Friends of Ju

Welcome to Part III of the series, "Friends Of Ju."  Tonight, I bring you another boy.  Ladies and Gents, meet Neil Caruso:

Steven and I met Neil through soccer in the summer of 2001.  He was a young buck, single and out there, living large!  He was Steven's "best defender."  The boys played games on Sundays, and the games were always followed by recap sessions (aka drinking sessions) at Moe's Crosstown Tavern.  Many a Sunday found us closing down the place and somehow making it through a productive Monday at work.

(L to R:  Chris, Jon, Neil and Sir)

  See why he's special?  He's listening to some really stupid story of mine and acting like it's really important.  I'm sure I'm discussing Dave Matthews.  

 

One of the things I've always appreciated about Neil, and the trait that makes him unique, is that he has developed and maintained a friendship with Sir, with me, and with Sir/Me.  I am his friend, independent of Sir, even though we met each other together.  I enjoy speaking with him, listening to him, and laughing with him.

I've watched him go from single dude to married man, to homeowner, to daddy of one, to vodka entrepreneur, to daddy of two, and to mini van owner.  (ouch?)  There's something to be said about watching your friends grow.  He's an excellent cook, an avid sports buff, and apparently a fantastic defender. 

Neil and his WONDERFUL wife, Jodi, are like family to Sir and I, and like an aunt and uncle  to Taylor.  They include us in family activities, traditions and celebrations.  For a gal who has such little family, this means the world to us.  Steven took the photos for their wedding and for the christening of their first daughter, Addison Grace.

 

Oh yeah.  That reminds me.  Neil's grandma, Mariette.  You can see from this photo that they are the spitting image of each other.  After spending time with her, I realize that he was the male version of this spunky special woman.  And, the love and respect he felt for her made me that much more enamored of him.  We will all miss Grandma, as she was one of the special ones.  Mariette, I'm watching out for them.

As I said before, Neil is now a vodka entrepreneur.  He and his partners have developed and are marketing and selling a very cool vodka by the name of Chilled Dills.   This was created from evenings  in their backyard where they combined vodka with pickle juice, dill pickle juice.  Let me just say--AWESOME in a Bloody Mary.

We have known Neil for years, and in so many capacities.  One of the most special remains the fact that he was the officiant who married us at our very impromptu wedding.    The wedding was just like Neil:  straight to the point, no bulls***, mixed with a bit of emotion.

(still a look of shock on my very fat face)

So, there you have it folks.  The guy Steven and I both pegged as our favorite friend, many many years ago.  He rocks. 

And, while I was composing this blog, I received a text/photo from him of Jodi and Daughter Number One:

I love seeing those I love so happy.

****************************************************

Bonus pic of Sir and I from back in the day.

Oh, the glory of youth!

 

5 Hour v. 6 Hour

I'm not a coffee drinker.  It's not that I don't enjoy the flavor, I do.  It's just that I don't have the patience to wait for hot drinks to cool down so I can drink them without burning the heck out of my tongue.

I do drink unsweet iced tea, but that doesn't really pack much of a caffeine punch.  So, on days where I find myself needing a bit of a pick me up, I've been known to turn to the Five Hour Energy Drink.  Grape Flavor.

I like this little drink, mainly because it is a little drink.  I don't have to put a bunch of liquid in my body, and it usually does the trick quickly.  The grape flavor doesn't make me want to vomit, and hey, there's no sugar, so it fits into my oh so healthy lifestyle.

Let me introduce you to my little friend:

Notice the calm mountains on the bottle, the healthy looking bunch of grapes, and the simplistic words on the bottle. 

And remember this phrase:  If it aint broke, don't fix it.

Now, let me tell you how Steven tried to kill me this past weekend. 

Sir brought home the generic Food Lion equivalent of the 5 Hour Energy Drink.  It is, creatively called, the 6 Hour Energy Drink.  Because, you know we all need that extra hour.  Anyway.... meet my nemesis:

EXTREME ENERGY!  World's most extreme!  Flames!  Feel the Rush!  Works Blazing Fast!  WOW, huh?  Wow, no.  No bunch of grapes.  No peaceful mountains.  I should have known.

First of all, it tasted like evil ick.  Seriously, it was like Robitussin on Crack.  BLECH.  I hate to appear ungrateful, but I just couldn't imagine why he brought me this one (in a double pack) home to me. 

And then this happened:

hives  (hvz)

pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

A skin condition characterized by intensely itching welts and caused by an allergic reaction to internal or external agents, an infection, or a nervous condition. Also called nettle rash, urticaria.

 

And that ↑ was the color of my skin, the elevated very itchy skin.  My body did NOT like the 6 Hour Energy Shot, and it did NOT enjoy the rush.  I could have gone all my life without that extra hour.

