IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This post is about this past weekend. It’s really my heart talking so may not make a lot of sense to a lot of you. I’m sort of emotional right now, so if you don’t like that just bear with me…
Several hours ago, I drove home from Parma in complete silence. Normally when I’m in the Jetta race car by myself I blast the tunes and attempt to sing and hang with Vince Neil, Steven Tyler, Paul Stanley or whoever is the frontman for whatever band I’m listening to. Drove home without music, though, because I was happy… and sad… at the same time.
We’ll start with why I was happy…
Anyone who knows me personally or follows this blog closely knows about my feelings for Diane and her girls; who I love like they’re my own kids.
Well, Diane and her two younger girls, Nikki and Gabrielle, came to Ohio this weekend so the her girls could meet their new cousin; the seven week old, beautiful little girl Lucia!
Whenever they come here, I offer my townhouse as a place for them to stay… so, thankfully, they stayed here!
Here’s the recap of the weekend…
They got to my place around 1:15 am Saturday morning. We all sort of tiredly reconnected, hung out a little bit and then went to bed.
We got up several hours later for breakfast… and breakfast was FUN! I made my signature homemade biscuits and Diane cooked sausage and made her heavenly sausage gravy. We’re a great team that made one hell of a great breakfast!
After breakfast, we headed over to Diane’s sister’s house, so her girls could meet Lucia, and see their cousins Lily & Luigi, in addition to their Uncle Nick, Aunt Susie and their Grandma!
I enjoy watching their family interact… such a loving family!
Here was the really cool part for me this weekend. They had a family reunion Saturday afternoon and wanted me to join them for it! I was honored to go!
Well check this out! The reunion was at Buckin’ Ohio (Check out and like their Facebook page HERE) in Burbank, where they have real live bull riding. There was no bull riding Saturday… but there were bulls!
This dude was AWESOME!
…And some others…
Anyway… for the reunion, the main dish was pig, because it was a pig roast! I guess I shoulda got more pictures, as that was a nice lookin’ dead pig; cooked to perfection. And ohmyfreakin’God was that pig tasty! I had about 1/2 pound of pig on a bun, with cheesy potatoes, potato salad and some beans that had to have been sent straight from heaven! As usual, I ate too much.
When the dessert was made available, I passed… but Diane’s Mom brought me one of her homemade lady locks to try. It was delightful!
NOTE TO SELF: Start losing weight, like now, Greg! Also… get back to the gym!
The kids also got to see horses…
That’s Gabrielle, trying not to stick her tongue on the electric fence!
L to R… Lily, Luigi and Gabrielle
I had so much fun with Diane and her family, as I always do. This, however, was an all day affair. In wrestling with Lily & Gabrielle throughout the day, I was missing my girls. Having them there with us, and Diane’s oldest daughter, Jordan, would’ve made things just perfect.
After the reunion, we all went to Nick & Susie’s for a little bit to hang out and unwind. Diane’s girls stayed with Grandma for the night so she and I had a chance to have a date!
We went to Panini’s here in Brunswick, had some wings and a couple drinks (anybody ever hear of Jager not being served chilled? Because our waitress asked if that’s how we wanted it…), and just talked… and talked… and laughed… a lot!
So this morning, after a good night’s sleep, Diane went to her Mom’s to gather up Nikki and Gabrielle so they could go back to Pennsylvania. I followed, only so I could spend more time and make every second count while they were here.
But they had to go…
And that’s the reason I left Parma this morning and didn’t turn the radio on in the race car…
Everything would be so perfect if we all could be together… all the time. So my dumb ass drives around and tries to figure out a solution. Unfortunately, there is no solution… and when my brain can’t figure out something… it gets angry and then sad… So I became sad…
All I can do is look forward to the next time we can all hang out… and we’re workin’ on that as I speak…
For Shiggles 