About 3-4 years ago I had my upper left thigh tattooed by who I thought was a reputable artist. He was not. And I ended up being unsatisfied and unhappy with the final product. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I didn’t wear shorts that were shorter than Bermuda shorts (like 8” long) and I wouldn’t wear mini skirts. I did wear a bathing suit at the beach or up at our friend’s lake house but I was not happy to have my upper thigh showing.

This summer I decided to have the tattoo “fixed.” Tommy recommended Jack who is an artist here where we live. We played text phone tag for a bit, then finally we were able to communicate with each other. I sent Jack pictures of my leg and he immediately wanted to know who did “that.” I am not outing the original tattoo’er and told him I’d rather not say. Jack was fine with that and went about planning his course of action to help me.

This past Wednesday was my appointment. I was nervous. Not about having another tattoo done but more nervous and embarrassed to show Jack the original tattoo in person. I had no reason to be nervous. Jack was great, very professional. He went about his business drawing, picking out stencils and was so creative and intense about fixing this tattoo. I knew I was in good hands. Finally after much back and forth with Jack explaining what he wanted to do and his reasoning behind his plan; Jack took tattoo markers and drew outlines on my leg. He then placed various stencils; every now and then asking me if I liked what he was creating. I said yes over and over. I let him develop his vision and play it out on my leg. He added detail where there was none and he added artwork where there should have been. He also covered up mistakes made by the original guy.

After about an hour we were ready to begin the actual tattooing. I am not going to lie, it hurt…a lot. I started texting to take my mind off it. First my husband but he was working so that didn’t pan out. Then I texted Lelly who sent me pictures of our dog Lola wearing a kerchief on her head. I was afraid to laugh for fear I would move and screw things up. After I was done texting Lelly I tried my mom who was more than happy to text with me. That was great. At first she didn’t understand why I was so unhappy with the original work and when I explained and showed her the mistakes she got it and we texted pretty much the whole time Jack was working.

I kept thinking of Jack saying, “A tattoo is supposed to accent the body part, to make that part look good and go with the natural lines of the body. This tattoo does none of that.” That’s kind of what kept me going as Jack was working on the new design. So three hours later he finished part 1. After he was finished with the aftercare instructions Jack said he wanted to thank me for letting him do what he wanted, that I didn’t try to take control of the process and refuse his suggestions. I didn’t know what to say except thank him for having the vision he had to fix what was wrong.

I go back in 4 weeks for Jack to finish up. There are roses that need to be filled in and other aspects to be finished and sharpened up. I can’t wait to see the finished product. So far it’s been well worth the pain.

So earlier this week we journeyed to Freehold NJ to the bridal shop to have the bridesmaids and maids of honor pick out dresses and try them on. Alyssa asked both Lelly and Samantha to be her maids of honor. I thought that was really sweet. Her two bridesmaids are both very great, nice young women that Alyssa has known pretty much forever. I wasn’t surprised when she told me who she was going to ask to be her bridesmaids. Mariah and Lulè are just lovely people.

Alyssa picked out the color, and the girls picked out dresses that they liked. It was a very smooth and drama free experience. The only exception was when we met with the saleswoman to order the dresses she informed us that the bridesmaids’ dress wasn’t available in the color Alyssa wanted. Had the saleswoman actually stayed with us while they were initially picking out dresses this could have been avoided. But…all was well when the girls agreed on another dress in a similar style.

In all honesty the girls were simply stunning when trying on their various dresses. They were tiny sizes (like size 2 and size 4) and they’re all beautiful young women who could pull off looking good in a potato sack; seriously.

I also have to mention that Samantha was great as well. We found a style dress in her size that fit her to perfection. It will only need minor alterations and she was the one who said she liked the dress. Alyssa agreed. No drama thank God! In fact the whole dress search process was drama free. It was impressive. No one complained, was impossible or insisted on anything that Alyssa wouldn’t want.

I’m so happy for Alyssa that so far everything has been going along well. Her and Sam’s engagement is 8 months long. It’s perfect, perfect timing for them.

I took this week off from work. Actually we planned to be at Sanibel Island, Florida this past week, at my mom’s time share condo right on the beach. It is gorgeous there and the beach is amazing. So many different shells and the water is so warm; you’re swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Our plans were changed same as almost everyone I know due to Covid. So I still took the week off as planned. I agreed to work at the enrichment center in Brooklyn until school starts so taking this week off was good timing.

