R.I.P. GIOVANNI CORSI 1922-2007

I found out this morning that my grandfather had passed away. Nonno Giovanni (whom I am named after) had taken extremely ill a few days before Christmas so my Dad, Aunt & Uncle went back to Italy to be with him and the rest of the family. He got progressively worse during their visit but still clung on to life. With nothing left to do but wait and pray, my dad returned yesterday and this morning (less than 24 hours later), we were informed that he had passed, like he was waiting for his children to leave before he could move on.

We were all expecting it, and honestly hoping that it would happen to end his suffering but it doesn't make it any easier.

Nonno Giovanni and I were not that close due to the language barrier but love was there, he was a good man, a hard working man and a man who was very proud of his family. When he was younger (when I was a kid) he would come to Vancouver every summer or so and work in the gardens during the day and make kick ass meatballs at night (still are the best meatballs ever in my opinion). Honestly, my Nonno was legendary for his meatballs, they were made from a secret recipe that only he knew and I don't know if he passed it on or not! He loved his family and he loved to sit around the table after dinner getting into discussions or debates with his kids. My dad and him talked often and I would talk through my dad to my grandfather when the chance was there. I'm glad I got to spend time with him and I am glad Michelle got to meet him before he passed.

He is the last of my grandparents and I will miss him a lot, not only for the memories I have of him in my life but to see the happiness in my dad whenever he would see or speak to him. While being a man of few words, his presence was felt throughout the family and that was a good thing. He is and will always be a great man. Thanks for everything you have been and done for the Corsi Family, Nonno Giovanni, I love you and will miss you.

XMAS: COME & GONE

All the build-up, all the prep, all the presents, all the stress and over 36 hours or so, it's all over. Another Christmas has come and gone and honestly it was bittersweet. My GRANDFATHER has taken quite ill over the last week, so bad that my dad and uncle flew back to Italy to be with him, this is the first Christmas I haven't spent with my dad. I always thought our first Christmas apart would be because Michelle and I would be traveling, not due to a sick relative. One the positive side though, this is the first christmas that my dad and all his siblings have been together (my dad left home before his two youngest brothers were born). So at least they are all together and spending it with my Nonno (grandfather in Italian).

Another plus is that my entire step=family came up from Portland (Victor, Marisa, Stuart, Tyler & Riley) to spend CHRISTMAS EVE with Gina, Michelle and myself, again odd without my dad but a great night nonetheless.

Michelle and I hosted a CHRISTMAS DAY OPEN HOUSE for her entire family and mine, there was oodles of people and tons of food but things went well and everyone had a great time.

In other pre-Christmas related events, Michelle took part in Andrea's BAKE DAY, I played ROCK BAND with Kevin & Ferraro for the first time and Clint & Andrea held their annual CHRISTMAS PARTY.

As always, there are a ton of pics, so click on the links above to be taken to the goodness.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

LAVERNE IS OK!!!

Just a quick update on our baby girl... Laverne went in for Surgery on Friday morning and everything went well. The Doctor said, it was routine, no complications and she came out of it with flying colors!


We are now on "Puppy Watch" as she is supposed to take it easy for 2 weeks so her wounds heal but you try getting a puppy to chill out and not jump & play, it isn't as easy as it sounds. At least she's going to be A-OK and she came home complete with a fancy "cone of shame" to boot!!!

PUPPY PROBLEMS

So we came home on Sunday night to find Laverne extremely lethargic, shaking & not drinking... very unlike her. She wasn't getting better so we decided to take her to Emergency (love the fact that Vancouver has a 24-hour Animal Emergency Clinic). Anyway, 4 hours later after some blood tests and x-rays, it was determined that she could be pregnant.

Yes that's right... pregnant. We wouldn't know for sure until the test results came in but the doctor was leaning that way with the immediate info available.

How the hell could this happen? She's always with us when she's outside and when she's off-leash she's trained to stay by us. The only way she could have gotten knocked up is at Doggie Daycare. Michelle was perturbed, I was furious. We weren't going to talk to the Daycare people until the test results came in but still, temper was high.

The test results came in last night and luckily, Laverne isn't pregnant but she has a big infection in her uterus, meaning she needs to get spayed. Previous to all this, we had booked her spaying for this Friday so even though we were humming and hawing on whether or not we would spay Laverne or breed her, the decision has been made for us. In a few days, Laverne will be extremely tender and wearing a "cone of shame".

I wonder though, if she was pregnant, what those mutt puppies would have looked like cause there are no other Bostons at the Daycare. A Boston/French Bulldog? Or a Boston/Great Dane... could have happened.

PARTY: PART 2

The Holiday party season is in full swing with not one, not two but three parties in the last week. Thursday we celebrated JENNY'S BIRTHDAY, Friday was the PROPAGANDA CHRISTMAS LUNCH and Friday night was CALDER XMAS 2007. Loads of good times and some good pics too, check them out below!!!

JENNY'S BIRTHDAY

PROPAGANDA CHRISTMAS LUNCH

CALDER XMAS 2007

PARTY: PART 1

Tis the season for the party! Fa la la la la la la la la! Last week we attended Sarah & George's kick ass WINE PARTY and this weekend we went to Michelle's work Xmas party where she was the MC. The party was great and Michelle did a fantastic job as the hostess with the mostest! More parties and pics to come (including the fabled Calder Christmas, Holiday at the Ranch and many more), so stay tuned but in the meantime, check out Michelle's great new hairdo! Happy holidays indeed!

BAD MORNING/GREAT NIGHT

Remember last year when I wanted to get out of my MINI LEASE? Well, I should have taken my own advice. This morning, a block from my house, the tempurature gauge shot up to a gazillion and the car started chugging bad, long story short, blown radiator. 1.5 hour wait for the tow truck, 1/2 hour at Mini and still no car till tomorrow. I won't bore you with the the financial damage but let's just say it's costing me between $774 and $776, somewhere in there. Merry Christmas. If you are planning on buying a used car, can I suggest a 2003 Mini? It just got a new radiator!!!

The day wasn't all bad though, for tonight Cam and I witnessed the concert of concerts for closet rockers like us, David Lee Roth and VAN HALEN, it was awesome. Loud, probably the loudest concert I've been to (yes they were louder than Motley Crue and yes I went to Motley Crue - like I said, closet rocker). Anyway, Dave and the boys sounded awesome, bassist Michael Anthony is no longer with the band but Eddie's 16 year-old son Wolfgang filled in for the tour and believe it or not, he did fantastic. I've been a fan of Van Halen since the Women And Children First Album and I saw them first in concert on the 1984 tour! David Lee Roth left the band and was replaced with Sammy Hagar through the nineties and early 21st century (I saw them twice during this time) but now Dave is back and the band sounded great. I got to rock out for a few hours, listen to some classics and forget about the horrible start to the day.

Bad morning... great night!

SNOWY WEEKEND

Well it was the first weekend in December and also the first snowfall for Downtown Vancouver and those of us who live on the East Side. I love the first snowfall of the year and this one will be extra memorable as it was LAVERNE'S first snowfall as well. For a dog who hates to get cold and hates to get wet, she loves the snow! She loves to run in it, chase it and eat it but only for a few minutes at a time cause then reality kicks in and she gets cold but she loves the white stuff, that's pretty cool. As I write this, the snow is slowly turning to slush as it has begun warming up and raining hard but for two days we had a little winter wonderland here and I hope we get to see more of it soon! Some pics of our snowy weekend can be found HERE!!!