My, how time flies...

So here in Crazytown, things have been a little busy. First, there was this:


Then, of course, this:


We had to take the time to do this:


Followed almost immediately for time to do this:


Then we got distracted when it was time for this:


Of course, we regularly take the time for this: (which is, to BEAR DOWN!)


Then there was the tiny matter to taking the time for this:


And then it was time to squeeze in time for this:


Soon, it will be time for the making of MORE time, in this...or maybe that:

Playing to the Crowd

Sundays are golf day fundays for ricky, so we keep ourselves occupied at home in order to pass the time as quickly as possible until the pathfinder finds its way back into our driveway, and the smell of fast-food lunch comes to the door.

Today is Music Video Shoot day for us. The steps are simple, and the results can be gut-busting. Follow this easy recipe, and you, too, can be a video diva goddess!

1. call up your favorite videos on the tv
2. dress in your most fantastic outfit (which, for sophia, means being naked)
3. tip the fan towards the performer for ultimate attitude
4. rock it out

Here are results of our efforts:




















As you can tell, Abbey went all out:

She's very impressed with the goings-on:


Rags even got in on the fun:


I believe he may have been exposed to this type of divaliciousness with the previous Pisano girls.

The Evolution of Friendship

Friendship is a pulsing, living, adapting thing. It seems that certain people come in and out of your life according to some unseen, unmapped, divinely-guided train, where passengers step in and shared certain portions of your journey with you, only to step off two stops or twenty stops down the line.
When I reflect fondly on friendships from childhood, high school, college, and eventually, work, it's easy to recall that feeling of certainty that THESE people, experiencing THESE exact days and times with me would be my eternal friends.
Obviously, some of them stepped off my train a few stops down the line.
But a handful of them stayed with me. They stood, when times were crowded, and they sat next to me and held my hand when, at times, we were the only two on board. They rode and laughed at me and smiled at our good times when fortune was with us, and they sat quietly but unwaveringly and offered their support without pomp or circumstance when times were dark.

The only way to be a good friend is to have great friends around you...they model the kind of friend you know, in your heart, that you want to be. Because you want to be the friend that they deserve.



Like little B says, sometimes the best friendships feel like family



And sometimes, they really ARE family.

Soundtrack of Summer

dear dear b,
your nieces and nephews are smitten with the video-on-demand feature we have with our cable subscription. We have been guilty of spending blocks of minutes, sometimes bordering on hours, parked in front of the tv, in the air conditioning, pulling up video after video in response to by-name requests. Natalie's favs, are, by far, "Teenage dream" (both the katy perry and glee versions), and taylor swift's "Mean". Anthony, zach, and crush are fans of any MJ videos, but especially "thriller" and "bad", in which we freeze the frame to adequately point out Armando's brief but fame-soaked exposure to being a rock star, which we all know led to his recruitment into the Latino music explosion that was Menudo:



ophelia enjoys a good justin beibs video, which may be tied for highest rotation in our house with beyonce single ladies. Sophia listened to/watched Adele's Rollin in the deep video, not twice, three times, or four times, but EIGHT times in a row the other evening. So, those highlighted artists, as well as LMFAO party rock anthem, pitbull/neyo's give me everything (tonight), lady gaga's bad romance AND born this way, jlo's on the floor, nicki minaj's your love, and mike posner's bow chicka wow wow have been helping us pass the time until we get to love on our tida b once again.
peace, love, and music!

Happy Thursday!

First, a couple of disclaimers...
My keyboard is busted, and so i cannot capitalize at will. Certain letters, like b and g and k, will not grow up into appropriately capitalized letters. Secondly, my question mark key will not question, so all i get is //////. do you see/ can you understand my frustration in not being able to have proper punctualization/ can i borrow your question mark key/
With work, and kids, and laundry, and dishes, and cat hair, and bj's overnight hours, it's hard to have a great conversation over the phone with my little b. So, if i had lots of time, and bj had lots of patience, we would get to chat all the time. Instead, fancy this as our new medium:
dear b,
I hope you had a great birthday! i hope the casinos were super awesome to you. I know dad had a great time, and he loves the excuse of you 'needing' him to drive to laughlin and gamble. He digs it :)
how are things settling in the new/old apartment/ do you feel like you are back home/ is the mexican food restaurant as awesome as always....i love the idea of being able to walk to dinner. so romantic!
i can't wait for the snow to fall in flagstaff so we can come up and hang. it's so stinking hot and humid here. natalie seems to have an excellent memory and always talks about driving to the mountains to see tida b. she usually includes snow in the equation at some point.
so here's to winter! and i hope this relentless july is treating you well.

A Year in the Life....

Where have you been...I was waiting for you.


It has been quite some time since my last post...but we've kept busy. Some things have changed in the last year or so, and now:
--Little B is a Grown Up Nurse, and works in the emergency department in Kingman, AZ. As if she couldn't be FURTHER away...Not only does she spend her time saving people's LIVES, she does it from the non-desirable shift hours of 7PM TO 7AM. Saving people is infinitely harder to do in the dark.

--Our little Crushy is starting kindergarten this fall...next month...in, like 2 WEEKS! That kid is sharp as a tack, and I can't wait to see how he takes over and rules the elementary levels of our hometown charter school, Imagine.

--Our B and H are getting married!!! soon, i'm sure. The date is quickly approaching, in October, and we are all a-flutter thinking about the mass quantities of tequila that will no doubt be consumed.

--The babies keep growing and aging. Here is proof positive, lifted from Natalie's 4th bday party, held last week at the city pool:













my sister b is far away and we don't get to visit as much as i'd like. So perhaps i will use this medium to send her love and love and love from mucho miles away. Here's some love to get you through the week...