taking, and visiting with those we may have not seen in a while.

Adam and Stephanie had a photo booth set up for their guests to take pictures as remembrances of the big day. One set went to the bride and groom and the other set to the guests. What a hoot! Such fun and a great idea so they knew who attended. Just seeing Uncle Sam in his Uncle Sam hat was tremendous as 5 of us did our 'Charlie's Angels' poses!

Seeing Adam's gramma jamming out on the dance floor was priceless....as well as being part of this memorable day.

Life is sooooo good.

A weekend to remember!

I hate to keep going back to the whole sports theme, but I must! We are in the midst of exciting Olympic action which can not be ignored!

Addicted...

Do you know that the Olympics come on very early....go much of the day on three stations...non-stop on the web.....come back on at Prime Time and then come back on after the late news until about 5am. Magnificent!


I think the stat that 40 million tuned in to see if Michael Phelps could win his 8th gold medal is quite chilling! Speechless. I know I will dedicate an entire entry to Phelps and his Mom. There was a 'goose-pimple' interview at the top of Prime Time Sunday night with Michael and his Mother that deserves some more props!


This was also a local weekend to remember.


Yet another jam-packed weekend with hardly a chance to sit down and recuperate! I guess that's the way of the world, the way my life goes day in and day out!

It started as quite a nerve-wracking weekend as I felt a cold coming on Thursday but could not get sick in the midst of one of my busiest singing weekends. I was singing a wedding Saturday. I could not let the happy couple down by bringing my 'b game.' Then we hosted the 40th anniversary celebration of the Apostles of Jesus at my church. These priests serve as chaplains at Charity Hospital, St Augustine Manor, Holy Family Cancer Home, and Lakewood Hospital. They also assist parishes, including ours, when needed! OLP, in honor of their momentous anniversary, held a day long celebration including quite a festive 11am Mass (with special main celebrant Bishop Pevec in attendance)...where I sang the entire Mass but also solo'd 'Ave Maria' in Latin and Swahili. I could NOT be sick for this event.

And by the grace of God, Mary, Jesus, Joseph, and the Holy Spirit, it went off without a hitch! Thank you, Mary! WOW! What an accomplishment as a singer!


Factor in the Hall of Fame weekend at Progressive Field. Exciting Cleveland Indians Games including Cliff Lee getting another win, and Jeremy Sowers with a great performance.....Saturday was turn back the clock to 1948 where they wore throwback uniforms and announced like they did back on 1948. They also had the scoreboard system and organ music from back on 1948.

The cherry on top was the Feast of the Assumption on Murray Hill --the authentic Italian food, atmosphere, the tradition of lighting candles for special intentions, and just enjoying a remarkable and imporant part of my heritage!

Exhaustion settles in after a completely satisfying weekend.......as I gear up for another week of Olympic Memories from Beijing!