Mario's Family Table
www.mariosfamilytable.com
Observations By Amy
September, 18 2011
When your child gets the flu, the entire damage hinges on what was the last thing your child ate before the moment of truth of body winning over mind happens. If your lucky, it's only been pasta with parmesan. If your as lucky as I seem to be, it is a trash can of cherry slush and popcorn with butter from the movies.
Flash back to two nights ago. It's a peaceful early morning around 4:30 am when little Cindy Lou Who comes in angelically and says "Mommy, I don't feel good". Before you ask if she thinks she might get sick, Cindy Lou Who becomes Linda Blair right before your eyes. You know serious damage is being done to your carpet, but it is dark and you hope for the best.
I will go past gory details and just get to the end result. I cleaned the mess from my carpet as best I could in my sleep and thought I will see how bad it is in the morning. After being with her in her room for he rest of the night it is about 11:00 when I open the drapes in my room and see what looks like could be two things.
1) A diagram of a red hot sun exploding (Actual size diagram)
2) The crime scene of the murder of a large elephant seal.
So, next time your child gets the flu, I hope he or she has not had any food product with red dye #2. This stain is never coming out..........good times....good times.
September 19, 2011
Last week I finished reading the book “The Power of Now”. Finally yesterday I decided that tomorrow I was going to start living in the NOW. It has been hard today because I keep thinking about tomorrow and next weekend. So, I sat down four hours ago and concentrated on the NOW when the phone rang and it was my friend asking me if I was meeting her for lunch this afternoon. I told her I wasn’t sure because at that moment I was concentrating on the NOW, I would let her know later. I hung up the phone and then it was impossible to be in the NOW because all I could think about was this afternoon. So I thought the Hell with today, I will be in the NOW tomorrow.Last week I finished reading the book “The Power of Now”. Finally yesterday I decided that tomorrow I was going to start living in the NOW. It has been hard today because I keep thinking about tomorrow and next weekend.
So, I sat down four hours ago and concentrated on the NOW when the phone rang and it was my friend asking me if I was meeting her for lunch this afternoon. I told her I wasn’t sure because at that moment I was concentrating on the NOW, I would let her know later.
I hung up the phone and then it was impossible to be in the NOW because all I could think about was this afternoon. So I thought the Hell with today, I will be in the NOW tomorrow.
September 23, 2011
Last night I was at school for the Troop 116 Girl Scout Hoe Down. I felt like I stepped back into 1968. It was in the Auditorium at school with bad florescent lighting.
There was a Chili Cook Off. I actually got to be one of the judges! There were so many families that showed up, it was wonderful.
Kids and parents all dancing together for three hours.
However, my favorite part of the night was watching 6 eleven year old boys (all there because of their sisters, they were not there by choice) doing the Hokey Pokey. When the caller said “put your right leg in” they all did so with the full intent of inflicting the most pain. Pain would indeed occur and then huge wails of laughter.
“Put your right arm in!” another pain fest! Six right arms all slamming into one another, more great laughter. When the caller sang “Put your head in” I couldn’t look, but there was great laughter again!
Oh, to be eleven and get that much joy from the Hokey Pokey...........
But that’s what it's all about, isn’t it?
September 26, 2011
Walking The Dog
We had a delicious dinner tonight. Simple and delicious. Mario cooked steaks on the grill and we had tomatoes and carrots from the garden. It was my son’s night to do the dishes and my daughter went to finish homework. Wow...nothing to do. What I really wanted to do was make a martini and watch TV. However I am on Weight Watchers and I couldn’t afford 6 more points. What to do...........I decided to take the dog out for and evening walk. I have never done this before. That was usually my kid’s job. I am the one who puts on my walking shoes and when the kids are off to school, Tess and I are off on our morning constitution.