 

 

 

 Go for the Grape.

 

 

My Cup Runneth Over

Many years ago, I made the hardest decision of my life.  I like to think that I had a few guardian angels guiding me---

I've spent more time away from him than with him.  

Not being together broke my heart each and every day.

Getting this yesterday was a reminder that I did the right thing at a really wrong time of my life.

He was raised with love and light.

and somehow no anger or resentment.

 

Seeing "mom" in his handwriting?

Worth it all.  

Congratulations Jake.  I love you.  

Be very very happy.

HIJACKED!!

This blog has been hijacked by a Candy Crush Addict.

There have been relatively few posts on here because the author has been taken hostage by the evil game known as CANDY CRUSH.

 

She plays it from the time she gets to home until the time she goes to bed.

No intellectual conversations with the husband.

No reading of wonderful novels.

Not even the viewing of Chopped, Breaking Bad or some reality show.

Her life has been taken over by little candies, the horrible girl and man above, and the quest for lives, donuts and clearing of the jellies.

She hopes to be freed from this prison soon.  Just as soon as she gets past Level 45.

Dyn-O-Mite

Hi!  Remember me? 

I feel like I've been on the go for months!  Granted, it's only been four days, but this old body isn't used to so much action. 

Please don't take that literally.

What I mean to say is that this old body isn't used to not napping and being on the go go go.

My oldest (yes, I'm the young buck) brother, and his wife, came out to visit us this weekend.  They arrived Thursday, and headed back to St. Louis this afternoon.

In between, we've eaten just about everything Charleston (and Goose Creek!) has to offer.  Seriously.  I'm terribly afraid I've now gained back all the pounds I've lost.  OINK. 

Jeff and Kathy haven't been to Charleston since Taylor was born; you know, about fifty years ago.  It was great to hang out, eat, eat again, laugh, giggle, quote Seinfeld episodes, watch hockey, soccer and follow the Boston happenings.  (how very sad all that is--)

This is the first time a family member has been to our humble little abode in the Creek.  And, it felt very nice.  The animals were absolutely thrilled for the company. 

We took them to our hangouts and introduced them to our friends and some Lowcountry Cuisine.  I have great friends and Jeff/Kathy aint half bad themselves.  (if you tell him I said that, I'll deny deny deny!)

I do wish we lived closer, but I sure did enjoy spending the weekend together in my part of the world.

It was DYN-O-MITE.

Mid Week Mute

Friends of Ju

Welcome back to the second installment of Friends of Ju.  Tonight I feature Rosalie Marie Domagalski Jackson.  She is my forever friend and the best of the best. 

We met while both of us worked at Movies to Go, a forerunner of Blockbuster Video.  We hit it off immediately.  I mean, heck, we're both Polish, how could we not?  She gave me my first wedding shower.  She gave me my first baby shower. Oh, this is where she introduced me to the world's best potato chip dip.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the recipe for "Rose's Potato Chip Dip:"

 Rose's Potato Chip Dip

1 large tub of small curd cottage cheese

1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayo  

green onions

salt and pepper  (LOTS of pepper)

Combine with a mixer and refrigerate overnight.  

Trust me, you will LOVE this.

Besides the dip and the showers, she's the true definition of a friend.  She is kind and giving to everyone.  And, I do mean EVERYONE.  She has nine million members of her family and she knows and loves every single one.  But as much as she loves them, they love her tenfold.  She and her husband Mike (yes,  Michael Jackson) have been married for 32 years and have raised the two most wonderful daughters.  Now, she is blessed with a grandson, and the nicest family just gets bigger.

She packs a great cooler, has a FOLDER filled with Groupons, and has flip flops to match every outfit. She loves QVC, American Idol and Better than Ezra. She, her husband and another couple toured 95 wineries in Missouri. MY HERO.  She works full time but manages to keep her house spotless, decorated and ever changing.  She's a whirling dervish!

I met her when I was 19 years old.  She has stuck with me when no one else has.  She was my maid of honor when I married Jake's dad. Every year since he was born, she has sent Jake's birthday card to my house so I could share it with him; a small gesture, but one that acknowledged me as his mommy.  She stayed my friend when that marriage ended and another one started.  And then again.  She was there for me when my parents died.  She has entertained all my family in her home.  She has attended weddings, funerals, baseball games, graduations and a whole host of other events.  She is simply put, the best.  If I can ever be one half the friend she is, I will have done well.  You know how much I love my grandmother, right?  Well, she is this generation's version of Grandma Miki.

She's so much more than a friend, she's as close to a sister as I could ever imagine having; just without the arguments.  My Monday hope is that all of you have a Rose in your life.  Because if you've got one of those, you are one of the lucky ones.