My Biggest Cheerleader

Equality rocks! Congratulations to all of my brothers and sisters, your voice is being heard! I'm so glad to see that progress is being made. We are all God's children. God is LOVE!

OK, so it looks like progress is being made in matters of family as well. I'm glad to see that Teresa realizes it does take two parties to make or break a relationship. It's so important for everyone to be in a positive place in order for relationships to move forward and sustain happy, healthy futures together. Everything sounds really great when she's saying it, and both Melissa and Teresa want the same things. Does anyone else notice something a bit peculiar? Why does Teresa insist that they shouldn't dwell on the past, and then in the next breath she is brings up the past? Oh OK, I get it, she's only allowed to bring up the past when it suits her. I wish she would recognize what she does. It's just one example of why addressing anything serious with her is so maddening.

For Teresa to bring up things that happened so many years ago that have long been resolved and put to rest is petty. This further illustrates that Teresa hangs on to issues of the past and will bring it up whenever it suits her. I do however think that the past can be brought up at times, when the issues have not been resolved and there are feelings that are put away and haven't been dealt with properly. If you bottle up your feelings and don't deal with them, they have a tendency to bubble up and explode when you least expect it.

Something always stands out to me when I watch the Laurita family interact with one another. Jacqueline in particular always cracks me up with her ability to poke fun at herself and make everyone around her laugh.

I love watching Albert and Caroline together, their relationship is like a well-oiled machine. Their give and take is the perfect example of a how constructive criticism is the mark of mutual respect. Couples that encourage and support one another are a force to be reckoned with.

My family and friends have always raved about the food I make. I love experimenting and combining flavors from other cuisines with traditional Italian dishes. The compliments always encourage me to be daring and try more. I really do love being in the kitchen. Some of you must wonder whether I even have any other rooms in my house. I can assure you, I do, but I'm not quite as happy in them.

With that being said, I've wanted to bring my cooking and baking skills to the next level. You see me trying to brainstorm with my dessert recipes; I would love to start a small made-to-order dessert catering company. I have something in mind similar to what you have all seen me do at Melissa and Joe's house for Thanksgiving. It's a great way to start out small while allowing me to spend time with my family. I can always count on Rich to turn my ideas upside down. When did we go from catering out of my house to opening a restaurant? It's not exactly what I had in mind. How does he do it? I'm still confused as to how was he able to convince me to open up a restaurant. Now I think I'm more excited about it than he is. I love Rich for his over the top ideas and his undying confidence and support. Rich is my biggest cheerleader.

Before I can even say restaurant, Rich has appointments set up to see prospective locations. I was exhausted, because we must have driven all over Northern New Jersey that day. The vision I have for my restaurant is one with Mediterranean influences and good flow. People should be able to mingle easily in the bar area. The space I was looking for should have a cocktail party vibe rather than a sit down dinner. Dining out for me is about the social experience with light bites in a soothing, cozy environment finished with some really beautiful and delicious desserts. Always save room! When we landed in every little Italian pizzeria/restaurant combo, I was starting to get discouraged. Hey don't get me wrong; pizza is my favorite thing to eat. It just wasn't what I had in mind for our place. I'm looking for something that you don't usually see in our area of New Jersey. Stick around to see how this all works out.

In this episode we see Christmas is approaching and the celebrating is starting. I always loved going to see my kids in their Christmas concerts and other holiday recitals that they had at school and church. When Melissa invited us to join her and Joey at Antonia's holiday dance recital, we were excited. We really miss our kids at that age. However Rich is really the biggest kid of all, always cracking jokes and either breaking the ice or sometimes annoying me. But I love him for it. He can never sit still for long enough, I think that he secretly wanted to get up and dance.

I'm so glad that my Aunt Antonia could be there and see little Antonia perform. Joey was thrilled too! He's so proud of his little princess. How lucky for Antonia to have both of her grandmothers there to cheer her on beaming with love and pride. That's what it's all about. These are lasting memories that stay with us forever and make our hearts sing.

I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive and has responded well to me and my family. I hope that through all the ups and downs you have seen us all go through so far, we have provided a few laughs as well.

See you all next week!

Lots of love,

Xoxo Kathy

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