Weekend Stuff

Happy Monday Everyone!!

I was sick again last week and into the weekend and have been sleeping an insane amount of hours. A co-worker said, "maybe you have Mono," and now I'm convinced that I do. Or maybe it's the swine flu again. Or SH*T, maybe it's something really serious like leukemia. Or maybe I should actually go SEE a Doctor and stop diagnosing myself!!

I did manage to peel myself out of bed long enough to celebrate Yiayia's 85th birthday on Sunday. This is all of the grandchildren, and yes, that is Yiayia throwing back some champagne.

Here is one of Yiayia and her two daughters - That's my mom on the left. It was absolutely impossible to get the three of them to STOP TALKING long enough to take a picture. This is the best one I could snap.

I managed to catch Brian and Cosmo sharing a very special moment in the living room.

And finally a picture of Yiayia and I. My parents divorced when I was very young, and instead of being raised by Mom & Dad, I was raised by Mom & Yiayia. I spent hours upon hours playing with Yiayia. Yiayia taught me how to knit, crochet, and cross stitch. We baked Greek cookies together, watched old movies, and played hide & seek. One of my fondest memories was when I was still small enough to hide in the wicker laundry hamper. She couldn't see me, but I could see her frantically trying to find me for a good 30 minutes. I eventually had to reveal my hiding spot when she gave up her search and sat down to read the newspaper. She thought it was hysterical when I popped out of the hamper declaring, "I'm in here!" It wasn't so funny when we moved hide & seek outside, and I hid in the car out in the garage. She paced up and down the street asking the neighbors if they had seen me. When I jumped out of the car declaring, "I'm in here," she grabbed me by the shirt and dragged me inside. I think I was punished for that one.....

Yiayia saw me off for the prom, was at all of my dance recitals, cheerleading competitions and graduations. The four of us ate dinner every night: my mom, my sister, me and Yiayia. She would ask me how my day was, and would got a kick out of all the funny stories that happened at school that day. When Brian and I approached her with the news of our engagement, she hugged me at the waist with tears in her eyes and said, "No, you can't have her, she's ours." I can't imagine life without Yiayia, because she has been there for every good and bad experience. She pulled Brian and I aside yesterday and gave us our first marriage advice:

"You know, it's 50/50. Both of you, 50/50. But sometimes you have to give her 75, and you 50. It's easier sometimes to just give her 75."

Grammatically it doesn't make sense - but we knew what she meant. Giving the wife her way, sometimes just makes things easier.

Thanks Yiayia :)

Happy Birthday. Love you!