Today is my third and last beach day. The girls and I met up with my mom and nephew William on Tuesday and Thursday. Today it’s Samantha and I. Tommy met up with us for a little while and headed home. I didn’t *have* to come to the beach today. I could have done plenty at home such as school work for that lovely biochemistry class I’m almost finished with. But I love it here. I love hearing the waves crash and sitting on my chair in the sand feeling the sand on my feet and enjoying the sunshine. It’s fairly crowded but that’s to be expected for a great weather day.

I’m not dreading returning to work. I really enjoy my co workers/nurses I work with every day. I’ve learned new things from each of them, some life lessons and some life hacks if you will. I look at many situations very differently as a result of their openness and honesty. I’m so glad God saw it fit to place both women in my life.

You see so many different people from all walks of life here at the beach. At all different stages of life. It’s interesting to people watch. The NJ beach we’re at today is Ocean Grove. It’s pretty family oriented and quiet. I’m glad we came.

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Everyone who knows I am a school nurse is asking me about school opening, if the DOE is having part time in person and part time remote instruction, what is going on??

I. Don’t. Know. I know as much as any person who watches the news. They (the powers that be of NYC) aren’t telling their employees any more than they are telling the general public. I heard from our Mayor’s press conference that they will be staffing “all schools with a ‘certified’ nurse.” That was interesting because I don’t know what exactly a “certified” nurse is.

Right now I’m working at a Regional Enrichment Center (REC) in Brooklyn, right over the bridge. I’m grateful to be working and it’s a pleasant working environment. The children who attend the center are those who’s parents are essential workers ages 3-11yrs. The center is staying open right up until school is supposed to begin after Labor Day. I can’t help but wonder if schools are even going to be open. There doesn’t seem to be any solid plan in place. Will students be able to return in person a couple of days a week/half remote learning? Your guess is as good as mine.

Samantha wants to go to school; I don’t blame her. I know she will follow directions for social distancing and wear a mask. She’s eager to be around other kids, she’s starting high school. I’m eager for her to go and learn in person because I don’t feel she was taught enough during the remote learning she experienced this past March through June. There is no substitute for a live person teaching students in a classroom.

The silent treatment, ignoring someone, pretending they’re not there, just plain old not talking to someone. You don’t just up and decide you’re not speaking to someone overnight. There’s usually a reason; whether it’s a “good” reason or not can be debatable. I usually don’t recommend one person to not talk to another. I mean aren’t you supposed to talk things over to resolve a conflict? However, that can be a grey area for many people. And the decision to cut off communication with another is a decision some come by rather easily. I’m not one of those people. For me to not talk to someone and break off all communication it’s usually a last resort, straw that broke the camel’s back sort of situation.

I’m not altogether comfortable giving someone the silent treatment. I don’t like tension or drama. Not in my personal life and not in the work place. But there are times when a person is so toxic, extreme measures must be taken and self preservation is of importance. But then the question arises; how long does one not talk to this person for, how long does one keep this up? I don’t have an answer for that question. It’s an interesting and more common situation than I think.

I was offered a position to work this summer at a “Regional Enrichment Center” (REC for short) within a grammar school located in Brooklyn. When my supervisor called to offer the job; I at first said no. I did not want to travel all over Brooklyn and deal with gas and tolls. But my supervisor didn’t listen to me and even mapped out the location while we were on the phone. Turns out the school is 20 minutes from my house without traffic. I have to be in at 7am so I miss a lot of the morning traffic thank God and I leave work at 1pm. I’m home by 1:25. I couldn’t ask for better hours or location. And I have the rest of the day to do whatever with my girls or go visit Thomas at his house, or whatever else I feel like doing.

I work with two other Dept of Ed nurses. I knew one nurse from my school but we never really talked and we didn’t know each other well. Well that has changed and I’m so thankful. Turns out we get along very well and I really like her. She’s a very no drama person; exactly who I like. I loathe drama especially in the workplace and my new friend feels that way too. I’m so glad we work together and were given the opportunity to get to know each other better.

The other DOE nurse we work with is wonderful also. She a very direct, real person and what you see is what you get. She’s very upfront and will tell you what’s on her mind. I love that. She talks a lot about her family and I enjoy listening. The three of us all get along very well and the day goes by so smoothly and drama-less.

Of course there are students who need a nurse for bumps and bruises and various situations. It’s so different from my school and the medically fragile students I care for. In fact it’s as if you’re comparing apples to oranges. I correct myself, there is no comparison really. The REC staff is great both paras and teachers. We have to take the staffs’ temperature every morning and it took me a while to learn everyone’s name. So now some of the staff will try and trick me and they’ll tell me that they are someone else. Too funny. Rumor has it the REC’s will be open until September. I’m so glad I have great co workers to spend the time with.

