The Daily Snoop

Last month, we had some family in town. Such fortunate timing that the Boldin boys and my Mom were able to plan their trips to LA at the same time. They got to meet each other!!! Needless to say, we had a ton of fun. Just see for yourself!

I also put a ton of videos of our Family Fun Day at the Beach on my Youtube Channel! Check it out! ~ Rosa-Boldin-Garrett-Joe Family Fun Day

Dad,

Life has caught up to me again. I never thought it would happen again, but it did. I had another nervous breakdown yesterday. It happened on a Monday morning while I was at work. Just like last year. What tips me over the edge is a grueling work project that comes this time every year, which coincidentally comes right after Father’s Day every year. I took yesterday and today off work to have some alone time to recover. Recover from what though? How do I recover from this?
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Making a decision to have a child–it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
- Elizabeth Stone

You don’t really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around – and why his parents will always wave back.
- William D. Tammeus

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.
- Tenneva Jordan

When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.’ Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.
- Pablo Picasso

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts.  A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.
- Sophia Loren

I love you, Mom!! Happy Mother’s Day!!

Warm fuzzies.

Just heard this song on the oldies station K-EARTH 101.1 FM, coming back from Whole Foods. Memories flood my head… all the times Mom sung this to us kids when we were little… all the times she’s said this to me personally… every card she signs with the lyrics, “More today than yesterday… Less than tomorrow.”

The birthday card Mom sent me this year:

What a great song… and what perfect thoughts of Mom!

I know I am loved.

I love you too, Mom.. more today than yesterday, but less than tomorrow.

Mom, this one’s for you. Sing it, Spiral Starecase!

Well it’s come and gone… and boy, was it hard to decide how to celebrate! I turned the reins over to M! He gets an A++ for one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had! (more…)

• Dying Easter Eggs
• Egg Placement holders
• Egg Hunts – finding plastic Easter Eggs filled with candy
• Scavenger Hunts to find our Easter Baskets
• Easter Grass
• Easter Bunny
• Chicks
• Chocolate Hollow Bunnies
• Mom’s Easter Rice Krispies – in the shape of Bunnies and Eggs, decorated with frosting and Candy Buttons
• Special Mass
• Learning about what Easter really means – Jesus’ Resurrection to Heaven
• Special Easter Outfits
• Easter at the Snowbarger House in Kirksville, MO
• Angi’s Easter Sugar Cookies
• My Sixteenth Birthday on Easter – the Special Bunny Cake Aunt Rose and Angi made for me
• Peeps
• Dad giving us Cadbury Eggs, even mailing them to us in adulthood
• My favorite Dove Chocolates
• Easter Eggs filled with Lottery Tickets – for the adults
• West Coast Garrett Easter and that time Griffin ran to find Easter Eggs by the poolside (last year)
• When Ginger found that really old Easter Egg, thinking it was ours.. Eewww
• The time Mom and Jake came to visit us in LA so we were all together on Easter and for My Birthday (last year)

Well, the Garretts made it special again. Sunday was the year anniversary of Dad’s passing. During such a hard time, they knew exactly what was needed – beach, salami/cheese and birthday celebrations!

Coincidentally Pat W., Uncle’s Tom’s cousin, and her sis Pam and daughter Jenna were in town celebrating Jenna’s Sweet 16. AND, even more coincidentally, Pat had reached out to me last year after Dad had passed. How coincidental that I met her (re-met her, as I had met her as a kid and had forgotten) in person on the anniversary of Dad’s passing!

We did a beach day, during the busiest time of year I may say. Springbreak! People were everywhere. That made it interesting. The weather was perfect however. We did dinner and birthday celebrations afterward at the Garrett household. Celebrating – Jenna and Gabe, me and Pat W.

To notate at the beach
As soon as we arrived, I found a ladybug on my towel. To us that’s a sign that Dad was with us. (M took a pic of her on his knee. See below.)
Grayson discovered sand. And, kudos to the kid for not trying to eat it! I was extremely impressed.

A Note of thanks!
Thanks to Ginger for the salami/cheese to celebrate Dad!
Thanks to Ginger and Griffin for the cupcakes to celebrate our birthdays!
Thanks to Gabe for the wonderful dinner!
Thanks to all for the wonderful times!

I love you, Dad. I miss you very much. – snoop

Every time I would log into AIM in the morning, I would get the message, “snoop.” That was the opener to my daily chat with Dad. I looked forward to it everyday, and nothing distracted me from that chat session. That was my time with Dad, and I loved it.

Being a person who saves everything for fear of forgetting, I saved every AIM chat session I ever had with TomJoe. Now, a year after his passing, I still cannot go back and look at those chats. I don’t know if I will ever be able to go back and look at them, but I have them in case I ever want to.

I find it so fitting that I finally have come up with an idea for my personal blog, and it relates to my Dad, and it is launching on the anniversary of his passing. Dad has been my “personal savior” this past year. It is so fitting that he play a huge part in The Daily Snoop too.

I miss you, Dad.

What is snoop, you ask?