Nope....For Once.....No Words!

The One That Made Me Grandpa!!

Through the Years......

The ones that made me Son:
 Mom and Dad (Josephine and Frank Bonanno)

Dad With the ones that made me Grandson:
Vincenza (Jenny) and Guiseppe Bonanno

The other ones that made me Grandson:
John and Stefana (Nellie) Giacchino

The one that made me Me: Note that I've retained
that expression and returned to that hairline......

The ones that made me Brother:  Janet, Stephanie, and little Lisa

The one that made me Husband:  Jackie

Circa 1999, the ones that made me Dad and Uncle -
Top Row: Son John, Daughter Karen, Niece Cara, Son Kevin
Middle Row: Niece Jennifer, Niece Gina
Bottom Row: Nephew Stephen, Nephew David, Nephew Jim, Son Brian

The ones that made me Great Uncle: Alexis and Kaitlyn

The one that made me Grandpa:  Jenna Rose

TODAY,  JUNE 21st*, WEIGHING IN AT 9 POUNDS, AND 21 INCHES LONG,  I AM PROUD TO INTRODUCE JENNA ROSE, THE ONE THAT MADE ME....DRUM ROLL PLEASE.........

GRANDPA!

*Remembering that my own Grandpa's birthday was around this time of year, I did a little research yesterday on FamilySearch.org.  I found that, appropriately, John Giacchino (See photo above), a.k.a. my maternal grandfather and Jenna Rose's great-great grandfather, was born on June 21st, 1893. 

WELCOME JENNA ROSE, WITH LOVE!

Today's Ramblings: Expectant Parenthood and Grandparenthood

1990's:  One of the sweetest things we did as parents was to redo our son's room and ask him what he would like it to look like.  His response was blue walls and red woodwork.  So we marched ourselves to the paint store and got royal blue wall paint and red woodwork paint.  Remember, for most of the 1990's I was still in my late 30's and early 40's, so it didn't matter that it took four coats of paint to cover the white.  When it was finished....it was gaudy, but it made the boy smile, and it matched the still hanging border with the primary colored balloons......all was good.........

2010's:  WHAT THE HELL WERE WE THINKING?  It took four hours to scrape that damned border off the walls!  Did I mention that there was a black chalkboard made of contact paper stuck to the wall, and that   it peeled off beautifully, but that it made the paint under it, the previously mentioned dark blue, bubble?  So when I went to smooth the bubbles, it took some of...correction...lots of the top layer of the drywall off?    Thank God I'm handy......NOT!  When the saleslady at the Home Depot stopped laughing at my dilemma, she provided me with all the things I would need to repair, prime and paint the walls and woodwork, and completely disguise our weak moments.  She said with an all-knowing smirk, "Let me guess, that room's going to be the office-slash-guest room, isn't it..."   I smiled and affirmed her guess, mentally gesturing at her as I exited the store......

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Well, that's some big grandbaby-to-be I've got coming.  An appointment confirmed the good health of the child, and that he or she weighs more than ten pounds, and Mom and Dad told us last night that a C-section is probable within the next few days.  I have some friends and coworkers who have recently given birth or expect to in the coming months.  Some of them have complained of their clothing not fitting right anymore, and that perhaps laying and sitting on an egg would be an easier alternative.  This made me smile, even laugh,  as I fondly remembered the excitement Jackie and I felt when our babies started moving and kicking inside the womb.  I think these gals are going to enjoy their pregnancies and their children immensely, but I do have a question for their Dads, a.k.a. the baby's grandfathers.  Is it normal for an expectant Grandpa to feel the same about his clothing that the mother-to-be feels?  I've been fighting with five or so pounds on and off in recent years, but since this danged Grandpa thing, it's ten or so pounds!  Will I get my boyish figure back after the birth?  Would it help if I went and sat on the egg for awhile?  It's probably too late at this point, but I've always wondered about weight gain among expectant fathers......and if it was applicable to expectant grandfathers, too........

WHATEVER!!  I'm deliriously hoping that the next entry in my blog will be the good news of a chubby little addition to the Bonanno family, and a healthy, happy, albeit temporarily pudgy Mom and Dad, too!  Stay tuned..........

The Word of the Day is PUSH!

The word of the day is push!

The first question:    How long does it take for someone who is fifty five and still alive to realize that the cable on the self pushing portion of his lawn mower has broken?  The answer:  I don't know....I don't know how long I pushed before I realized it was broken.  All I do know is that in addition to strengthening my leg muscles, as I do each time I mow, my arms suddenly feel fit from all that pushing.....and the moral of the story is:

When at first the mower's push            

Makes a mower hit a bush

And that bush the tool does smush

The mower has the perfect push

But know your mower and it's push

'Cause if it stops, it's time to push!

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The next question:  How long does it take to remove a wallpaper border that has been affixed to the top of the wall for nearly twenty four years?  I thought it would be a piece of cake, but after pushing furniture all over the room, pushing that step ladder to where I needed it, and of course, pushing that scraper back and forth, and up and down for nearly four hours, I was nearly pushed over the edge.....and the moral of the story is:

A job that takes three kinds of push
Is just a pain in the pusher's tush
Relaxing wouldn't take much push
And when I've done my final push
I'll find a seat with extra cush
Grab the remote and choose and push!
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The final question:  When will the first grandbaby be born?   He or she was due three days ago.  Mom and Dad have decided not to learn the sex of their baby.  I understand this completely, and felt the same way all those years ago when we were anticipating the births of the babies.   However, enough is enough!  Show your face, Little One....Grandpa's ready!  Bring it on......and the moral of the story is:

Unknowns that only you can smush
It's out of my hands, so I'll not push,
A bird in the hand's worth two in the bush
I know I can't hasten, you have the push
So move and make your mommy push
Curmudgeon's heart gets turned to mush!
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.....and there you have it.....the word of the day is definitely PUSH!

#70 - THE NOT SO EMPTY NEST....

Today, I began to remove the wallpaper border from the smallest of our four bedrooms.

 I couldn't help comparing the significance of that border to this week's milestones.   

The balloons of red, blue and yellow that adorned it became the theme of the nursery we established in 1988, the year we moved into our home, and the year we were expecting our third child.  

 Last week, in an instant, a baccalaureate service and a graduation ceremony concluded our twenty-two year tenure as the parents of four school age children, and twenty-seven years of child-rearing.

  How criminal, yet appropriate it is to burst those balloons with my scraper, expose a bare and empty wall, reestablish it with mature solidity, and modify it to suit our newfound roles as empty-nesters.  

If what my parents said all those years is true, the nest is only empty for the short run. 
 They never really leave, and in less time than it takes to brew a cup of coffee in the Keurig, they're back with their own loved ones and memories they've begun to build.
Today I celebrate Brian, from the infant whose head seemed tailor made for my shoulder, to the young man who has trumped the hand he was dealt by giving in to learning and loving and doing...he's been a blessing.
I'm glad the balloons are descending to the floor.
I'm anticipating new color and arrangement.
I cherish the primary leg of my journey as a parent, look forward to the next, and am depending on constant, happy reminders that the nest is never truly empty......

Well, They Were Both White!

Which one of these two scrumptious toppings do you think was packed along with a salad for my wife's lunch today?

Who do you think probably has the number for the Home on her speed dialing menu?

Alas, you guessed the answers to both questions correctly..........