25 (-10) things about me

I was tagged four times to do the "25 things about me" meme on Facebook, and was whining to my husband about it. So, Guy took it upon himself to write me a list. "Yikes!" I thought. "Is he going to write that I'm a lazy, procrastinating bitch, who's never satisfied with anything?" Here are the 15 things he came up with.

1. Good sense of humor.
2. Artistic.
3. Easy to carry to bed.
4. Usually horny.
5. When not horny, easy to make horny.
6. Loving mother.
7. Smart.
8. OK driver.
9. Good taste in music.
10. Good with a flipping stick. (That's in fishing.)
11. Receptive to American sports.
12. Cute accent.
13. Nice skin.
14. Very nice feet.
15. Good taste in clothing.

Such a guy list, huh? He was preoccupied with a college basketball game on TV, which is why he cut it short. After I read it, I told him "I guess I'll keep you," and he looked at me funny. I really am thankful though that he only put positive (well, sort of) attributes of myself, instead of listing my numerous flaws as well. Given that I've been in a total slump lately, his cataloging of what's good about me brought a smile to my face, and lifted my spirits.

The Update

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! It's been more than a month than I've posted anything, wow!, so it makes perfect sense for this entry to be in a bulletin form.

The Visit.
My mom and my brother's visit went extremely well. We had a couple hiccups, but for the majority of the almost 3-week period, everything was smooth. My mom cooked a lot, a lot, and I cleaned even more. I realized I'm pretty anal about cleanliness and everything being in its place in my own home. We did a whole bunch of shopping, and the real winners of that were my kids. Yiayia (grandma) got them scooters, clothes, and toys. We didn't get to do anything too exciting or touristy, our furthest endeavor was to the Naples Zoo. The visit went by fast. I miss my family.

The Concert.
If that's what you call about 100 5- and 6-year olds singing Christmas (or Holiday) songs. Katerina had her Kindergarten Holiday Celebration on December 16th, where she got on stage and sang in front of around 300 people. Thankfully she wasn't doing this solo, because an entertainer she is not. There were children around her that were singing and gesturing in a much more flamboyant way, while my little girl was doing the minimum. I'm a bit conflicted about this; I always saw her as a bright and amusing child, who won't be overshadowed. She is quite shy though, not that I'm disappointed, I just don't want her to suffer from this like me. Sidetracking over, she was the star of the show for me, my beautiful and petite baby girl.

The Booboo.
Or, How My Son Totally Freaked Me Out. Andre was flopping around on Katerina's bed one evening, as I was begging him to get in his pajamas, when he lost his balance and his head banged hard on the headboard. I heard a loud thud, and immediately he started wailing. I ran to him, and saw there was a quite deep cut right over his right eye. There was tons of blood, and he was hysterical. The next half hour was chaos in here. Andre was crying, he wouldn't let me or Guy wipe off the wound, we were considering whether we should take him to get stitches, and hubby and I were arguing about applying an ointment. We didn't (I "won") since the cut was so close to his eye, only about 3/8s of an inch over it. Andre was inconsolable this whole time, until daddy brilliantly suggested Weezer, and Andre transformed into the happy little kid he usually is instantly! He even let me pat away the blood frequently, that was already clotting by then. I'm glad we didn't take him for stitches after all; his cut started healing very well by the next day, and it's barely visible now. Of course he still jumps on the bed, giving me mini heart attacks every time. Naughty little monkey!

