Wrap-Up Report: Italy

My vacation highlights are coming, but I'm a seriously jet-lagged little girl with some stuff to say.

With that, forgive me for the sentimentality of this post.

The trip had its highs and its lows. An amazing birthday was followed by some intense family stuff. By the end of the two weeks, almost everything my parents said and did grated on my nerves to some extent, but today, I am so grateful to have had that time with them. So grateful to see my ma get excited about something, see my dad get a little bit sappy, and to just remember what they are like as people.

For all of our familial quirks and difficulties, this little group of three is all the family I think I could ever want or need. The life my parents have given me blows me away on an almost daily basis. And though each of us has our faults, I am so blessed to have two people that love me in such an unconditional, big way.

So the overall impression of this trip: I am one lucky chick. In so many ways.

Here we go

I leave tonight. I'm both excited and nervous as shit. Two weeks with my parents.

Oye.

I will get a wee break in Milan for the weekend - I was supposed to meet a friend there, but it doesn't look like it will happen - so solo I will be. I think I'll be ok.

When I return from this little adventure, expect me to be a whole lot fatter. When I went to Paris the only food I was genuinely excited for was the pain au chocolat. This trip, I'm so freaking excited for all the food!

I'm going to be single for a while after I get back.

Tenderoni You've Got To Be

Honey, come set me free
Don't you know now is the perfect time
We can dim the lights
Just to make it right
In the night
Hit the lovin' spot
I'll give you all that I've got

I think I need you to be here with me

We all want a better life
I think I found it in this place
Everything is so sublime
You should come with me
We all want a better life
I think I found you just in time
And I feeling so divine
We all want a better life
And I'm not going home
I'm not ever going home



Esthero will forever remind me of Jarod, NYC, Hiro Ballroom and an incredibly drunk performance.

Before I forget

The first week of December was spent in Houston with my family. All the kids, my cousins & their husbands, aunt and ma. As an added treat I also got to hang with Roberto, one of my Paris-vacation highlights - how fun is that? Thanks internet!

Anyways, I have to say the highlight of this trip was, not surprisingly, the kidlettes. These kids are pretty awesome, and they still think I'm pretty cool, so that's fun.

I took my nephew skating for the first time - he was a super trooper and did really well with a couple of decent falls, was willing to let go of my hand to try and skate on his own, and just had a lot of fun with it.

I got to watch my niece during her swimming and ballet lessons, and then had the most incredible experience.

My second last night there I was helping my niece with her homework - the usual reading & writing. I've never helped a child with homework before. I've never had the chance to see a young mind learning something totally new. Reading, to my niece, is totally new. Words like 'why' and 'pox' were unknown, but by the end of our study date, she knew stuff.

I've probably done a poor job articulating how amazing it was to witness this. How incredible it is to see her now, at age 7, when I first saw her as a newborn.

Amazing.

I also went to have lunch with my niece, and had to explain to my nephew that he's my only boyfriend, when he was getting jealous I was meeting up with Roberto.

After explaining to my niece how Justin Timberlake is my talented boyfriend and showing her a video from a concert, she says to me "Aunty Iris, if he's your boyfriend, why is he dancing with another girl?"

Because Aunty Iris doesn't do jealousy.

And then there was my two-year-old niece who watched attentively as I did my make-up one night.

So cute.

But at the end of right now, they aren't cute enough to want. I was exhausted for a good chunk of the vacation, because there is no rest with kids. I wanted to talk like an adult and not worry I was corrupting a young mind.

So now I'm going to sit on my couch, finish watching an R-rated movie, maybe curse during a phone call, and sleep in tomorrow, because I'm an aunt and the kids aren't mine.

That doesn't make them less awesome though.

Make a memory

In two weeks I leave for Italy for my birthday trip with my parents. It should definitely be interesting, and so many people have asked me why I'm doing a trip with them, rather than the previously suggested trip to Vegas.

Simply put, I need to make some memories.

You see, the idea of parental mortality has become an all-too-real thought for me. Ever since ma's open heart surgery, I have become obsessed with making sure that I am prepared for the day that they won't be here any more.

I want tons of pictures. Lots of videos. And just memories that will last me through the rest of my life without them. It's depressing, I know, but I'm all too aware of the reality of mortality.

When my cousin died we held on to every piece of him that we could. Voicemails, photos, videos. I have very few photos of he and I, and because I lived so far away, my memories are limited as well. For a very long time I didn't like to talk about my memories of him because I worried they would get diluted or overshadowed by someone else's.

I don't want to worry about that when my parents pass away.

To prevent that from happening I'm preparing for two weeks with ma and pa Dias. I figure, at the very least, I'll get a few good stories and a million memories. Ma and I have never been, so it should be pretty freaking cool.

And yes, I'm sorry I was born in January when things won't be quite as pretty, but fuck it, we're going to Italy!