Valeria Out Loud

Hey everyone!

Even though the celebration for my mom was a week ago, (my eldest sister is here from Italy so for scheduling we had to do it then), I am posting the party pics now.. on her actual birthday. It has been a crazy week of life and work.  Seriously, what a week.

Before I post photos of my mom’s birthday, one thing I haven’t mentioned here is that my youngest daughter got her brace off of her broken humerus, she is healed! And she is onto the next step, Physical Therapy. She is doing so well, she is so happy, but has another month of no contact/no large group play at school.

I bring this up because it is not just awesome news for her, but during her first visit, I had a weird moment watching the evaluation.  I was watching her going through the mobility screening, and with each movement she was doing, especially those over head, I was thinking to myself how painful those moves were for me to do.  So after they gave me her diagnosis/plan, I admitted to my pain.  So now I am in PT!!  Clinically, I was diagnosed with a shoulder impingement issue.  It is truly painful, yall… and apparently, makes you speak like a Southerner..wth was that?  haha  This all started this Summer, before our trip to California, I didn’t know what was going on.  Did this have to do with my car accident from the Spring or from working out too much, or from age..  but I was growing nervous as it just wasn’t going away with what I was doing. So I stopped going to the gym after the trip, going twice since. The pain was just horrible.  I also didn’t share it with anyone until a week before Thanksgiving.  Why? Because I am stupid that is why, and when my daughter broke her arm I went into care mode for her not me.  Then it started bothering me in my sleep about a week before my daughter was to see this PT Physician. My worry was worsening and planned to talk to a doctor. So the first doctor I saw was this PT physician during her appointment.  haha

I am so glad I opened my mouth when I did there, because I now see my posture and the issue it is causing. There is a rounded look to my posture from years of desk life, how it feels comfortable sitting and so much more.  This is a big change for me, and a hard job every day. The Dr is saying that the work they are teaching me should help my posture to alleviate this issue.  I am hopeful, and, thankful this office of therapists is whom I am seeing.  They really have opened my eyes to how I carry myself physically, and what could have become a major problem.  Wish me luck! 🙂

And as I typed that my new 36″ foam roller just got delivered!!  YEAAAHHH!! 

Ok, so back to the purpose of this post.. sorry I can ramble, you know this.

We celebrated my Mom at her favorite restaurant, Tokyo Steakhouse.  She loves the whole teppanyaki show, the fire, the jokes, the …food.  haha  It was the first time my niece and brother-in-law from Italy had been to a restaurant like this, and it was a lot of fun.  They just arrived the night before, so they were a little tired but it was still a nice night.  After dinner we went to my house for cake. I had set up my kitchen with everything we needed for a fun night celebrating my Mom. Champagne, coffee and candy.  What else is there, really?  My mom seemed so happy. Whom, btw, looked radiant.

A big Happy 70th Birthday cheer to my Mamma!  I wish you a day filled with love and happiness, and every day filled with health and peace in your heart. xoxoxo

Enjoy the only pictures that I took… (I just want to FYI folks out there that don’t know how WordPress works in the photo area.  Collages, like this one below, are great fun to pull together. You add photos you like into the media feature (where photos are stored). You choose which you want in a specific part of the page, like this one I chose all the photos from that night. Then WordPress uses the order and orientation of the photos to create a more cohesive collage; which is why some pics are larger than others. I am not manipulating that, I just add the photos I like in the order of when they’re shot and WordPress does the rest.)

My house was set.. dont make fun of that Y balloon. It would stay inflated, and bahh that bothered me. hahah

These ended up being off the hook good

So we took a pic before we left..they are so cute. My shining lights. 🙂

and these gummies made me laugh

look at the package.. heehee

Party time

Me and my mother

With my husband

My eldest sister who is here from Italy.. I know we dont look alike

With my sister, who doesn’t live in Italy.. and yes we sort of look alike

With my mother and father, now you see where I come from hahah

My brother in law (Italian) and parents

My parents

My sister and her heusband

ALL THE GRANDKIDS!! Together for the first time, because before this our nephew wasn’t here yet!

My Mom’s cake!

I bought these cute candles and numbers at Michael’s. seriously, such a great store.

With all of her grandchildren

my flash obv was having an issue..but the photos still are cute!

All Lit!

Playing with my selfie light, what a fox

My nephew, he was trying to make me laugh with all the costume changes

He went from superman here, to wearing a sombrero, an old granny in glasses; he is just so cute