The Present.
Imagine this: it's Christmas Eve, around dinner time, and your husband is talking with his mom on the phone. You inadvertently overhear, and find out he didn't get you a Christmas present! Not one flower, or a toaster, or a pair of socks! You bet I bitched him out! Not that I really wanted anything, but the thought dude! What did he do? He felt so bad with himself, and drove away in his truck, only to return almost an hour later, looking for the wrapping paper. I opened my little package the next morning, the last present to be unwrapped. It was a beautiful necklace with a delicate dragonfly pendant, with rubies on the tail. Rubies are also my birthstone, even though Guy didn't know that. OK, OK, I had to Google it to make sure. He did alright after all. ;-)

The Movers.
Katerina and Andre have a new favorite show. Move over Wiggles, the Imagination Movers are taking over! They are in love, I'm telling you! They constantly watch the same 7 episodes, know the songs by heart, even make up party invitations with the Movers' names on them. It was only natural then that the big present from mommy and daddy would be 4 tickets to see the Imagination Movers live. Alright, this was clearly mommy's idea, and daddy just had to go along with it since it was a done deal. The kids are excited, and bringing it up, oh, about 23 times a day. The concert is this Saturday at Clearwater, a couple hours north from here.

I guess this is pretty much it. I know I've left things out, there's more to a month than this. I'm forced to cut it relatively short, for your enjoyment and my rest. Ciao for now!

3 weeks

It's been more than 3 years since my family has visited me. My mom and my oldest brother, Liakos, were here last in June 2005, when Andre was born. Since then, with 2 children in tow, I've flown to Cyprus 4 times, each for extensive periods.

We've owned our house since July 2006, and this coming weekend will be my mom's first time here. She and Liakos are flying in Miami this Sunday afternoon, and will be staying with us until December 10th, approximately 3 weeks.

I am a little worried. Not for drama as many of you deal with in your families. No such thing here. My worry lies with the fact my 41-year-old brother is mentally retarded (birth hypoxia) and has some "issues." The main cause for these is that he is unable to speak, which renders him almost un-communicable. He can't express his joy, his frustration, his anger, his excitement, his appreciation, his desires. His needs and wants, as thoroughly met by my hero of a mother as they might be, are still up in the air for guessing. In a way, he isn't much more advanced than an infant, grunting and pointing his way through life.

This all would be without consequences had Liakos been in the form of an infant as well. But at a build of more than 6 feet tall and more than 200 pounds heavy, Liakos can be dangerous. He relies heavily and almost exclusively on my mom to take care of him, dress him, bathe him, serve him etc. If things are not as he likes them, his belt not quite the right way, his shirt not in his pants all around, he gets frustrated and impatient. My mom has really suffered, still is, because of this. Liakos gets aggressive. He's pulled her hair, swung at her without missing, thrown things. She bears the brunt of his wrath due to proximity, but most of us, including myself and my husband, have been unfavorable to him one time or a few.

Liakos also gets jealous. He loves deeply and he expects attention and flattery. He likes being treated as a cool friend; we all accomodate him in that. There's times though that he feels shunned, that somebody else is receiving more attention than he is. Naturally, with little children in our family, this does occur. We are always careful, sometimes after reminding ourselves, to avoid "forgetting" about him. To shake hands, and smile frequently, address him, and clink our glasses with his. Does this get tiresome? Yeah, it eventually does, but prevention is a better alternative than broken stuff or a crying child.

Don't get me wrong. I love Liakos to death. I was born into this, so it is my reality, I didn't have to adjust to a new baby brother with his condition. He is an absolute sweetheart who loves giving and getting hugs, tremendously enjoys riding his bicycle around the neighborhood and at the Special Olympics, and can spend hours watching little children at play.

It's my biggest wish that he gets well, that he someday can talk. I've dreamt about it so many times, I've prayed about it, I cursed about it, I cried about it.

I can't even imagine being in my mom's position. I can't imagine being a beautiful newlywed at 21, having my first child by my handsome loving husband, and not having any experience to recognize something is wrong. She thought it was normal for a baby to cry constantly, and throw up after every bottle. She was slightly concerned, but clueless as to the actual extent of the problem. Liakos was finally diagnosed at around 2 years old. How crashing that realization must have been.

My mom keeps on keeping on. She is the strongest, most persistent person I've ever known. He's her baby, he belongs at home with the family, not locked up in some institution, medicated unconscious and unloved. And for 3 weeks, he will be visiting his baby sister.