Ethan’s Journey

This morning I witnessed the bus stopped for the children across the street from our house. A white car sped past the bus as the stop sign on the bus was extended and the red lights were flashing.  The person in the white car could NOT have been even looking at the bus for several seconds to not notice.  Thankfully no one was injured. But what the heck? Is saving 30 seconds of your drive worth a kids life? Unbelievable! I stewed about it for longer than I should have. Is this what getting old is like? Having anger towards this idiot driver for the rest of the day?  After work I was able to get outside with my mini chainsaw and cut up some bigger sticks, place them in paper bags and put them in the garage for when we need kindling this winter for the wood burning stove. I have several bags of sticks, but never feel like I have enough. I am excited to have a fire again. It has been chilly in the mornings. We aren’t ready yet to start it. The chimney needs a good sweep and w...

My brother and I had coffee this morning. Ethan joined us (but doesn’t drink coffee). We were laughing and chatting about things. Brian got a tour of Ethan’s barndominium. More wedding photos were shared today from the surprise wedding at the Halloween party. Such a cool and fun idea! I will share more below! Diane and Andy’s Halloween party’s are fun because there is an area to sit outside by the fire, stay in the garage with the heater, or go in the house with all the food. There is usually soups, several crockpots going, dips, chips, mummy themed desserts, Frankenstein rice crispy treats….so many yummy things to choose from! Today I did some meal prep, made some snacks for the air fryer for the boys, had a surprise and welcomed visit from my Mom and Gene. My Mom has been working really hard on her physical therapy and her mobility is improving!!!!! Yay Mom! We went to a friend’s house for the Bill’s game. They won!  There were so many yummy snacks. I was stuffed when I came home...

Back in August, Diane and I went for a walk at camp. She told me about how she and Andy had talked a lot about things and that they wanted to do a surprise wedding at their annual Halloween party.  What a cool idea!  They had already sent out invitations to the Halloween party and wanted people to come dressed in thrift store formal. That could be whatever you wanted it to be. Then Diane went on to asked me to be the officiant. Holy crap! YES! What an honor. I went to the town and applied for a one day license so that I could legally marry Andy and Diane.  It was one big secret! As Diane announced, the excitement swirled and twirled in the room.  Diane had said to keep the ceremony to about 5 minutes. I researched and wrote the ceremony. Not even Andy or Diane knew what I was going to say. My Aunt and Uncle were so surprised! It was so heartwarming to watch. Andy and Diane had the perfect wedding for them. They enjoy this party every year. They love Halloween. How fu...

Ethan had us dying this morning talking about the night guy at his job that he deals with. His description of the guy was so vivid.  Ethan- “His teeth look like tree roots covered in sewage.” Paul - “ugh….imagine what that guy’s breath is like.” Patti- “ no thanks….to be fair that is how he takes care of his body in places people can see….imagine the places people can’t see.” 🤮 This is a good before 7 am conversation in our house. Paul was irritating me. I sent him a clear text yesterday asking him to do a specific task. When I followed up to see if he had done said task, he told me that my text said I WAS GOING TO DO IT!!!!!! Nope…it sure didn’t say that. I read the text aloud. He said “oh….woops.” Patti-  “Why don’t you just do what your wife says? Your life would be less naggy.” We discussed the task and how it would not be appropriate for me to complete. He even agreed it would not be appropriate. Good times first thing in the Di Iulio house! We talked to Ethan a little b...

Today was a leisurely day. I watched a documentary (per Sarah’s suggestion) that is about 10 years old about sexual crimes on college campuses across the United States and how they are under reported because the schools want to fudge their numbers to make themselves look better. It was infuriating to watch, and I am glad I watched. It is called The Hunting Ground. When I first searched for it on Roku, many actual deer hunting shows popped up. Who is watching deer hunting? There is really something for everyone on TV. I thought of how I would react if my child was treated the way some of girls were treated. I would be furious. I would likely put my everything to legally make the college leaders lives harder. I would probably get myself killed for being such a daily pain in the butt. My day got a little more exciting as it got further and further along in the day. More calls, more emails and a couple offers. Throw in a visit to the dentist…for a jaw issue…..it was jam packed.  I am c...

Paul was getting ready for work this morning and was in just his underwear. He had a large 4 -5 inch rip along the seem where the underwear was coming unattached from the waist band. He was slightly bent over, causing skin to be exposed in the gap. I walked over to him and gave a good tug and about ripped those underwear in half. “It looks like those ones have a hole in them.” I said in a monotone voice His bare butt hanging out he said “oh come on!” “YOU oh come on….those underwear are past their expiration date. Why would you even put those on?” I asked. He removed and replaced them and said….”I will just put these in the dirty clothes.” He was joking. “THROW THEM OUT!” I said.  I do excessively rip any socks or underwear with holes in them because both he and Ethan will continue to wear them and fish them out of the garbage if I don’t make them completely unwearable! Moe is having an adjustment period from not camping. He does like being outside all day. I would even let him sta...