When we bought this dog at the school’s Spring Fundraiser last year, I had no idea what joy she would bring into all our lives. I used to walk the hills of Palos Verdes with an iPod and play very loud music. I was out the door with my head down and would go as fast as I could for 50 minutes. I didn’t see anything or notice anyone. I would see my feet pounding out the beat of the music on the street pavement.Now, walking with my dog. I have a quick pace, but I find myself looking up and looking out at the view. I find myself talking to my dog. I smell lavender, fennel, jasmine and juniper. I see the same crows terrorizing this red tailed hawk every day. I say hello to people walking their dogs or babies and we have now gotten into a rhythm where I know almost everyone's name. When I come home from my walks with Tess I am calm not only in body but in spirit and mind. It is an amazing thing. If it wasn’t for Tess I wouldn’t be smelling and seeing and hearing all the beauty around me.So that brings me to tonight. I had on loafers and jeans. I wasn’t dressed for a “walk”. I didn’t have to put sunscreen on. I was just going to stroll with Tess to get some fresh air before the sun totally disappeared. It was twilight and Tess and I went out on a different route. I saw the big ugly pain in the butt crows chasing what I thought was the same red tailed hawk but as the bird came closer it got bigger and bigger. It was a huge owl. Wow, it was enormous. I don’t know what type of owl because there was not enough light, but it was a wonderful surprise. I heard dishes being done in some of the homes I walked by and there were some nice aromas coming out of other homes because dinner was just starting. I was enjoying myself thoroughly and thinking about how much I used to love to walk after dinner when I was a girl in Florida or a young woman in NYC. Mario and I would go for walks when it was just the two of us before kids. I was walking up the driveway with a smile on my face knowing that evening walks were back. The kids were older and life is calmer and I had Tess to remind me of this wonderful little joy in life....an evening walk. Thanks TessOctober 24, 2011.................Jeff Martin Studio
I turned 50 years old this summer and I am thinking about so many things from my 20’s, it is interesting. Today I just got back from my exercise class and I was thinking about this gym I belonged to when I lived in New York City.
I was 24 years old and had a great job at HBO. I lived on the West Side and walked to work every day. I was that classic example of the girl who had her sneakers on walking to work and then had pumps in the bottom drawer of her desk. Walking 60 blocks every day sure made my backside fabulous but I also went to a fitness studio on 74th and Broadway called The Jeff Martin Studio. There was only one studio if I remember correctly and it had those soft light wooden floors and every wall was mirror.
This is the 80’s, so you know how the aerobics phase was rampant. It was alive and well here. Jeff Martin taught a master class every night at 6:30. It was an hour and a half class with really loud fabulous music. There was aerobic exercise first and then free weights, then floor work. He was fantastic. You had to make a reservation for this class and they didn’t take reservations until 9:00 in the morning. At exactly 9:00 I am on the phone dialing....getting a busy sound.....hanging up and then dialing ...getting a busy sound and then hang up. I repeate this with gusto and hope knowing that Rachel would eventually be on the other end saying “Jeff Martin Studio”. All I would have to say was “Hi” and she would respond with “your on the list Amy” where she would then hang up to take another reservation. There were only 24 spots and they filled up in 3 minutes. It was a very stressful process for me and there were days that I would not get to the phone on time (because there were no cell phones) and the class would be full. This would seriously mess with my psyche for the rest of the day. I remember on one of the many occasions that I was at my sisters house outside of the city, when I had to have her do “The reservation call” at 9:00 because I was on the train getting back to the city. This poor woman. I called her when I got into work and she said that she had gotten my name on the list but she would never do that again because it was so stressful!So, now I have my reservation, I have finished work I have walked home, changed and head off to the studio. It is in the dead of winter, dark and cold. The class starts and we are warming up. Everyone has staked out their little territory on the floor and we begin. The energy is intense. The room is filled with New Yorkers who all were successful with their morning call and survived one more day at work. Now was time for the beast to come out, unleash that 80’s music and let’s get it started. We all know the routine. I always felt bad for the new people, it was a sink or swim mentality I tell you.Now we are in the middle of the class and the steam on the windows is thick and everyone has one good layer of sweat happening. My favorite part was when we were at the free weight section and I would look at myself in the mirror and see myself bent at the waist lifting 5lbs weights from the floor to my shoulders. There was actual steam coming off of my shoulders................I was never stronger than those years at Jeff Martin.
I would be in warm sweats walking home to my apartment, stop at the chinese restaurant and get cold noodles with hot sesame sauce to go. I would get into my apartment, get my winter layers off, get an Amstel Light out of the fridge and have my noodles and beer in front of the TV. Those were good times.Now, we get to my class today. I was in an upper arm class. I didn’t need to make a reservation, I just showed up. The music isn’t very loud because we all like to talk during class. There is conversation about how someone's daughter is doing in College or how to get snails out of your garden. The music is still from the 80’s but remixed. In the end we are on our mats and the lights are off and we are stretching and you can hear the ocean through the door. It is so peaceful. I am dressed in light clothing because it has been so warm and when I get home I make a cup of green tea. I feel like these are good times too.