I braved the storage part of our attic and managed to come out unscathed with the box that contained my carefully preserved wedding gown from close to 25 years ago. Alyssa wanted to try it on. I thought it was sweet. Late this afternoon was the time Alyssa, Lelly, Samantha and I had together to do it. I have to give mad props to my brother in law Vinny for the perfect condition my gown was in. He was the person who preserved it when he owned his own dry cleaning stores so many years ago.

The dress was as white and beautiful as I remembered it. The headpiece however didn’t fair as well as I had hoped. In all fairness it is truly a vintage piece of family history. The headpiece was my grandmother’s on my mom’s side. I remember searching and searching for it in her attic after I became engaged. I always told her if I found her headpiece I was going to wear it when I got married. Finally I found it, inside a very plain, non descript box. It was as if I found a treasure, I was so, so happy. My Aunt Marge worked on repairing the beading and cleaning this much sought after accessory. She did bring it back to all its glory and I did wear it when I married Tommy.

So I digress…my headpiece turned to an almost bronze color. Not white anymore. I suppose it could be worked on again to restore but Alyssa decided it wasn’t the style she wanted to wear and that’s fine. It’s her day.

Turns out my dress didn’t fit Alyssa. In all fairness my mom made the gown and it was truly a custom, totally made for my exact former gymnast measurements. At that time in my life I had a tiny waist and somewhat broad shoulders. The sleeves wouldn’t stay up on Alyssa. Then Lelly asked to try it on, of course I agreed. The waist fit but the shoulders were way too big. The sleeves wouldn’t stay up on her either. But they both looked so beautiful in my gown. It was such a lovely time to see my girls as young adults wearing my wedding gown, especially when one is a bride to be.

It’s started yesterday, I just suddenly missed my dad. Yesterday morning was like any other Saturday. I woke up pretty early, went to Shoprite, as usual, came home and unpacked the groceries with Samantha. I remember walking back to my car from putting the cart in the cart corral and thinking, “I miss him.” It pretty much struck me out of nowhere.

After Samantha and I put the groceries away I went to my other usual haunt, the thrift store, I scored some ridiculously high priced Italian denim for 6.99 and a top for the fall, but that was about it. But driving home I thought about Daddy. I called my mom and we talked for a while. The weather was crazy hot this weekend so it wasn’t an outdoor weekend for us. I wanted to treasure hunt at TJ Maxx so Samantha came along. 2 hours later I wanted to exclaim, “it was a shopper’s sky at TJ Maxx!” Whenever I went shopping and had a great trip, daddy would say loudly that is was a “shopper’s sky!” wherever I just came from. I did have a great shopping trip to TJ Maxx and daddy would have appreciated it.

I want to tell him so many things. He would love that Alyssa is engaged and be just as proud and happy as we are of both Alyssa and Sam. I want to tell him about the motorcycle I’m riding now, that it’s smaller than the Sportster we bought first and that it’s red. I wonder what Daddy’s reaction would have been to this pandemic we’re in the midst of. He would have been very high risk due to fighting cancer and having had lung surgery in the past. I want to tell him about me working at the enrichment center in Brooklyn this summer; about the kids and my co workers. How nice the staff is and how school safety takes their job seriously yet they make the time to be fun and break our chops every morning.

There’s so much more I want to tell him. I could write pages as I’m sure anyone reading this who has lost a loved one could. I know daddy is with Jesus, we had a talk about faith before he was diagnosed again with cancer. I wear the cross I bought him, he asked me to get him one after we talked about Jesus and faith. I was so happy to do that for him. I miss my Dad.

My oldest daughter, Alyssa has been dating Sam for some time now. All through both their teen years. A couple of weeks ago Sam asked Tommy for his blessing in asking Alyssa to marry him. My husband said of course he had his blessing! We adore Sam. So we knew he was going to pop the question but we didn’t know when. Then we find out that Sam was taking Alyssa out to dinner for her birthday but he wouldn’t say where, it was a surprise… After dinner they came to see us and Alyssa was wearing a beautiful, perfect engagement ring. Sam and Alyssa were both beaming with happiness. We are so very happy for them! It’s exciting to see them in this stage of adulthood.

They are currently talking about where/when/how big they want their wedding to be. Tommy and I have wholeheartedly agreed we will support them in every way possible. This is all about Alyssa and Sam and what they want. Too many times wedding plans get derailed by people who for whatever reason begin to erroneously believe that the event is all about them and not the bride and groom.

God has placed them together for His plan. And I know in my heart they will carry out whatever The Lord directs in their life. As Alyssa’s mom I am not worried about losing her. She’s my daughter and always will be. Sam is very welcome to become a member of our family. He always has been. Welcome Sam!!